This week I decided to play around on the Logo Interpreter and see how far I could get in the manual. I made it as far as Exercise 11 and could likely have gone farther. In general, I find that technology can be a frustration for me especially if it does not work the way: 1. I think it should, or 2. the way I want it to. This particular activity had me over come some of that thinking. If I was not successful the first time I tried an exercise, I tried again until I got it. When I finally got the program correct and had the turtle do the right thing, I cheered like my favourite hockey team won the Stanley Cup (they didn't). My biggest take away from this activity was not necessarily from the coding piece, but more about the persistence I needed to keep trying when I didn't get the program correct the first time. I think an activity like this could be beneficial for school-aged children for a variety of reasons. One, spacial thinking or visualization. I found that I was picturing in my head what the image would look like based on the commands that I was writing/typing (I wrote everything on paper first). Having students visualize the math or the story is so important and an activity like this would provide opportunity for students to build that skill. Second, problem solving. When the code does not work the first time then a person has to figure out where the error is and correct it. Also, for the exercises where the turtle has to backtrack on the same path requires some level of problem solving skill. Thirdly, to learn a new skill. Technology is only going to advance in the future and potentially a growth in the market for people who have programming and coding knowledge. A program like this may give students the desire to progress further in learning more about coding. The Logo Interpreter program took me way back to my undergrad university days when I took a computing science course and we learned a bit about programming.
Assistive Technologies in the Classroom When I first started thinking about what assistive technologies I use in the classroom, not many came to mind. I thought of the magnifying sheet and iPad that was for a student who has diminished sight, the highlighter strips that single out and highlight a sentence in a book or the visual schedule I have for students that need more than the classroom schedule at the front of the room. It wasn't until the class presentation and reading "Where It's At: Mrs. DiChiara's Assistive Technology Blog ", I realized that I have implemented and currently implement many assistive technologies in my classroom. Below is a list of some of the assistive technologies that have been used in my classroom in the past or that I currently use now. Magnifying sheet This simple device was helpful when working with a student that had diminished eye sight. It enabled the student to enlarge a picture or piece of text from a book that the...
Kristina, I liked and agreed with your comment that the greatest take away was not necessarily from the coding piece but more about the persistence you needed. I had a similar takeaway after my Logo experience. I think helping students to build problem solving skills and persistence to try hard things its an important skill for their future success.
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