Students Learn the Basics of Computer Programing

“Why does he keep saying that?,” was what one of the boys whispered to his friend in the elementary library.  He had, what I would call, beige hair, and an inquisitive look on his face.  His partner had an amazing ability to use the computer mouse. To him, the computer mouse was a part of his hand.  I think first boy was talking about the fact that Wendy Sprague and I kept saying over and over “if you work hard you can actually get smarter.”  After a brief introduction and an explanation of their first learning adventure, all four students used computer programing to get the solution.  Some students were able to complete the learning adventure faster than others, even though learning is not a race and we all learn at different rates of speed.  Whatever you do, please don’t tell them they were learning.
 
Wendy is a librarian at the Cuba Rushford school district.  She has embraced computer programming and robotics in her schools.  The learning of new things does not come easy to everyone and I think it is safe to say that that might be true of Wendy as well.  Wendy is a great example of a life-long learner and a follower of the research headed up by Dr. Carol Dwick from Stanford University.  Dr. Dwick has done scientific research to prove that if people work hard and believe that hard work can make them smarter and can increase your intelligence that the actual weight of one’s brain gets heavier.  This weight change occurs due to the increased number of neurons, or thinking connections, created in your brain by learning.  It is important for students to get a good night sleep because the neurons are solidified during sleep.  The book called “Mindset” by Carol Dwick is a great resource for anyone and it discusses her brain research.

It is only natural for, what some might believe as, unconventional learning to occur in the library.  With the easy access to information online, no longer can the library just be a place where information is archived and stored.  Libraries are becoming more and more places where information is created to find new facts, invent products to help people and publish things of all kind, not just books.    

Fifth grade students at Cuba Rushford used the computer programing language called Scratch, which can be found at Scratch.MIT.edu.  This coding language consists of “drag and drop” blocks so no “hard coding” or syntax is used.  So, instead of students making sure they capitalized using “camelCode” or that they used a semicolon instead of a colon, could put there mind work totally on the logic. Lots of logic goes into computer programming.   
 
Students seemed to enjoy computer programming and I can’t wait till I can go back to Cuba Rushford to do some more teaching and learning with Wendy and her students.  Programing is extremely fun, engaging and it teaches a lot of important skills that can help in any classroom.  I can’t wait to see what the students come up with.  ​​

By: Rick Weinberg, CA BOCES Professional Development