December 16th, 2017
21ST CENTURY CLASSROOM
St. Albans City School goes all in for Day of Code
By GRACE BORST
Special to the Messenger
ST. ALBANS—Every year during the first week of December people all around the world celebrate an event called Hour of Code. Computers are used in so many different professions these days, Hour of Code’s purpose is to educate and raise awareness around computer programming and coding. St. Albans City School has taken Hour of Code to the next level and extends the one hour to an entire day!
This year Mrs. Borst and Ms. Bertucci wanted to get more students involved in Day of Code and the planning aspect of it. They taught an elective class to seventh and eighth graders around robotics and event planning. These students spent half of the trimester learning how to code and use different robots. They spent the other half planning activities for students from Pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Having 16 students involved in the planning and execution of the day allowed for the Day of Code to grow even more.
There were activities happening in every common area of the school. In the gym, kindergarten students were programmers trying to help a seventh/ eighth grade student ‘robot’ navigate their way through a giant blue block maze. In the library, students had the opportunity to experience what computer games were like 30 years ago, by playing Oregon Trail in an emulator. A corner of the library showcased technology over time and classes came to experience and see devices that were popular in the past.
Two of the students were challenged with the task to bring in presenters. They reached out to many different schools and organizations. We were lucky to have some great presenters respond. Three graduate students from UVM joined and spoke to sixth graders about their research and all the students were able to try out their latest projects. There were workshops about binary code from St. Albans City School’s network administrator, Hadley Markoski. Third grade students made their own soroban, a Chinese abacus, with John Rouleau.
No matter where you went in the school or what classroom you walked into, teachers were working with students around coding. Whether it was exploring one of the many coding games on the Hour of Code’s website or running an unplugged activity such as binary code bracelets.
The seventh and eighth grade student organizers really stepped up to the plate. They each had their own personalized schedule for the day and custom staff t-shirts. Emily Parent, an eighth grade student organizer, went into all of the second grade classrooms and made robots with about 85 kids. Reflecting on the experience, Parent said: “I now have more respect for the teachers at school, they do so much. I learned a lot stepping into their shoes and working with students. It was nice to explain things that were simple to me, but it were mesmerizing for the students. I loved seeing their creativity while they worked on their projects. I would love to do this again at BFA next year.”
Each year, St.AlbansCity School, tries to make this event a fun and engaging day for not only students but the adults in the building as well. Having 16 seventh and eighth graders involved in the planning and implementation of the event allowed for this event to grow exponentially. The goal is for all students to work on a coding activity during the day, and that was definitely achieved this year.
Ms. Bertucci and Ms. Borst would like to give a big shout out to our student organizers: Mason Ward, Lindsay Bernard, Leland Evans, Emily Parent, Ryan Demore, Hunter Culver, Seth Ward, Eric Sweet, Isabella Williams, Daniel Munn, Kaya Hudak, Joey Nachaczewski, Hailey Holliday, Chris Dubois, Damien Derr and Benjamin Birnbaum.
-- Grace Borst is an innovation specialist and STEAM teacher at St. Albans City School.
Pictures by MITCH CRAIB, St. Albans City School
St. Albans City School goes all in for Day of Code
By GRACE BORST
Special to the Messenger
ST. ALBANS—Every year during the first week of December people all around the world celebrate an event called Hour of Code. Computers are used in so many different professions these days, Hour of Code’s purpose is to educate and raise awareness around computer programming and coding. St. Albans City School has taken Hour of Code to the next level and extends the one hour to an entire day!
This year Mrs. Borst and Ms. Bertucci wanted to get more students involved in Day of Code and the planning aspect of it. They taught an elective class to seventh and eighth graders around robotics and event planning. These students spent half of the trimester learning how to code and use different robots. They spent the other half planning activities for students from Pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Having 16 students involved in the planning and execution of the day allowed for the Day of Code to grow even more.
There were activities happening in every common area of the school. In the gym, kindergarten students were programmers trying to help a seventh/ eighth grade student ‘robot’ navigate their way through a giant blue block maze. In the library, students had the opportunity to experience what computer games were like 30 years ago, by playing Oregon Trail in an emulator. A corner of the library showcased technology over time and classes came to experience and see devices that were popular in the past.
Two of the students were challenged with the task to bring in presenters. They reached out to many different schools and organizations. We were lucky to have some great presenters respond. Three graduate students from UVM joined and spoke to sixth graders about their research and all the students were able to try out their latest projects. There were workshops about binary code from St. Albans City School’s network administrator, Hadley Markoski. Third grade students made their own soroban, a Chinese abacus, with John Rouleau.
No matter where you went in the school or what classroom you walked into, teachers were working with students around coding. Whether it was exploring one of the many coding games on the Hour of Code’s website or running an unplugged activity such as binary code bracelets.
The seventh and eighth grade student organizers really stepped up to the plate. They each had their own personalized schedule for the day and custom staff t-shirts. Emily Parent, an eighth grade student organizer, went into all of the second grade classrooms and made robots with about 85 kids. Reflecting on the experience, Parent said: “I now have more respect for the teachers at school, they do so much. I learned a lot stepping into their shoes and working with students. It was nice to explain things that were simple to me, but it were mesmerizing for the students. I loved seeing their creativity while they worked on their projects. I would love to do this again at BFA next year.”
Each year, St.AlbansCity School, tries to make this event a fun and engaging day for not only students but the adults in the building as well. Having 16 seventh and eighth graders involved in the planning and implementation of the event allowed for this event to grow exponentially. The goal is for all students to work on a coding activity during the day, and that was definitely achieved this year.
Ms. Bertucci and Ms. Borst would like to give a big shout out to our student organizers: Mason Ward, Lindsay Bernard, Leland Evans, Emily Parent, Ryan Demore, Hunter Culver, Seth Ward, Eric Sweet, Isabella Williams, Daniel Munn, Kaya Hudak, Joey Nachaczewski, Hailey Holliday, Chris Dubois, Damien Derr and Benjamin Birnbaum.
-- Grace Borst is an innovation specialist and STEAM teacher at St. Albans City School.
Pictures by MITCH CRAIB, St. Albans City School