Where to Begin?
Confused, scared or unsure where to start with teaching coding? You’re not alone! It’s a dizzying task to be asked to do. Thankfully, we’re here to help! We’ve launched The Crash Course To Teaching with Scratch to be your first step at learning how to code, how to teach code, and how to teach with coding! So what is it and how can it help?
The Course
The course is a super quick, super simple first step. Only 42 minutes split into 5 videos. It’s just a bit sized, less than a lunch hour look at the world’s best way to incorporate coding into classrooms – Scratch! The course will introduce what Scratch is, how it works and what you can get out of it. Developed and delivered by the author of the The Teachers Guide To Scratch book series you can trust it. With the Scratch educational coding platform backed by MIT & Harvard, you know you can trust it. In 42 minutes you can get up to speed with the best way you can incorporate coding into a K-12 classroom.
Video 1 – Introducing Scratch
This 7 minute video gives you the run down of what Scratch is. It takes a first glimpse at the Scratch website, explains the philosophy and potential behind it, and shows off some favourite projects on Scratch that highlight how it can help education. It’s about discovering how Scratch can help teachers, not just be another box for them to check off on their endless list of responsibilities.
Video 2 – How Scratch Works
Follow along during this 17 minute video to get hands on with coding, digital art, and sound in Scratch! We guide you through using the editor and the basic concepts of block coding, Scratch’s built-in art editor and its build in sound and music library. You’ll get to make your first project using sequential instructions, loops, an if statement (or conditional) as well as concurrency with multiple sprites! If that’s all Greek to you, no worries, they’re just some of the key curricular outcomes you’ll need to cover when teaching code, and we can check all of them off with even just this single 17 minute activity! Coding is easier than you think, and we’re here to guide you through getting started!
Video 3 – Why Use Scratch
Coding may or may not be mandated in your school district yet, but it is coming. That might be the reason why most teachers start learning Scratch, but it’s far from the only reason. Scratch offers a lot of great benefits for educators and students. In this 7 minute video we showcase some of our favourite Scratch projects as a way to highlight some of the benefits. We’ll take a look at fun and engagement with the Math Path game, curiosity and sensemaking with a puzzle maze, inspiration and wonder with the What Bird Are You? quiz, creativity and expression with a flower garden, and thinking and logic with Code Club’s Boat Race.
Video 4 – Scratch in Use
There’s never enough time when it comes to education. We know the struggle. Scratch thankfully offers a lot of cross-curricular opportunities. When you learn how to use Scratch for teaching it’s more about teaching with Scratch than just teaching coding as its own activity. Coding is a tool, and it can work for you. Here we’ll look at example projects that show how coding can help students learn and explore science, math, language arts, social studies and health.
Video 5 – Scratch Resources
In our last 4 minute video we cover off some great resources you can count on to continue your learning journey. We highlight the best ways you can find more, get help, and keep going! There’s so much to learn with coding, but once you get over the hump you’ll find a wonderful tool and countless opportunities for your teaching practice. There’s even a downloadable pdf of the projects used in the course as well as the recommended resources.
And it’s FREE!
Yup, all that and the course is even free! So check it out and see how coding can transform your teaching practice. It’s a wonderful tool that can work for you. So check it out and pass it around! Of course, you can always check out our other resources too!
