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Money is conductive... The purpose of this post is to show how to create a money counter using Scratch and a Makey Makey . What does the code look like? Code for creating a money counter. What are the orange blocks? The Orange blocks are variables. When you have a value that you want the computer to store you create a variable. In this program there is one variable for each coin, one for calculating the total "checksum" and one to prompt the user for the answer. What does the stage look like? Students need a way to track how many times they have counted a coin. To do this you can display the variables on the Scratch stage. This gives a visual tally of each coin. The checksum total is hidden by default but can be displayed for 1 second to check the total by pressing the "a" key. When a user presses the "f" key the user is prompted to add the visible coin totals and enter the total it in 0.00 format. Scratchie the cat will announce if th

What are Sustainable Development Goals ? The 17 sustainable development goals have been set by the united nations as goals to be achieved by 2030. The SDGs are global goals set for various areas including humanitarian, environmental and economical. These goals are a great way to give purpose to student projects so they can address real world issues. Resources Song Ted Talk Introducing SDGs to students  To introduce SDGs to a class and ask them to research one each, then create a page in a floor book. (A floor book is an A3 sized page where student represent their findings, it is then compiled into a bound book and available for students to read).  Each time the class does research, or investigations asked students to identify which sustainable development goal the project is linked to. Books Greta and the Giants  by Zoe Tucker and illustrated by Zoe Persico is a fiction book about one girls fight again giants who are ruining the world. This story is based on Greta Thunburg's school

Picture books are a wonderful way to engage children of all ages.  With younger children they provide an opportunity to engage in literacy with storylines they may not have experienced or thought about. With older students they are a wonderful hook to stimulate discussion or debate.  Is it true? Is it relevant to us? What can we do to protect? prevent? or follow up? Once upon a time Online by David Bedford Using fairytale characters this book illustrates some of the hazards of being online. The Fairy Godmother teachers them how to use screen time to be productive and creators rather than users of technology. The Fabulous Friend Machine by Nick Bland Popcorn the chicken finds a friend machine (phone) and makes some wonderful new friends, who turn out be not telling the full truth. Her old (true) friends step in to save her. The internet is like a puddle by Shona Innes This book gently talks about the dangers of being online and how adults can help us navigate those dangers. The Little P

This post will be referring to a publicly available and free project made by CodeClub Australia.  CodeClub Australia has some wonderful projects that are documented for beginning Scratchers. Each year they run a program called MoonHack . In 2020 there were over 34000 participants in the project worldwide.  They have multiple projects for a range of ages from early years to high school.  https://moonhack.com/projects/ The 2020 the " Space CleanUp " project focused on the problem of Space Junk. There is a 10 min video discussing the problem. There is also an additional Blog Post with some extra reading about Space Junk should you be interested. This project could be used in the Year 5 space content for Australian Curriculum. It is suitable for year 4 and up. Or year 3 with some experience coding. The projects will take an experienced coder about 45mins. But less advanced coders could take up to 2 x 1 hour lessons. Before using it in your class, be sure to complete the proje

Distance learning is not reproducing a classroom in an unknown space in each 30 different homes. As I write, millions of teachers world wide are recreating planned content to be shared with students that are unable to attend school in some countries there are students simultaneously in their classroom. Some have online access some don't. Source How do we address distance learning?  Rather than create a second set of lessons for those at home, I recommend you allow school based students time to work through the same content. This means you are not creating dual content. Teachers are being encouraged to teach online, this does create a social justice issue where not all students and teachers have access to an online format, because of any of the following service, data plans, devices or wifi. To make it easier on you I have created some ideas for setting lessons for both online and offline learning.  Flipped learning - set a video, image or reading task that can be u

To enable students to continue working at you you may need to teach them how to log into online tools at school before schools are shut down. For offline tasks you will need to prepare resources and send them home in a pack, eg: construction may require specialist materials, coloured paper, paper clips, etc. Pack up and send home.  It will be difficult to teach new content in this time as now all students will complete the tasks unsupervised. It is a very difficult time. Online Tools e-Safety Commisioner  https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators/classroom-resources Online tools and videos that could be used as stimulus for a question and answer or "design a campaign" to educate kids about online dangers https://aca.edu.au/resources/ Teacher will need to sign up (for free) with their school account and upload student names and distribute user names and passwords. I would be ideal if you do this before the school closes so students know how to use it. Her

How can I teach in nature? An alternate way to teach inquiry learning. I  have just had the pleasure of spending a day with @ClaireHWarden, hearing about #NaturePedagogy. People tend to be indoor dwelling. While some people thrive on the adventure of being outdoors there are many that avoid the outdoors for a wide variety of reasons. Add to this to opportunity to be in nature, hiking, bush walks or just sitting absorbing the serenity. This often requires an absence of mobile data and no wi-fi. For some being outside or being in nature means accidents, possible injury and feeling unsafe. What if we took time to teach our children the idea of safe limits, how to be safe and what it means to be in a physically unsafe space? What does it mean to give children an opportunity to learn beyond the gate?  What does Nature pedagogy look like? How can I teach about Nature? How can I teach in Nature? How can I teach with Nature? The idea of teaching about nature is often re

How do you change the way you teach? It is a slow process but it is possible. When a new curriculum is implemented how to you integrate it? When a new pedagogy is doing the rounds even if it is a rebranded old idea how do you implement it? Should you adopt every idea?  Goals! What are your goals, both personally and for your class? This question can't be completely be answered until you know your class, your school, your parents. What are your professional goals? After reviewing your personal, professional goals and those of your school community write them down. Mine are: Continual growth and learning for my students and myself Enjoyment of learning and relationships Real life learning for students Academic improvement Research Now you have your goals consider the different pedagogical styles and how they might help you achieve your goals? There are so many pedagogical styles and educational theories. How do you know which one is right? Many of the teachi

The hardest part of integrating technology is thinking of the project ideas. Here are 5 resources to help with integrating technology and still cover your educational outcomes. Use ScratchJr.com . ScratchJr can be used to create animations to illustrate stories, concepts and create games to demonstrate knowledge. Webinar on teaching algorithms with  Scratch Jr   Use Beebots Beebots can be used to teach simple algorithms and content simultaneously. Algorithms are a series of ordered steps the BEEBOT must follow. Beebots can be used to teach position, left, right, back, forward or a more complicated activity might include grid references (A1 to F8) and cartesian plane or compass directions. The topic of the mat could also mean you are covering money, alphabet, shapes or flash cards used with a clear mat. How to use Beebots video . Micro:bits Micro:bits can be used to address digital technology outcomes specifically or integrated into other areas of study. The projects f