Solve cool problems and make cool things!

Computer Science classrooms are active places that encourage exploration, creativity, collaboration, communication, persistence, and problem solving. We use Code.org CS Fundamentals as the foundation of our students’ experiences, and supplement that with a variety of other resources. We want to spark students’ curiosity about what can be created with various technology tools. We build creative confidence!

Guiding Principles – from Resnick and Siegel

Projects: Provide children with opportunities to work on meaningful projects (not just puzzle-solving activities) so they experience the process of turning an initial idea into a creation that can be shared with others.

Peers: Encourage collaboration and sharing, and help children learn to build on the work of others. Coding shouldn’t be a solitary activity.

Passion: Allow children to work on projects connected to their interests. They’ll work longer and harder — and learn more in the process.

Play: Encourage children to experiment playfully — try new things, take risks, test the boundaries, learn from failures.

“Computer Science is electricity for your brain!” – first grade student

Elementary students learn languages like Blockly and Scratch so they can focus on programming logic more than the exact syntax required by text-based languages. This is the same approach used by introductory university computer sciences classes like Harvard CS50. Students learn how to write programs that involve loops, variables, functions, events, etc. Students are introduced to text-based programming environments as they gain more experience in upper grades. They apply their skills to create projects, stories, games, apps, program robots, and more.

Here is some exciting news for Computer Science….

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

WELL-ROUNDED EDUCATION. The term ‘well-rounded education’ means courses, activities, and programming in subjects such as English, reading or language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, geography, computer science, music, career and technical education, health, physical education, and any other subject, as determined by the State or local educational agency, with the purpose of providing all students access to an enriched curriculum and educational experience.

The purpose of teaching computer science is NOT to make all students into programmers or engineers.  The purpose is to give students  the opportunity to learn about computer science so that they can be well-rounded consumers of technology.  If it whets their interests in computer science and they want to learn more…that’s fantastic!

Computer Science boils down to solving problems with very specific sets of instructions because computers do exactly what they are told to do, in the order they are told to do it!  We think of computers as smart, but in reality they are quiet dumb.  They can’t anticipate what we want from them; only human programmers come up with precise instructions for computers to act on.  Learning to think like computer scientists or programmers can help children practice breaking down problems, thinking in logical sequences, and using precise language to give instructions

Some core elements of beginning to Think Like a Computer Scientist are:

• computers do only what they are told
• everyday processes like getting ready for school or making toast can be thought of as a set of instructions (ex. Get bread, put in toaster, push the lever down, wait for the bread to toast…etc.)
• computer scientists have to be very creative in order to solve problems, entertain, help, control complex machines, etc.
• computer science often begins with a problem to solve
• computer scientists mostly work in teams, not alone.  Teams are generally better at finding creative solutions to problems than individuals.
• “test and learn” strategies for problem solving are generally the best.  Making mistakes is always part of the journey to the right answer.