squeakland April 2003

squeakland@lists.squeakfoundation.org

104 participants
293 discussions

Introducing children and/or school to Squeak
by Origbj＠aol.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

For Those of you who asked: You can find the tutorials that I created to introduce to my students to Squeak on the Squeakland site. There may be some differences in the current image and the image I used at that time. The first tutorial introduced the children to the basics and the second tutorial introduced them to the handles. Feel free to change or update to meet your needs. BJ Conn Open Charter School

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Introducing children and/or school to Squeak
by Naala.Brewer＠disney.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

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(a)squeakland.org > Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 6:32 AM > To: 'squeakland(a)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@wellthot.com] > Responder a: squeakland(a)squeakland.org > Enviado el: Jueves 10 de Mayo de 2001 00:49 > Para: Origbj(a)aol.com; squeakland(a)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@allencreek.com > >Allen Creek Software, Inc. pgpkey: > http://ic.net/~jwh/pgpkey.html > >Ann Arbor, MI 48103 > > >

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Default size for Squeak
by m.rueger＠acm.org 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

The default size for the Squeak plugin is now 1024x768. If your browser window is smaller than this vertical and/or horizontal scroll bars will appear and enable you to view the complete Squeak project page. The preferred way to look at the projects is in full screen mode though :-) You can enable/disable full screen mode through the "golden navigator bar" at the bottom of the Squeak page. Michael

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Simply Seeking Syllabus for 5th-8th Grade Squeaking
by Naala.Brewer＠disney.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

