Monday, March 26, 2018

Processing

A few years ago I started looking at various programming languages in the hopes of finding the
perfect one to bring into my Middle School computer science classes.  We had covered scratch already and I wanted to give them something that felt like "real coding." (Somehow if they are not typing in commands they sometimes think they are not really writing code.)  I wanted something that would grab their attention right away, and not have a long lead in.  I found the Hour of Code tutorial for Processing. Hello Processing! (https://hello.processing.org/)

This was just what the doctor ordered.  It gave me a way to get them started quickly with something they would like.  The Hello Processing tutorial is browser based but the full program is easy to use as well and a free download.  I have taught Processing as a unit in my class several times since and every time I tweak it a bit. 

Here is the latest version of my Processing handout if you are interested:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pj0DdwEEs5Kgyf1F1nrlSpdv9xzv8IBJ/view?usp=sharing



App Lab from Code.org

App Lab from Code.org
While I am a huge fan of the Hour of Code and the content on Code.org, I haven't used a lot of it in my classes in the past. This is partially because it is built for minimal teacher interaction and I like taking a more active role in my classes.  This year, however, I came across their new App Lab product.  Love it!  (https://code.org/educate/applab) It makes it easy for students at the Middle School level to create something resembling an app.  It's not actually an app but a webpage framed to appear as an app when opened on a phone or tablet.  Students can quickly create a project with multiple screens, text images and sounds.  We used the Hour of Code tutorial to get started, then jumped ahead to parts of their AP CS Principals course that reference App Lab. (https://studio.code.org/s/csp3#) My students are liking it a lot and I think I will be looking for additional ways to use App Lab in future classes.

3D Printing

My students couldn't get enough of 3D printing.  Students used  the 3DC app for iPad (formerly 3D Creationist) and designed projects faster than I could print them.  Some faculty expressed concern that we were spending a lot of time printing lots of plastic crap.  While I could see her point, students who otherwise didn't see themselves as creative or as creators in general were really getting into it.  The 3D printer was often like a fish tank in the way it mesmerized anyone watching it.  Cool stuff.
3D prints, mostly downloded from Thingiverse
3D prints designed by 5th and 6th graders using 3DC for iPad

Soldering with Middle School

Having a dedicated MakerSpace gave me a safe place to experiment with soldering in my Middle School classes.  Students were introduced to soldering through several different projects. We started by watching soldering tutorials from Adafruit which were great! (Collin's Lab: Soldering https://learn.adafruit.com/collins-lab-soldering?view=all)
My 6th graders started experimenting with the Weevile Eye soldering kit from Sparkfun. (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10723
While this was a fun project, it was a bit more precise than I would have liked for a first project.  Other middle schoolers in my club soldered together random electronics parts to make various characters.  This was a better project since it allowed more flexibility and freedom of choice.  Once they got the hang of it, they were more apt to want to take on projects that required soldering for more of a traditional purpose.

Crafting as Making

Maker Spaces are popping up all over, particularly in independent schools.  Some have more of a robotics engineering focus, some incorporate projects more typical of an art classroom.  In my middle school classes at Dana Hall, I wanted my students to begin to see themselves as makers, and I gave them a wide range of materials to work with.  They had some instruction where they needed it but they also had time to explore and make what they were interested in.  

Crafts: 

My students loved to make things with craft materials.  We went through a LOT of popsicle sticks, glue sticks, ping pong balls and material. I wondered sometimes if they were taking full advantage of the space, but then I saw their projects begin to take on more detail, more complexity and more importance. Upon returning for a visit this year, a former student ran up to me very excited to tell me she had finally mastered her fear of hot glue.  This seems a small victory for some, but this had been a milestone for her.  I believe craft materials have their place and makes for a non-threatening way for some to get into making.

LEDs and Simple Circuits

Students incorporated LED lights and created simple circuits into their craft projects as a next step in their making process.  Some of these projects were done as a group in class or in a club while others were done independently with free time in the MakerSpace.

Monsters and Plush animals with LED circuits
This project was inspired by a posted MIT project. (http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~emme/monsters.pdf)
Students designed their own plush toy and incorporated LED lights in some way.  The tutorial from MIT was helpful, but it skipped over the fact that the circuit would need to be turned off and on, and the battery needed to be accessible for replacement.  Students found several solutions for this such as a removable patch on the back, or a simple snap sewn into the circuit as a switch.  Sewing was difficult for some and getting wires crossed while sewing with conductive thread caused some frustration.  We experimented with using thin wire instead of thread for some of the circuit and incorporating some other Lillypad sewing products from Sparkfun (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14528)in addition to the Lily tiny specified in the MIT materials. (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10899)

Paper/Velum and LED Designs
5th graders were tasked with incorporating simple circuits of coin cell batteries and LED lights into a paper project of some kind that would be enhanced with a single source of light. We used Lillypad parts from Sparkfun to keep things as flat as possible.

MakerSpace at Dana Hall

I was fortunate to be part of a team to bring Maker education to Dana Hall in Wellesley, MA.    The MakerSpace was opened in the fall of 2016 and served students from both Middle and Upper Schools in grades 5-12.

Here is a quick tour I gave  in February 2017 for our parents:
https://vimeo.com/200697305

A New Start!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything here.  Finding the right place to keep a running tab of all the work I have done is hard.  It requires finding time to share what I'm doing and that time is sometimes hard to come by.  It's not that I haven't put things out there, but that I've done so in a variety of platforms.  I'll recommit to posting things here as well so I have access to them all in one place moving forward.  You'll likely see (if anyone is reading this besides me) a number of posts dated today or close to today with projects and work dating back several years.

Onward!