Simply Seeking Syllabus for 5th-8th Grade Squeaking

John.Maloney at disney.com John.Maloney
Fri Apr 18 14:19:12 PDT 2003


B.J. Conn, a teacher at the Open Charter School in Los Angeles (a public
magnet school) has been using Squeak in her classroom for the past two
years. She has enough computers to have one kid per computer, and it
works very well.

On May 1st, I'm going to try teaching a 40 minute introduction to Squeak to
several classes of fifth graders. We don't have enough comptuers to go around,
so I'm planning to have kids work in pairs and take turns. I can let you know
how that works out. (It will be my first time teaching Squeak, and I'm a
programmer, not a teacher, so I think I will make many mistakes.)

My suggestion is to start with 6 kids and see how it goes. If you are the
only person teaching, this also gives a better student/teacher ratio.

I think B.J. may be able to help you with the course outline. How many
class meetings will you have, and how long per session?

	-- John

P.S. B.J. I cc-ed you in case you are not yet on the Squeakland mailing list.

At 8:26 AM -0500 4/19/01, Mark A. Schwenk wrote:
>I talked to the director of the public library in Glen Ellyn, IL about 
>using their computer lab to host some Squeaking sessions. After I explained 
>a bit about Squeak, the director suggested that I develop an outline for a 
>Squeak course to be offered this summer at the library for 5th-8th graders.
>
>Can anyone suggest suitable lessons and activities in Squeak for such a course?
>
>It appears there are 6 PCs in the lab. Do others think I should I aim for 6 
>or 12 students per session? I was wondering if anyone has experience with 
>solo vs. pair programming at this level.
>
>I appreciate your insights!
>
>-Mark Schwenk
>  WellThot Inc.



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