It’s an odd idea to handle at first – how to fit coding standards into a reading lesson, but Beaufort County Schools (BCS) has been experimenting with it for years.
In high school, you can enroll in computer science as a standalone course. At BCS, they are integrating the state coding standards into every subject area in every grade, becoming a statewide model for its seamless integration of coding lessons into other subject areas.
In Ms. Samantha Lewis’s 2nd grade classroom at Northeast Elementary in Pinetown, students are just being introduced to the technology. They’re using Bee-bots to review numbers in written, expanded, and standard form.
Bee-bots are a bit bigger than a softball and have a keypad on their backs that students use to program it. It helps teach elementary coding standards: directional programming, computational thinking, trial and error, and most importantly, how to think like a programmer.
In this activity, Bee-bot is placed on a large grid on the floor. A number is placed in each square, and students must direct Bee-bot to arrive at the correct number on the floor in standard, written or expanded form.
Summer Dail is the Director of Instructional Technology at BCS. She says using the technology in the classroom teaches coding and English standards while also being engaging for the students.
“The cool thing is that it's kind of like parents cooking something and they hide vegetables in it. The kids don't even know,” Dail said. “Well, this is kind of the same concept in that we are giving them this really cool tool that they get to use and really explore their creativity ... but they're also learning regular math, science, ELA standards, and they have no clue.”
The kids enjoy the activity, and Ms. Lewis says it’s easy to replicate for other lessons. She’s also used the Bee-bots to help students identify spelling patterns.
“They enjoy getting to do the coding part of it and the trial and error of it because sometimes they don't make it to the right spot, and then they're like ‘Oh, I should have turned here. I should have gone straight here,’” she said. “It's really cool to see them and their brains just working.”
As students move to higher grade levels, the technology becomes more sophisticated. In Ms. Kim Smith’s 3rd grade class, they’re using Makey-Makey to verbally record their answer to an article on the Gameboy.
A Makey-Makey is a credit-card sized circuit board. It hooks up to a computer and replaces the keyboard, so if students want to ‘press’ the spacebar, they must wire their Makey-Makey to do so.
Ms. Smith is an English and Social Studies teacher, so using science and technology tools in her classroom is not a natural occurrence. But, she’s used the Makey-Makey in other activities throughout the year and says it helps some students perform better in the classroom.
“I find it really helps them with communicating. Some of them have a hard time putting what they want to write into words,” she said. “The Makey-Makeys have been a good tool, especially, for my lower academic students who have a hard time writing, but it gives them a feeling of accomplishment.”
The school district’s focus is to not only teach the state’s coding standards, but also increase engagement. Whereas a read-and-write activity would have tested the same concepts, in Ms. Smith’s raucous, yet controlled 3rd grade classroom, students are working in groups to wire a board and answer the same questions.
Andrea Lilley, the BCS’s chief technology officer, says the district adopted these practices as part of a shift toward more collaboration and away from lecture-based lessons.
“We have always tried as a district to stay on the leading edge of whatever new technology there is. We're always interested in the most innovative thing out there,” Lilley said. “The students are learning way more than what you would think they would compared to a regular classroom sitting in rows, and we don't really sit in rows anymore.”
In Ms. Anita Rayburn’s 6th grade English classroom, students are reviewing for an upcoming quiz by using Sphero, a spherical coding robot. It’s like a level up from the Bee-bots used in Ms. Lewis’s 2nd grade classroom. Students have more they can program into Sphero, and because of its shape, students have to think more about its movement.
“They have to be very precise when they code him, so it takes a lot of failures to get it right,” Dail said. Surprisingly enough, they really do a really good job with it.”
Each group in Ms. Rayburn’s class is doing a different activity with Sphero. In one corner, they’re summarizing novels they’ve read and having Sphero pass through tunnels labeled “First,” “Then,” “Next” and “Last.” In another corner, they’re directing the robot around a grid with different literary devices in each square. They pull a card with an example of a literary device on it (“BAM!”) and direct the robot to the correct square on a grid (“Onomatopoeia”).
Ms. Rayburn is an experienced teacher who has embraced using the tech in her classrooms. BCS’s use of these tools in classroom is voluntary, but a lot of teachers have adopted it. Ms. Rayburn says Sphero and other technology has shown its worth in her middle school classroom.
“Somebody may think they are not paying attention, but they really are because they’re using the information that I'm teaching to do the activity,” she said. “So, they're showing the application process and their knowledge through the Spheros.”
Every school in Beaufort County has access to Sphero, Makey-Makey, Bee-Bot and other technology. The district has been slowly building up its stock over the last six years using funds from the state’s Coding and App Development Grant, which aims to increase the state’s technology workforce and inspire students to pursue careers in IT.
Jakob Fisher is a 10th grader at Northside High School who has been using Sphero in Ms. Nancy Lebarge’s math class. He believes coding ought to become standard in American education.
“Now it's like English science or math. You need to learn it,” he said. "All these apps and programs—like online classes—those had to be programmed to teach somebody. Everyone should learn coding no matter how old or young you are."
He and three other students from Ms. Lebarge’s class showed their programming skills during my visit.
Conner Bowen and Devin Wynn programmed their Sphero’s to play tag. One robot broadcast a signal to chase, while the other broadcast a signal to evade. Once they made contact, they switched signals, chasing each other around the library in a never-ending loop.
Mercedes Harmon programmed her Sphero to read the opening pages of a book she read, complete with an internal light display and sound effects.
Ms. Lebarge is a veteran teacher whose says the tech fits well with her teaching style.
“math is very dry, so you have to bring humor,” she said. “You have to bring activities. You have to collaborate. They learn from each other better.”
Sphero introduces students to block-based coding – which can be thought of as using lego blocks to build an application, where each block tells the robot what to do. Block-based coding is the most common method for introducing students to programming because it is a visual method and less prone to syntax errors. It can be used to build some websites and apps, and it’s a steppingstone to more complex coding languages.
