Tag: project

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Hour of Code

img_7269xJust before we broke for the holidays (December 5-9) students across the Junior School and our Grade 9 students in the Senior School participated in an online global movement called the “Hour of Code”.

The Hour of Code is an international initiative that introduces millions of students around the world to one hour of computer science. The premise of the “Hour of Code” is that everyone should have access to computer science because it nurtures problem-solving skills, logic, and creativity while also providing students with a foundation for success in any 21st Century career path. In fact, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics biennial update of employment projections, by 2020 (the year our Grade 9 students will graduate) employment in all computer occupations is expected to increase by 22%.

img_4061xThe excerpt below from CodeRev, Inspiring Kids To Code offers some valuable insight into why students who begin programming early become so successful.

“Students who learn to program early in life gain a deeper and more complete understanding of the logic and advanced thinking behind programming. Like learning a language early in life, learning and practicing this type of thinking early in development actually influences a child’s brain as it is still developing. This is why early learners have experienced such boundless success in this field (think Gates, Zuckerberg, Jobs,…the list goes on and on). We all know the future of our world is digital…so what can be more important to a child’s future than to provide a child now with a rich foundation in these integral thinking and problem-solving skills that will be so valuable for success in his or her future world.”

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In the Junior School, Education Technology Coordinator, Tara Avenia arranged for  a variety of games and challenges that would  challenge students across the grades to problem solve and develop their own algorithms to find a solution.

  • Grade 1 students played the game Robot Turtles and used their iPads to learn code with “Code Spark Academy”
  • Grade 2 students continued on their learning journey that they began in Grade 1 with the BeeBots
  • Grade 3 students used blocks of code to make a Minecraft Game as well as to play LightBot, a game that asks players to use programming logic to solve puzzles
  • Grade 4 students used code to explore the world of “Frozen”
  • Grade 5s were challenged to design their own custom hero and play that character through a multi-level game
  • Grade 6 students worked with the program Scratch
  • Grade 7 students were challenged with METLAB where they broke problems into smaller chunks while learning basic programming along the way

hourofcode_09dec2016-1638Senior School teachers David Dallman, Noble Kelly, and David Gueulette developed a unique opportunity for our Grade 9 students to work on a challenge that incorporated music composition, new media design, and programming for the “Hour of Code.”

Students were challenged to design a “Sound Board”, an app that produced different sounds depending on what object or part of the screen was touched. Students worked in groups of three, to create, collaborate, and use computational thinking to develop an original design.

img_4067xStudents first followed two tutorials designed to teach them how to use the LiveCode Programming language, before creating their design. As a result of this process, students were exposed to what is involved in real-life app development, beyond simply writing the code itself.

While not everyone completed the challenge over the four blocks dedicated to the challenge, teachers reminded the students that it was the process and not the outcome that was critical to their learning. Students were challenged to collaborate in small cross-disciplinary teams, problem solve, and reflect on what they learned with their classmates.

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YHS Playground Project Proves that Little People Really Can Do Big Work

Gr4-5PlayGroundProject_09Mar2016-8509Early last fall, several faculty members from York House School had the opportunity to deepen the school’s relationship with San Diego’s High Tech High and further extend their learning around project-based learning. Kara McDonald, Melissa Kanavos, Erin Riendl, and Julie Harris participated together with school-based teams at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education, representing nine schools from across North America and faculty from Columbia and Cornell universities.

Gr4-5PlayGroundProject_09Mar2016-8404Central to their learning was examining ways to engage students in hands-on 21st Century learning that cultivates communication, collaboration, as well as critical and creative thinking, while also incorporating student voice and passion. Inspired by their own learning, on their return to YHS, our team of educators connected with three more YHS faculty (Marnie Seliwoniuk, Madeleine Abbott, and Lela Ling) to create an eight-week interdisciplinary project. Eighty of our Grade 4 and 5 students participated in this unique project that explored the themes of play, collaboration, and friendship.

Screen Shot 2016-06-30 at 7.07.56 PMOver the course of the eight weeks, our students explored driving questions such as: How do we sustain friendships? What is play? And how can we build a play structure that encourages collaboration among children?

Students learned about Design Thinking, photography, interviewing techniques for researching, simple machines, innovative play structures, and project management with experts in their fields, and then had the opportunity to reflect on their learning. The project culminated on March 9 in an energizing exhibition where students shared their learning with peers, their families, and educators. The results were truly impressive. Their photography was sophisticated beyond their years, the playground structure designs on display were clever in both form and function, and their reporting back on the research process was thoughtful and insightful.

IMG_1017The students were divided into groups where they focused on three key areas: research, photography, and design. Students explored play and friendships by observing and photographing children playing on the Junior School and Little School play structures as well as other innovative playgrounds in the city. A journalist, Eric Zimmer, talked to them about interviewing skills and writing stories based on interviews. They created open-ended interview questions and interviewed JK, Grade 4, Grade 5, and Grade 8 students to find out about their friendships and how they play. Based on their learnings about friendship and play, they then wrote playground reviews and articles.

Senior School Art Teacher and professional photographer, Jonathan Lee, helped them to explore photography using five criteria (angle, colour, lines and patterns, focus, and the “Rule of Thirds”). With these criteria in mind, they photographed a number of playgrounds and then chose which photos to display as part of the exhibition. Once the photos were chosen, he also provided them with feedback on their selections.

Students used their research on simple machines and play, to design and build a playground structure that encouraged collaborative play between two or more children. Using the Design Thinking process to create the structure, they used a variety of materials including wood and saws to build them and were given feedback from Jeff Musson of Habitat Systems Playground Design.Screen Shot 2016-06-30 at 7.10.58 PMCommenting on what they learned about collaboration:

“I learned that other people that you have not worked with before can bring new ideas and new components to your thinking.” – Terra, Gr. 5

“Sometimes I am a little bossy and that I need to step back and let people do what they want to do and sometimes I need to step up when nobody has anything to say.”
– Sena, Gr. 4

“Before this project, I thought that I was really good at working in a group, and I thought that I’ll have no problem. But throughout the project, I learned that collaborating with your group is hard, and always saying positive things is hard because you might not like the idea, or what they just said.” – Joyce, Gr. 5

Both teachers and students learned a lot from this project and are excited to collaborate on future endeavours that ignite student passions and deepen learning in real-world applications. These are the kinds of authentic learning opportunities that are emphasized in our YHS 2030 strategic priorities and in the new BC Curriculum.

The YHS team is also exploring partnerships with outside educators involved in the High Tech High Program who are interested in building networks and collaborating with students on future project-based initiatives.