The technology side of my brain is not very strong, and I struggle to wrap my mind around very “techy” things like coding and diagnosing computer issues. I was introduced to the program Scratch through the book called Lifelong Kindergarten which was a required text for our ADST class. Coding was entirely new to me and I was not sure how to navigate the platform, which meant I relied heavily on the instructor’s screen to guide me. I struggled with putting the instruction blocks for my cat in the right order and then having my ball or cat move the wrong way or moving farther/not far enough, which made me a little frustrated. I enjoyed the result when I felt like I had finally accomplished what I thought I would not be able to do.
My huge question through this class was how it would fit into a higher-level English classroom and I could not figure out a lot of ways. One way I could bring Scratch in would be to introduce it in the beginning of the semester and use it all the way through because I cannot see a benefit of using it sporadically because there would be no fluid learning happening but more so a type of jagged unit plan. My other concern is that I would have to take the time to become more acquainted with the program because I would not feel comfortable teaching with it if I did not understand it fully myself. For my learners that are technology savvy and have experience with this program I would completely encourage them to use it for a project if they wanted or if I had an IEP in my class that felt more comfortable doing there work though a platform like Scratch, I would be thrilled to let them have that freedom and maybe they can teach me something along the way. One lesson I thought would work well for an English class is if I got my students to build a graphic novel to showcase their learning or comic strips and this program would be a great way to give them the freedom to create something that they enjoy.
I am hesitant on bringing in Scratch to any of my practicums because I am still slightly nervous when teaching and sometimes my lessons do not go according to plan and I have to pivot. I would not want to get the students all excited about bringing the computer trolley in and then having the day not work out as planned due to my lack of knowledge with computers. On that same note, If I invested the time into learning about Scratch and felt more at ease with teaching the program to students, I may bring it in. This is a program I can see myself weaving into my class when I have more concrete plans for units when I have my own class.
A couple of things I love about Scratch: 1) It is SO widely accessible to so many countries and in so many different languages. 2) Its simplistic design that would allow humans of all ages to learn the program. And 3) The language is ENGLISH not all numbers and slashes and dashes and confusing paragraphs of text to try and decipher. In this program, you tell it what you want it to do and it does it!
