Unplugged Library Time

For our last library, we're going unplugged.  I don't have confirmation if our iPads are being sold off before end of the year or not, so erring on the side of caution and going no-tech this last week!

Board games, unplugged coding and puzzles, oh my!  

Logic

I challenged the third graders to coffee bean solitaire! The goal is to get down to just one bean.  I offered prizes for anyone to get down to one, two or three beans.  Lots of fun, lots of groans, and lots of perseverance.  It's a little bit addictive...wish it worked on the iPad, so I could do it while waiting in line at the store.

https://www.history.org/media/coffeesolitaire/

Three winners so far (each having just three beans left).

Scratch Jr.

I attended the Wisconsin Computer Science Summit (first ever) and am further convinced that offering early access to computer science is a must...digital skills for an increasingly digital world.

Tech skills are necessary skills for the future. Coding is a great way to get students thinking about tech and coding is fun; at least that's been my experience with my third graders!

We started off by talking about future career aspirations and how technology might factor in.  We talked about the fact that a job a classmate might be doing in the future may not even exist yet!  Then we watched a quick intro video, reviewed the vocabulary (sequence, loop, repeat, run, debug) and blocks, and jumped right into the Scratch Jr challenges. They were hooked immediately.  

What I heard:

Can I share my program?

Look what I figured out, you can add speech bubbles to your characters!

Wow, you can record your own voice!

Can we do this next week?

I figured out how to change the speed and direction.

Cool, I can customize my characters!!

What I saw:

I saw students helping one another.

I saw students collaborating on their project creations.

I saw engaged students.

I saw excited students.

We all saw some pretty cool programming as students shared their programs on the big screen (using air server).

Puzzles

Too many puzzles or maybe I should take some to school for the kids to work on during game day in the library...?

Seesaw app for publishing and sharing

What a great tool for elementary kids.  I love that they can take control of publishing the work that they are proud of. I haven't tied the parent share option yet, but see great benefits with this.  It's sounds like a great way to keep parents in the loop with their student.  And I love that it's digital!  Easy to create, share and enjoy.

Reflections

I am in the midst of my action research, the culminating activity for my Master of Arts in Teaching. Reflection is part of that study (having the kids incorporating written reflection in their weekly work) and part of my own work. As educators, reflection is part of our standards and something that many of us do as a part of our daily job.  

Recently I've come to the conclusion that I have control of certain things and those are the things I can and should focus on. I've been wasting too much time worrying about things that are outside of my span of control. So, I'm done. I will focus just on things I have control of. This will make me happier and more productive! 

Padlet has so many uses