This DigiTechTeach blog is a testament to the many powerful ways technology is boosting students’ learning in Berkeley. Although the Chromebook carts primarily live in third through fifth grade classrooms at the elementary level, second grade students are being introduced to technology and building foundational tech skills. Some second grade classes are even buddying up with fourth and fifth graders.
Caroline Brooks who teaches second grade at John Muir Elementary and serves as the site’s Tech Teacher Leader put together a master schedule for John Muir staff listing when Chromebook carts are usually used by the grades 3-5 teachers. Now John Muir’s K-2 teachers know when the carts are available and can implement tech-infused activities. Caroline also put together a presentation for teachers filled with helpful links for getting started.
Her 2nd graders now have “tech buddies” in Alessia Cook’s 5th grade class. Alessia’s students visit Caroline’s classroom for a half hour every two weeks. The peer mentors have taught the younger students how to log into their Chromebooks and introduced them to Typing Club, a self-paced typing program consisting of typing lessons, games, videos, and tests. The fifth graders are stepping up as teachers, the second graders are learning how to navigate computers, and friendships are forming.
Susan Gatt’s fourth grade students at Rosa Parks have second grade reading buddies that sometimes collaborate on special projects. Just recently her students introduced the 2nd graders to Tynker, a self-paced coding program which students can use to animate their own scenes and characters, solve puzzles, and play games using block coding.
All 3rd – 5th grade students have Typing Club accounts and all elementary students have access to Tynker. Students access these subscriptions using the big blue Clever button on the library webpage and logging in with their students.berkeley.net account. Please reach out to one of us on DigiTech if you’d like to learn more.
– Mia Gittlen, K-8 Instructional Technology TSA