Discovered Scratch this year and have been working with 7th graders on it for the last 2 weeks. They LOVE it- what a way to engage them before the Winter Break. More than that, the math teacher loves the way it is supporting their study of co-ordinates, variables and linear equations. Back in the "old days", I taught BASIC programming (ugh!) and LOGO. Scratch is a great combination of the two- translating programing concepts into color and shape coded tiles, and letting students see their results in full sound and graphics. Best of all, in these busy days, my teaching "technique" when asked a question has been- "I don't know- go figure it out". When the glum faces shout "I got it" across the room- you know they have had a unique light-bulb moment!
Discovered Scratch this year and have been working with 7th graders on it for the last 2 weeks. They LOVE it- what a way to engage them before the Winter Break. More than that, the math teacher loves the way it is supporting their study of co-ordinates, variables and linear equations. Back in the "old days", I taught BASIC programming (ugh!) and LOGO. Scratch is a great combination of the two- translating programing concepts into color and shape coded tiles, and letting students see their results in full sound and graphics. Best of all, in these busy days, my teaching "technique" when asked a question has been- "I don't know- go figure it out". When the glum faces shout "I got it" across the room- you know they have had a unique light-bulb moment!