https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/167456920/
Reflection:
I have worked with Scratch Jr. previously in another STEM class so I was rather familiar with many of the basic workings of this website. However, after taking the course, I realized there was much more you could create with Scratch! It was very interesting for me to see all of the details that went into creating the Fruit Slicer game and how even one minor mistake could make the entire game not work correctly. I believe students could truly benefit from learning how to code, especially using software like Scratch. I thought this was a website that could easily be differentiated for students based on their knowledge and skills of coding to make the same content have higher level demands as well as lower level. Because of this aspect, teachers would be able to make sure all students in their classroom are receiving the core content at the level that best fits their needs. Using Scratch would help students to create fun, interactive presentations and projects to use as summative assessments in the classroom. For example, students could create certain math games on Scratch where they would have to correctly answer math problems that appear in order to win/continue playing the game that was created. Scratch is a great way to integrate TPACK into your classroom and allow students to experiment with creating new things using technology while also receiving core curriculum instruction.
Certificate of Course Completion:
Alesha, I thought most of the same things as you did about Scratch! I had only explored scratch jr. a little bit and it was so confusing to me, but after taking the course I thought it was a lot easier to understand and create things on Scratch. I also think that this would be a great website to help with differentiation in the classroom with students. Do you have any ideas on what you would create for students in your future classroom? or would you use scratch as more of an exploring and creating time for the students? I love how you connected to TPACK as well in this reflection!
ReplyDelete-Maren
I think it really depends on what age of students I work with. With younger students, I believe Scratch would be a great program to have games or presentations already set up for them to play and learn from. However, with older students, I think they would benefit more from creating and coding within Scratch to create projects, games, and more! There is a lot you can do with Scratch and I am very excited to explore more of the possibilities once I am back into the classroom this Fall. Thanks for your reply! :)
DeleteGreat animation, Alesha! I like that you showed off various different skills in manipulating the sprites particularly with the "motion" and "looks" blocks. I agree with having students use coding and Scratch to create presentations! I think that by allowing students to use platforms such coding, teachers can meet their interest level while learning 21st Century skills. As far as differentiation goes, how do you think Scratch compares to Scratch Jr. for elementary students?
ReplyDeleteI think Scratch would be a great tool for higher level learners or for upper elementary students while Scratch Jr. would benefit lower level learners or lower level elementary students while creating projects! However, I think using Scratch as a teacher to create games or presentations would be most beneficial for all ages compared to Scratch Jr! :)
DeleteGreat animation! I love that you made a connection to TPACK in your reflection. I too thought about how this would be a great program to tie into math in my classroom. I don't think I have ever used Scratch Jr before, how does that compare to Scratch?
ReplyDeleteI have only briefly used Scratch Jr before, but it seemed to have less options for coding compared to Scratch. Because of this, I think Scratch Jr is more beneficial for beginning learning with coding while Scratch would benefit those who are experienced with coding.
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