Working With Scratch
1. Identify 3 new insights or takeaways from your experience programming with Scratch.
After experiencing the Scratch tutorial and creating my first program, my eyes were opened up to the endless opportunities that Scratch can provide to children and educators around the world. I learned how easy it is to use Scratch to create your own animations, stories and interactive games ("Getting Started with Scratch" 16). Using this website can allow students to learn content in a different way than what they are used to - whether it is understanding what sounds different animals make, or deepening their counting skills with numbers, Scratch can enhance these skills in a fun AND unique way. Additionally, I learned how Scratch allows for someone to make choices, and encourages individuality. Through the tutorial, I saw how much freedom one has to create their own, individualized program, whether it is changing the costume of the character, the sound, the color, the backdrop, the direction; the list goes on. In my future classroom, I would definitely utilize Scratch to improve certain skills, such as story telling, math skills, or even exposing children to different types of music. I would also encourage my students to make their program different from those of their peers, as this is THEIR own creation.
2. How would you describe your experience with Scratch? Did anything surprise you?
I enjoyed my experience with Scratch, however it definitely took some time for me to become accustomed to the tools and layout of the program. I had never been exposed to anything close to this programming site in my years of school, so it was definitely a learning experience, but a very insightful one! I was surprised to see how simple it was, especially with following the tutorial, to create a program using code. Hearing the words "code" or "coding" always intimidated me, as my mind immediately associated this with complicated math operations. However, this experience proved me wrong, and showed me how coding is more so a set of steps and operations that one can create themselves; whether it is as simple as moving your character 10 steps to the right, or playing a certain sound for 5 seconds. I wish I was exposed to Scratch earlier in my education career, and I plan on utilizing it in my future classroom!
References
Getting Started with Scratch [PDF]. (2013). Lifelong Kindergarten Group, MIT Media Lab.
1. Identify 3 new insights or takeaways from your experience programming with Scratch.
After experiencing the Scratch tutorial and creating my first program, my eyes were opened up to the endless opportunities that Scratch can provide to children and educators around the world. I learned how easy it is to use Scratch to create your own animations, stories and interactive games ("Getting Started with Scratch" 16). Using this website can allow students to learn content in a different way than what they are used to - whether it is understanding what sounds different animals make, or deepening their counting skills with numbers, Scratch can enhance these skills in a fun AND unique way. Additionally, I learned how Scratch allows for someone to make choices, and encourages individuality. Through the tutorial, I saw how much freedom one has to create their own, individualized program, whether it is changing the costume of the character, the sound, the color, the backdrop, the direction; the list goes on. In my future classroom, I would definitely utilize Scratch to improve certain skills, such as story telling, math skills, or even exposing children to different types of music. I would also encourage my students to make their program different from those of their peers, as this is THEIR own creation.
2. How would you describe your experience with Scratch? Did anything surprise you?
I enjoyed my experience with Scratch, however it definitely took some time for me to become accustomed to the tools and layout of the program. I had never been exposed to anything close to this programming site in my years of school, so it was definitely a learning experience, but a very insightful one! I was surprised to see how simple it was, especially with following the tutorial, to create a program using code. Hearing the words "code" or "coding" always intimidated me, as my mind immediately associated this with complicated math operations. However, this experience proved me wrong, and showed me how coding is more so a set of steps and operations that one can create themselves; whether it is as simple as moving your character 10 steps to the right, or playing a certain sound for 5 seconds. I wish I was exposed to Scratch earlier in my education career, and I plan on utilizing it in my future classroom!
References
Getting Started with Scratch [PDF]. (2013). Lifelong Kindergarten Group, MIT Media Lab.