6/27 - 6/31 @ 8 am to 3 pm
Rolando Victoria
rvictoria@menloschool.org
Teaching a new computer science program is hard work. On Thursday, I taught the first day of Embark Labs which included teaching the students about the differences between humans and computers and the distinction between position and orientation. In preparation for the first class, I helped train the other TAs by reviewing the activities to teach for week one. The curriculum for week one included a pre-class survey, humans vs. computers, and a human robots activity. The class was meant to last for an entire hour and each activity could be extended if time permitted. The premise of the class is to establish a climate of inquiry in which students are given open-ended questions that guide their thinking but do not lead them directly to the answer. All of the activities feature logic puzzles that challenge students by requiring them to think and form conclusions based on the information presented. The class went well but some of the students were bummed that they did not have enrichment after a tiring day in the classroom. In the future we could let the students have a short break before jumping straight into computer programming. Overall, the rising sixth graders enjoyed learning about the differences in the way humans think and how computers process information. My students were engaged and their energy is one of the reasons I love working at Peninsula Bridge. By teaching the campers about computer programming when they are young, they are given the ability to connect with the world surrounding them and presented with a new possible interest. Bridge is about helping students enjoy learning and the computer science curriculum helps accomplish that goal.
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