I just want to echo what Dave has said with the experiences I've had with 9th and 10th graders using Squeak this past school year. I've had to blend in the Squeak experiences with the regular day to day classroom activities, which means that most of the time I was not given the opportunity of showing a demonstration first. What I've found is that there is great power in ownership and then presentation to peers and professionals. Squeak gives them ownership and squeakland.org will be one source of presentation. The level of creativity, professionalism, and pride was astounding when the students knew that they were going to be acknowledged and peer reviewed. And as much as I'd like to take credit for this, I had very little to do with it other than being a source of input and support when needed. Congrats to Michael and all for getting Squeakland.org up and running! Naala > ---------- > From: Dave Master > Reply To: squeakland(a)squeakland.org > Sent: Thursday, May 3, 2001 11:28 AM > To: squeakland(a)squeakland.org > Cc: John.Maloney(a)disney.com > Subject: Re: Simply Seeking Syllabus for 5th-8th Grade Squeaking > > This issue you've uncovered and focused on, I think, > is one of the most central issues in education, > curriculum design and teaching. I've struggled, and > continue to struggle, with this delicate balance and > "dance" of exploration and instruction every day. I > don't have any pat answers, nor do I think there are > any;but I'll share my experience struggling with > it...here 'goes... > I have scaffolded this issue from a number of > directions over the years...I personally don't feel it > is an "either/or" proposition; at least from my > experience. I agree that if students whom are > introduced to a demo may "get farther", if "farther" > is defined in a certain manner and, if "farther" is > our goal. But, first we should determine what > "farther" is and if it is always desirable. > I've found that a steady diet of direction at > the outset of activities cripples students in other > ways later on...in ways that traditional schools fail > to measure, or seem to care about. Having the students > try to apprehend something initially, and trying to > comprehend it for themselves, constructing their own > initial conceptualization to test in demonstration > first to their friends and trusted peers...being > allowed to look over one another's shoulder and > "cheat" in this second stage of development is some of > the best scaffolded learning I've ever seen in my > classes.And all of it happened with little or no > direction on my part. > I found that after a period of individual, "joyous > exploration" and apprehension (in every sense of that > word!); and a period of peripheral and peer-scaffolded > "testing"; my students felt that their personal "take" > on the challenge was honored (as divergent as it may > have been) and, that they then had more confidence in > their ability to explicitly exhibit that > understanding with a "public" performance of > their"take" to the class.In fact, many of my students > would crack into the operating systems of the > computers when they needed to; and I'm at a loss to > even begin to explain to them how to accomplish THAT > feat.(Alan usually came in and hired THOSE kids from > my class! ha ha) > Over the last two decades, hundreds of my > students have gone on into professions in the arts, > animation, media and software and hardware design. > And, the ones that moved into the creative aspects of > these fields all have credited this initial period of > "messin' about" with a concept or a "tool", with their > professional confidence in muddling thru frustrating > challenges. (Martha Stone Wiske and David Perkins > write about this process in their book, TEACHING FOR > UNDERSTANDING; as does Alfred North Whitehead in his > book THE AIMS OF EDUCATION, he calls this "the stage > of romance"). > I am not so "Pollyanna" as to think that every > child must muddle thru every process from the > get-go...but, I think we should be careful not to > excise some healthy anxiety from the learning equation > too quickly and too often. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi > writes quite convincingly and eloquently about the > delicate balance between anxiety and the growth of > ability and self-efficacy (his books FLOW; CREATIVITY; > and TALENTED TEENAGERS are quite provocative on this > matter). > The teacher's timely interventions and > scaffolding of each students journey into > understanding of more complex challenges is the > musicianship and artistry of teaching; when to "teach" > and when to question, challenge and support. I've > tried for my entire career to design ME (the teacher) > out of as much of this process as is possible. To > design experiences that engage students at an access > point they feel comfortable with almost > immediately...but, not a dumbed down curricular > task...but, a challenge that quickly leads them into > self-empowerment and complexity appropriate to their > interest and ability level at any given point. This is > the never-ending challenge that drives me every day. > I presently co-direct a Virtual Distance Animation > program called ACME that utilizes this approach with > H.S. and University students across the nation...it is > a derlicate balance every telecast...AND, we've added > to the mix bi-weekly interventions and critique and > challenges from professionals in the field...when a > student, a teacher and a class think that they've "got > it" they can "up the ante" and show it to a > professional in the field. We call this "who > sez?".This "social validation process" exists in the > real world; and I believe it is crucial for the > development of not only the students, but quite > possibly more enlightenening for we teachers, to > engage in this "dance" of reconciliation and > critque.(Again, Csikszentmihalyi's book CREATIVITY > really gets into this delicate, but real, social > "dance"). > If I hadn't opened my classroom doors and my > curriculum to field professional critque my strategies > and personal understanding would have grown at a > snails pace. Frank Thomas, Chuck Jones and Bill Scott > helped me become a bridge to the future for my > students. But, professional intervention can become > mere training in technique if we don't watch out for > balance between personal expression and principled > instruction...a question of insightful design,timely > intervention and teacher "musicianship" and ongoing > reflection about our own practice, focused on student > evidence and performance...and, finally a dash, or > whatever you can get, of "who sez?" > I think one of the many great experiments that > "Squeak" may launch many of us into is just such > reflections, observations, dialogue and collections of > anecdotal evidence...hopefully some patterns may > emerge...what a great journey it will be! > Thanks Jim and John for stimulating me so > much this morning...now, back to it! Dave Master > <dave_master_edu(a)yahoo.com> > > --- John.Maloney(a)disney.com wrote: > > Mark, > > > > Scott Wallace and I recently taught 3 classes of 33 > > kids at a local elemantary > > school's "Discovery Day". The first two classes were > > fifth graders, the last > > class was sixth graders. We worked throught the > > "Drive-a-car" example. > > Our experiences strongly supports John Steinmetz's > > observations of the > > Open School classes. In particular: > > > > Re: > > >One way of teaching that has worked well: at the > > beginning of a session do > > >a short demonstration for all the kids, showing > > them the activity before > > >you turn them loose to do it. That way if there are > > any unfamiliar skills > > >or concepts needed for success, you can introduce > > them while giving > > >everybody a feel for the activity. > > > > We actually taught one of the first two classes with > > an up-front demonstration > > and one without it. Even though the up-front demo > > takes an extra five minutes > > (out of 40 minutes), the class with the demo got > > further. We decided to > > teach the final group with the demo and that class > > also got further. One > > practical thing about an up-front lecture/demo: > > that's the only time you really > > have the full attention of everyone in the class. > > After they start their projects, > > some of them will always be distracted when you ask > > for their attention. > > In fact, we asked them to not even start up Squeak > > until we'd finished the > > initial demo and introduction, and that was a good > > idea. > > > > > > Re: > > >Iit's good to have plenty of help available for the > > kids--especially at the > > >beginning. So that means you should have a small > > group or some assistants. > > >Any computer activity involves confusions and > > missteps, and Squeak is a > > >research system so there are even more possible > > confusions and blind alleys. > > > > Scott and I were only two "teachers" for 33 kids who > > had never seen Squeak. > > I thought it would be a chaos. Actually, it worked > > better than I expected, in > > part because we only had 18 computers, so kids > > worked in pairs. That > > meant you could help two kids at once, and often one > > of the two would > > understand your suggestions quickly. In contrast, we > > recently taught 14 > > kids who had never seen Squeak at Disney's "Bring > > your child to work day" > > and we had about seven teachers. In that situation > > progress was very fast, > > because kids who were stuck got immediate attention. > > However, I don't > > believe that many teachers is necessary. I thank > > that if Scott and I had just > > one more assistant, it would have been optimal: one > > teacher for every six pairs. > > (Actually, one might say it is the computer/teacher > > ratio that matters! You > > want that ratio to be under six for maximum > > progress.) > > > > Your original posting said there were six PC's in > > the lab. I think that's > > about the max for a single teacher, but there should > > be no problem > > with pairing up two kids per computer. If you do > > this, I'd limit it > > to 10 kids on 5 computers, at least for your first > > time. That would > > also leave one machine available as your "demo" > > machine. You also > > said it would be open to kids from 5th-8th grade. We > > had > > that same span for the "Bring your child to work > > day". In that case, > > the eighth grader was noticably faster and more > > self-sufficient than > > the youngest kid. If that happens in your class, you > > could recruit the > > fastest kids as teachers. > > > > Good luck! > > > > -- John > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices > http://auctions.yahoo.com/ > >

