"Digital literacy and computer science ideas should be explored in ways that stimulate curiosity, create enjoyment, and develop depth of understanding."
-- Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Digital Literacy and Computer Science, 2016
It's a digital world! Let's connect! (Safely, that is.)
Key Ideas We'll Talk About in Library and Media Class:
Your Digital Tail, I Mean Trail:
What is the virtual you? How is it similar to or different from the real you? Well, the digital you leaves a trail, a trail connected to you forever! So that trail creates a tail that grows and grows with each keystroke and click.
So what's the trick? Hold that click, until you think.
Think About It: What You Say Matters
Does it meet ALL of the following:
T: Is it true?
H: Is it helpful?
I: Is it inspiring?
N: Is it necessary?
K: Is it kind?
Think About It: Zipped Fingertips
What's public information? What's private information? (But, let's be real, is anything online truly private?)
Passwords are not for friends! (But they are for parents and guardians.)
Place the face. Do you know this person?
Feeling unsafe? Trust your gut. Tell a trusted adult.
Think About It: Red Light! Yellow Light! Green Light!
Red light! That website looks unsafe.
Yellow light! Proceed with caution.
Green light! That website is approved by your teacher and parents/guardians.
To learn more about Acton-Boxborough Regional School District's digital literacy vision, values, and mission, please visit their digital learning website.
For a copy of the 2016 Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science Curriculum Framework , please visit the MA DESE website.
It's a digital world! Let's create!
Important Note: Digital tools that require students to create an account must be approved by ABRSD's educational technology (EdTech) department first. Please see Ms. Laflamme for a list of tools approved by EdTech, or contact EdTech directly by visiting their EdTech @ AB website.
*Must connect to teacher account
*Must connect to teacher account
*Must connect to teacher account
*Must log into AB account
*Must log into AB account
*Must log into AB account
To learn more about Acton-Boxborough Regional School District's digital literacy vision, values, and mission, please visit their digital learning website.
For a copy of the 2016 Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science Curriculum Framework , please visit the MA DESE website.
It's a digital world! Let's think like a programmer!
print('Hello, students!')
Why learn to code? With code, we can use our imagination to think of new apps and games, and design robots, advanced technologies, and software programs that solve major problems and make the world a better place! It's also a place to experiment and be creative. But what does coding look like in library and media class at Conant Elementary? Coding is learning about algorithms. Coding is learning how to think like a coder. Coding is being creative and learning how to solve problems. But really, coding is learning how to fail forward.
"Ms. Laflamme, what does it mean to fail forward? Isn't failing a bad thing?"
Actually, knowing how to fail forward is arguably the most important skill when it comes to coding! (Well, that and knowing how to communicate and collaborate with others.) But failing forward is how you learn what doesn't work! That's how you discover new and unexpected things! When we're coding in library and media class, I look at how well you fail forward. I look at how well you break your big problem down into a bunch of smaller problems, pick them apart and look for patterns, and think logically about what might work AND what might not work, THEN do it over and over and over again (like a loop!) until you figure it out and move onto a new challenge. Sometimes you don't figure it out and you look to others for help--that's part of failing forward too. But in the end, I look at how well you persist--that means not giving up. That's how you fail forward. That's how you become a good programmer.
Important Note: Digital tools that require students to create an account must be approved by ABRSD's educational technology (EdTech) department first. Please see Ms. Laflamme for a list of tools approved by EdTech, or contact EdTech directly by visiting their EdTech @ AB website.
Beebots introduce algorithms and the concepts of input/output and sequencing. Students learn how to break larger problems down into a bunch of smaller problems.
Following in-class instruction about a key coding concept, students practice with specific lessons assigned in my code.org classroom.
Coding with robots makes the intangible, well, tangible! Following in-class instruction about a key coding concept, students practice the concept using Dash the Robot.
To learn more about Acton-Boxborough Regional School District's digital literacy vision, values, and mission, please visit their digital learning website.
For a copy of the 2016 Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science Curriculum Framework , please visit the MA DESE website.