It's 7:15 am and I open the door to my room at Green River High School in Green River Wyoming. I start my day here as I go to Expedition Academy High School also in Green River in the afternoon. I have 53 students total in our first year at Green River High School offering Computer Science I courses and beginning next semester will offer Computer Science II at Green River High School and Computer Science III at Expedition Academy High School.
It's 7:15 am and I open the door to my room at Green River High School in Green River Wyoming. I start my day here as I go to Expedition Academy High School also in Green River in the afternoon. I have 53 students total in our first year at Green River High School of offering Computer Science I courses and beginning next semester will offer Computer Science II at Green River High School and Computer Science III at Expedition Academy High School.
My students begin filtering in and open their laptops and go to Google Classroom and get to work. After attendance and a few announcements, I roam the room answering questions, offering suggestions on fixing robots and asking about how their day is going or how their evening went last night. My students are working on their semester project which involves working on a real world problem they have identified that needs to be solved. They then design, build, test and hopefully are successful in solving that problem. We are using two types of robots, Lego EV3 and Meccano. The students have been through units on creating their own Algorithms, AI, Java, creating an app and creating a game. This is their chance to show off what they have learned.
As classes at Green River High School wind down and I head to Expedition Academy, I think about the world my students will live in. I hope in some small way I have given them the start of skills they can use going forward after graduation. As a science teacher for 26 years and then a Math and Computer Science teacher last year and then all Computer Science this year, I enjoy coming to work everyday and looking forward to what new challenges await. Who knows? Maybe it will be one of my students that changes the world!