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Thoughts: I learned how to create webpages and basic Javascript while in Library School. I loved it immediately. I created webpages for many of the libraries I worked in and maintained databases for most as well. When I became an elementary school Librarian and was given no real curriculum other than covering classroom teachers' preps. I decided to combine library and technology into a curriculum. It was a match made in heaven. I began just teaching Scratch and in younger grades I used Code.org. I hosted my first Hour of Code around 2014/2015. I kept teaching myself a little bit here and a little bit there. I became Google Certified for a bit, but never renewed it. I had no budget so everything had to be free. What I discovered is that so many students who struggled in other areas just did great in CS. While I couldn't give up teaching Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship I became convinced that all kids needed CS in elementary school.
Once I had an opportunity to become a technology teacher in an elementary school with a budget, I started to really flesh out a curriculum that covered everything I felt I was learning. The MA DLCS standards helped justify what I was thinking but gave me leeway to develop the projects in a way that made sense to me through my experience. Covid happened and that made the first two years of my tenure as a technology teacher a bit of a holding pattern. Trying to teach Scratch through a Zoom screen was very difficult and forget about robotics. But the students were finally allowed back into my classroom and we started on my curriculum. As always, it is a living document. I am always changing and adjusting to the particular students and year. Last year, I decided that Scratch just wasn't secure enough, I loved it but just couldn't risk it any longer. I searched around and came across Intro to CS: by Douglas and Mary Kiang
( https://makecode.microbit.org/courses/csintro ) and loved the infusion of building, engineering, and creativity it brought to CS. I adapted it for my elementary students and I am loving it for my curriculum.
Tools: Online: Code.org, Scratch, Makecode, Blockly
Physical Computing: Lego, MakeyMakey, Microbits, Ozobots, BeeBots
Useful Links: It's Elementary: CS for the Elementary Classroom PD
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