Introducing children and/or school to Squeak

Brewer, Naala Naala.Brewer
Fri Apr 18 14:53:20 PDT 2003


Hi everyone,

What I did was first develop a set of tutorials to introduce the novice to
the mechanics of the user interface of Squeak.  I had to ask myself, "What
are the most important tools that the novice will need to get started
without being overloaded with too much extraneous information?"  Once the
novice has the basic mechanics down (and there are only 3 of them to really
get started), they are able to start delving into Squeak in a very
exploratory and creative mode.  After these tutorials were developed and
tested with BJ's class, the students were able to create a variety of
projects. 

Next, I wanted to use Squeak to demonstrate some deep mathematical concepts.
It is amazing what you can do with Squeak that cannot be done in some high
sophisticated mathematical programs like Mathematica, Matlab, or Maple.  I
developed a set of projects geared toward the student who had already
learned the basic mechanics of the user interface of Squeak.  They were very
exploratory and mathematical in nature - based on concepts such as
parametric equations, cycloids, gravity, tangent lines, curvature of a
circle, etc..  

I have used these projects with 9th and 10th graders this past school year
and they could easily used with 8th graders or tailored for younger
students.  I have been so busy this year working with the students on
Squeak, getting their Squeak lessons on the school server, and documenting
what they have done, that I don't have the links ready yet.  But I do have
the projects if anyone would be interested in trying them out. Squeak has
worked wonderfully in this NSF funded project.

With my best,
Naala 

> ----------
> From: 	Alejandro F. Reimondo
> Reply To: 	squeakland at squeakland.org
> Sent: 	Thursday, May 10, 2001 6:32 AM
> To: 	'squeakland at squeakland.org'
> Subject: 	RE: Introducing children and/or school to Squeak
> 
> Hi,
> I have a similar oportunity to use squeak with children
>  in an experimental short course (4 days x 4 hours x ~12 children)
>  at Buenos Aires, Argentina.
> I will be very pleased if you can share experiencies (or links)
>  teaching smalltalk concepts to children of ~12->15 years old.
> thanks in advance,
> Ale.
> http://www.smalltalking.net
> 
> ----------
> De: 	Mark A. Schwenk[SMTP:mas at wellthot.com]
> Responder a: 	squeakland at squeakland.org
> Enviado el: 	Jueves 10 de Mayo de 2001 00:49
> Para: 	Origbj at aol.com; squeakland at squeakland.org
> Asunto: 	Re: Introducing children and/or school to Squeak
> 
> B.J.,
> 
> I'd also like to hear more details of your lessons, as well as any 
> Squeak-centric preparatory work.
> 
> I talked with the Youth Services Director at our local library this
> evening 
> about teaching a free course at the library. We are now planning to offer
> a 
> Squeaking With Your Computer workshop consisting of two two-hour sessions.
> 
> The sessions would be spread across two consecutive Saturdays in July and 
> would be offered to six student-parent pairs. The students would be fourth
> 
> and fifth graders. Although initially we considered twelve students, the 
> Director thought that many parents would be interested and would like to 
> participate. What do others think? Perhaps later we could hold separate 
> workshops for parents and teachers in addition to the young student
> classes.
> 
> As we gain more experience with this, I think Squeaking classes could 
> become a regular offering at our library. The library staff members I have
> 
> spoken with feel quite comfortable with the notion that Squeak could be an
> 
> essential part of the new literacy, and thus part of their mission.
> 
> Then we can expand into the local schools...
> 
> I had previously worked with one local high-school senior who served an 
> internship at WellThot to create a Squeak test suite (which inspired some 
> of Richard Harmon's work on Smalltalk test suites that grew into the Camp 
> Smalltalk ANSI test suites, now included with the Squeak World Tour
> image).
> 
> Before long we may grow a local community of Squeakers!
> 
> -Mark Schwenk
>   WellThot Inc.
> 
> At 5/9/2001 10:17 AM, James Howe wrote:
> >At 10:27 PM 5/8/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> >>Hi:
> >>
> >>     I am a teacher at a charter school and have been using Squeak in my
> >>classroom for 2 years.  I have tied my lessons into the standards and
> would
> >>be happy to share what I have done with my students.
> >>
> >>B.J.Conn
> >>Open Charter School
> >
> >
> >I would be interested in anything you have to share about what you did 
> >with your students.  I'm particularly interested in how you got your 
> >students started using Squeak in the first place.  What sort of basics 
> >were needed to be taught before the students could start on projects?  I 
> >would also be interested in hearing about some of the projects you had 
> >your students work on.  I've seen a couple on Squeakland, but I would be 
> >interested in knowing about others.
> >
> >Thanks.
> >
> >
> >James W. Howe                   mailto:jwh at allencreek.com
> >Allen Creek Software, Inc.              pgpkey:
> http://ic.net/~jwh/pgpkey.html
> >Ann Arbor, MI 48103
> 
> 
> 



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