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Simply Seeking Syllabus for 5th-8th Grade Squeaking
by mas＠wellthot.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

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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Welcome to Squeakland
by Michael.Rueger＠disney.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

Hello. You've received this email because you have expressed interest in Squeak and have visited http://www.squeakland.org. If you have not been to the site recently, it's time to visit again! The Squeak "Plug-In" is ready for your download to the Mac OS or Windows platform. Please take the time to download Squeak and explore the existing games and projects. Squeak and Squeakland are by no means finished. We'd love your comments and feedback. Squeak is the development of many people spread around the world, all of whom have something in common -- the desire to create dynamic media based on compelling content. Many of us are interested in creating this media to amplify learning and to enable a deeper understanding of powerful ideas. Squeak, Squeakland.org and the Squeak community will evolve, grow and improve. Bear with us as we explore and enter into new domains of media, and please join us in creating new models for learning and creativity. Once you have installed Squeak on your computer, use the gold "navigator bar" to "escape from browser" and free yourself of your internet broswer's borders so you can fully immerse youself in a Squeak environment -- don't worry, you can return to your browser simply by clicking the button labelled "browser entry" on the navigator bar. We invite you to become part of our community and help us to understand what it means to be an author of new media in the 21st century. We welcome your play, your participation, your comments and your creations. Keep on Squeaking!

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Squeakland.org
by Alan.Kay＠disney.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

Squeakland.org As all of you know, Squeakland.org is currently "under construction" and due to open "any week now". Our plans have been to have at least three sites, one for each of the authoring environments in Squeak that we've been working on. So: * Squeakland.org is primarily for children, parents and teachers who use "etoys" * SqueakOmni.org is for "Omniuser Squeakers" -- sort of from Hypercard to Lingo and beyond * Squeak.org is for "Expert Level" Squeakers -- the bolts, nuts and guts of the system The middle site and the middle authoring environment are quite a few months away from birth. The first goals for Squeakland.org are to make sure that the plugin can be downloaded and run everywhere with as little difficulties as possible. We enlist your aid to help do these tests. The mailing list -- squeakland(a)squeakland.org -- is hoping to attract people who are interested in elementary education and play and how computing might enhance them. Specifically, we are looking for enough day to day users of the site to create a forum for our next stages, which include a sample curriculum, and the next round of etoys. It would be nice to generate about10-50 emails a day about these issues. We at SqC plan to develop a trial curriculum this summer with several teachers that we've been working with, and we will do most correspondance using squeakland(a)squeakland.org. Though an important part of this mailing list is to get bug reports, we plan to copy all technical emails to the regular Squeak mailing list. Squeakers, please don't scare off the parents and teachers -- after the children, they are our main intended users. We will send out quite a bit more information about how to use the site as it gets closer to completion. For now, please try downloading the plugins and then try navigating around, both at the top HTML level of the site, and the entirely within Squeak levels below. Cheers, Alan

