Tina O’Keefe and Hour of Code

Tina O’Keefe:

This week we had guest speaker Tina O’Keefe share her virtual google classroom with us. I found it so interesting to see because of all the options it opened up for the students, in which they could sign up for the classes that most interest them. This is so important because it gives students the freedom to study what they enjoy, which could motivate them into enjoying their learning. This reminded me of High Tech High because students could choose their way of learning that best demonstrated their strengths.

Within her google classrooms, each subject would have different assignments, and projects for the students enrolled in the class to follow. As well as having online classes, she also gives a time where the specific classes meet in person to give students the opportunity to get help when needed.

Overall, I really appreciate the effort and idea of her Google Classrooms. Her classrooms are extremely accessible and great for diverse learners. She also has different ‘levels’ of each programming class, therefore students will be in the class that is best suited for both their interests and learning styles.

Hour of Code:

My ideal grade to teach in the future would be somewhere between Kindergarten-Grade 2. I watched this video that is ideal for Kindergarten-Grade 5 kids on Hour of Code teaching kids how to ‘code’ a way to pickup all the garbage on the beach. I specifically listened to the language she used, and honestly, I found the language could be difficult for Kindergarten-Grade 2 because there were words used like pollution, and programming, that these young kids definitely would not understand. Instead, I thought it would be better to use words such as “make a path or walkway so they can pickup all the garbage on the beach”. This would be much easier for young students to understand because they hear words like this in their daily life.

Overall, I really enjoyed Hour of Code and will look for ones more appropriate for my ideal age group that I could use in my future classroom!