Online Teacher Guide
As an online facilitator of the code.org curriculum your primary task is to help guide the students through the curriculum. You are basically there to get them started on the curriculum and help them out when they get stuck. We encourage the kids to use critical thinking to solve the puzzles, but we also don’t want students to get frustrated and quit. Allow each student to move at their own pace. Support them when you have to but encourage them to figure it out on their own.
Starting a new class
Starting a new class is the toughest part of the process. The teacher and students have to get acclimated to the process of getting logged into code.org and using google meet. The students also have to learn how to operate the platform. Here are a few tips.
Daily Class Process
Once we get into the daily class process things run really smoothly. Most days classes start with the Computer Science Video of the Day. If there is an athlete or industry professional visiting the video conference then no video will be played. Once the visit is done you will resume class as usual. Here are the steps for class implementation:
We do not want to totally script your interactions with the class. You will bring your own communication style and personality to the classroom. These steps are a framework to use during your classes. Ultimately our goal is to get all of the students through the curriculum without skipping videos or puzzles. If you develop a more efficient way that works for you, the class and the teacher just email us about it and we can talk it through.
When students finish a course
All the students work at their own pace. All students will finish at different times. When students finish an entire course direct them to the Hour of Code tutorials and allow them to work on those until 80% of the class has finished the current course. The following week you will introduce the new course and they will all start it together.
If students who have finished the course would like to move on to the next course they can, but they are not allowed to ask any questions. All questions will be asked by students who are finishing the current course.
As an online facilitator of the code.org curriculum your primary task is to help guide the students through the curriculum. You are basically there to get them started on the curriculum and help them out when they get stuck. We encourage the kids to use critical thinking to solve the puzzles, but we also don’t want students to get frustrated and quit. Allow each student to move at their own pace. Support them when you have to but encourage them to figure it out on their own.
Starting a new class
Starting a new class is the toughest part of the process. The teacher and students have to get acclimated to the process of getting logged into code.org and using google meet. The students also have to learn how to operate the platform. Here are a few tips.
- Allow them time to work through the log-in process
- Provide access to secret picture if necessary
- Start with a programming lesson (No CS Video)
- Work through the first 5 puzzles then invite students to go forward on their own
- Continue to work through puzzles on the screen until time is up
Daily Class Process
Once we get into the daily class process things run really smoothly. Most days classes start with the Computer Science Video of the Day. If there is an athlete or industry professional visiting the video conference then no video will be played. Once the visit is done you will resume class as usual. Here are the steps for class implementation:
- Greet Class.
- Send CS Video Link to the teacher via Chat feature
- Introduce CS Video of the day or Introduce Athlete Guest
- Recap CS Video or Say Goodbye to Athlete Guest
- Prompt Students to start where they left off
- Monitor class progress and help the students who are falling behind
- Stop class 5 minutes before the end of class
- Address concepts or puzzles that kids are struggling with.
- Say goodbye to your class
We do not want to totally script your interactions with the class. You will bring your own communication style and personality to the classroom. These steps are a framework to use during your classes. Ultimately our goal is to get all of the students through the curriculum without skipping videos or puzzles. If you develop a more efficient way that works for you, the class and the teacher just email us about it and we can talk it through.
When students finish a course
All the students work at their own pace. All students will finish at different times. When students finish an entire course direct them to the Hour of Code tutorials and allow them to work on those until 80% of the class has finished the current course. The following week you will introduce the new course and they will all start it together.
If students who have finished the course would like to move on to the next course they can, but they are not allowed to ask any questions. All questions will be asked by students who are finishing the current course.