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Simply Seeking Syllabus for 5th-8th Grade Squeaking
by Andreas.Raab＠disney.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

Hi Mark, > By the way, I'd like to explore the guided tour of the > experience at the Open Charter School at > http://squeakland.org/learn/elementary.html. Will > this be available soon? Although many project links are > active on that page, the guided tour is not yet active. Unfortunately we still have a bit of trouble related to all those server issues. Just today we tried to make the tour available and run into some deeper issues. But we're working on it, so stay tuned! Cheers, - Andreas

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Where are the rules for this list?
by JArchibald＠aol.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

=> 4/30/01 4:08:31 AM EDT, csawtell(a)xtra.co.nz => << Is this the list for _absolute_ beginners at squeaking? >> Well, I've just made my first error reply to this list. Arrgghh! I naively thought I was replying to the Squeak Mailing List. What I said previously applies to that list. Squeakland.org is new, and as far as I know, has not been formally announced. So what its function, community, and future is may have to play out for a while. I can say this much: at the current time, the Squeakland mailing list has not generated much traffic. Those who are interested in Squeak, and how one develops material using Squeak, particularly those having a programming background and/or orientation, would probably benefit from some exposure to the primary Squeak communication resources (Squeak.org as a starting point, along with the Squeak Mailing List which contains the day to day conversation of Squeak explorers and researchers, and the Squeak Swiki (minnow.cc.gatech.edu/Squeak) which contains a more distilled and organized compilation of Squeak information). I would be interested in seeing posting to this Mailing List by the originators of Squeakland.org, as to what their opinions are on submissions to the mailing list, and also pointers on Squeak development approaches considered appropriate for beginners. Good luck, Jerry. ____________________________ Jerry L. Archibald systemObjectivesIncorporated ____________________________

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*absolute* beginners at squeaking -- Was: Where are the rules for this list?
by JArchibald＠aol.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

=> 4/30/01 4:08:31 AM EDT, csawtell(a)xtra.co.nz => << Is this the list for _absolute_ beginners at squeaking? I feel a total nitwit because I can't find any instructions which tell me how to load a text file containing a Squeak program into the image. Take it gently now, while I have been at these dumputers for 30 years I've never seen anything like, or as exciting as, Squeak. >> << Where are the rules for this list? >> RULES ?! RULES ?! We don't need no stinking rules ! ! ! :-) All kidding aside, in addition to all its other functions, this mailing list is also the appropriate place for questions from absolute beginners. Certainly for ones who have been working with computers for 30 years. Concerning loading of a text file ... typically programs in Smalltalk (Squeak is a Smalltalk development environment) are programmed and developed within the Smalltalk environment itself. In Squeak, the background menu point "open..." and then "browser" will bring up the primary code inquiry/program development tool. When you "change" a piece of code (a method they are called) and choose "accept" in the "code pane", the change is compiled and the resulting change in behavior is part of your new world. Check out factorial for example in class Integer (trial expression of '5 factorial', '10 factorial' etc.) then change the factorial code to mean (for example) '2 to the', and see what that does. However, occasionally we bring in a group of method and class definition as a file. This is how changes are distributed to others, for example. In such a case, we open a tool called the 'file list' -- sequence is "background menu>>open...>>file list". Then one selects a file, in the list of file names, and the menu point "fileIn" will evaluate the entire file, generating whatever method or class changes which result. Don't hesitate to ask your questions here. Newcomers are certainly welcome and keep those more experienced on their toes. Try to read the submissions of others, as many others here are relative beginners also. Check the pointers starting from http://squeak.org (particularly the Swiki, at http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/Squeak) and you may find that many of your questions may have been answered already. Good luck, Jerry. ____________________________ Jerry L. Archibald systemObjectivesIncorporated ____________________________

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squeakland April 2003