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G_R_L Made: Intro to CS First

8/10/2018

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The 3rd and 4th grade girls were excited albeit a bit skeptical about starting CS First at their G_R_L Made coding club. A few of them had used Scratch in school so they thought they already knew everything and were not sure they needed more experience. Oh, the overconfidence of 8 and 9 year olds who think they know it all.  I told them that Scratch is robust and offers endless opportunity for creativity and taking on more complex and challenging projects. My words held no meaning, they needed to test it out for themselves.

Wendy, the leader, was calm and relaxed even though this was her first experience with Scratch. She is an artist and brings her creative spirit to everything she does. She did get a bit overwhelmed when she saw how much information there was- a timer to keep track of moving from one activity to the next, a script, and videos - then she took a breath and realized there was a lot of redundant material to make sure she was supported.

The one thing that needed to be done ahead of the class was that each girl needed to be added to the online roster so that she had a username and password to log into the group lessons. When the girls arrived they were given their CS First Passports and their username and passwords to write down and get started.​

​The first activity was to pair up an​​d create a Scratch project about 5 things the partners have in common. They were guided how to do this through video. The key here to support a strong community is to watch the videos as a group. If the girls just put on headphones they start to work alone and stop talking to each other and asking questions. In the group setting girls were looking at each other’s computers, laughing and sharing what they did.There are add-ons at the end of almost every CS First project. This is where personalization comes in to change costumes, add backgrounds and sound.  At this meeting each pair of girls added a different additional element to their projects.

The most challenging part of the workshop was getting girls to pause and share their projects because they were so engrossed in their work. Not a bad problem to have, but sharing is an essential part that is not to be missed. When the girls did finally watch each other’s projects they were able to see new ideas that got them thinking and talking again and re-energized to return to their projects to do more.

When the parents arrived for pickup there was groaning from the girls who did not want to leave and admiration from the parents who had never seen computer science done in this robust and animated setting.

Next time: Creating a game, It was magical.
Check out a sample project and a video from my daughter who finally admits that she loves working with Scratch.


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G_R_L Made: The First Club Meeting

8/10/2018

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The 3rd and 4th grade  girls came to the first G_R_L Made coding club meeting with excitement and nerves. Two of them had never done anything like this. Three of them were proud to get started because they saw their older sisters in a coding club and now it was their turn. Everyone was curious about what would happen.

Inviting people over to check something out for the first time is not so challenging; getting them to commit and return time and again is harder. Therefore the trick to the first session was to get everyone comfortable with each other. Doing something hands-on and interactive creates community and builds confidence.

Wendy, the club leader, and I discussed activities that the girls could do at the first meeting, since we did not expect the CS First kit to arrive in time (spoilers, it did, but we already had a plan). I had a bundle of supplies from previous teaching experiences to offer. We used Makey-Makey, an invention kit that turns everyday objects into touchpads and works with the internet. We used bananas, coins and playdo to play online instruments and Tetris. Within moments girls were laughing and trying out creative materials to see if they were conductive.

If buying new materials is cost prohibitive (Makey-Makey Go is $20) then try something like Coding with Cups where groups of students work together and become the programmers and robots to build pyramids of cups.

Next, the girls made Light up Name Tents and practiced first by testing out paper circuits using copper tape, coin cell battery and LED lights. This activity around names brought in creativity and gave everyone a quick success and something tangible to take home.

An added benefit to this activity was that girls were able to share creative ideas and also began to assist each other through technical difficulties. There is a lot of trial and error in coding and this activity was no exception. Not everyone finishes at the same time, but when there is teamwork everyone is still working and succeeding together.

The girls were having so much fun with the activities that there was just no more time to start CS First.  Not a bad problem to have. Next time: Introduction to CS First.

Resources found in Blog:
Coding with Cups - includes Lesson Plan in English and Spanish; video
Light up Name Tents Lesson plan - includes Lesson Plan, list of supplies and cost.

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GRL_Made: The Origin Story

8/10/2018

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This is the story about how a parent decided to start a girls coding club even though she had no prior experience.

Wendy Nield, the CEO of Adwire and accomplished graphic designer and mother of 2 daughters, wanted to start a girls coding club for 3rd and 4th graders so her youngest daughter could get a positive hands on experience in computing as her older daughter did when I ran a similar club. Wendy knew that an encouraging experience like a coding club builds confidence and is one of the most influential factors in girls’ decisions to pursue computing education and careers as noted in NCWIT Girls in IT: The Facts.

Wendy was not afraid of taking a risk and leading the club on her own. She just wanted some advice about how to begin. I gave her a few ideas including Google’s CS First which I think is a robust option with the easiest execution. CS First uses Scratch, a free online programming environment that helps “young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically and work collaboratively” as they code interactive stories, games, and animations.​

I described the different theme options and showed her the free kit that comes with the online easy-to-follow curriculum. Wendy and her daughter did their research and decided that CS First Friends (Level of Difficulty: Moderate) would be the way to go and immediately sent out invites to 8 girls to come over a week later and get started. There was 100% interest. It was decided that since two of the older sisters had already been in a coding club that they would be the gurus in training — also known as assistants.

So now there is a regular club at Wendy’s house every other Sunday. The girls bring their school laptops — or borrow from parents. The coding club was originally two hours, but due to excitement it is now two and a half hours. The club has been branded G_R_L Made and it is awesome!

Start your own coding club or suggest one at your school: CS First
Find other ideas in NCWIT’s Enrich PK-8 Computing Education  to connect students to learning environments that emphasize hands-on experience with technology.

Next Blog: The First Meeting

About Leslie Aaronson: I am a former computer science teacher. I taught for 13 years in LAUSD and received the LAUSD Teacher of the Year award for 2011-2012. I started a Girls Coding Club at Foshay Learning Center in 2015 with high school students. This lead to the high school girls starting clubs for local middle school girls and for my daughter and her elementary school friends. These clubs lasted until 2017. I moved to become the Strategic Director for K12 Initiatives at the NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology) and I am the project manager for Girls Build LA. With a full plate I don’t have time to manage my own clubs.

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    Leslie Aaronson

    Former Technology Teacher; LAUSD Teacher of the Year: Strategic Director for K12 Initiatives at NCWIT; Manage Girls Build; Mother of two girls

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