Author: Terri Eichholz

Terri is a curriculum and tech integration specialist, speaker, and author with a passion for engaging and empowering learners. She delivers engaging professional learning, consultations on a variety of educational needs, and professional articles for various outlets . Find out more about Terri on the About page in the site menu.
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Kodable

Terri Eichholz

Screen Shot 2013-04-23 at 9.20.17 PM

Well, the opportunities for young people to learn about coding/programming just keep on coming.  Readwrite.com recently posted an article about a new app called “Kodable” that aims to teach children of Kindergarten age and up how to program.  The app is free on iTunes, and offers 30 levels at that low price.  For more levels, there is the in-app purchase of Function Junction for $1.99.

I downloaded Kodable today, and found it to be very engaging (even though I’m a bit older than 6).  It is the perfect follow-up to the Daisy the Dinosaur app.  The object is to create a program that directs a small “fuzzball” through a maze, preferably the portions that allow it to consume gold coins.  The game gradually scaffolds in complexity, beginning by showing you exactly what needs to be done to complete the first level.  (The only reading necessary seems to be when you enter your name to log in.) After that, minor leaps in logic need to be done for the succeeding levels as they increase in difficulty.

I’m pretty confident more of these programming apps for primary kids are going to be showing up, providing even more resources for them to start learning another “language” and logic and problem solving skills that will serve them well in the future.

For some more resources for teaching programming, you might want to view my recent post on Hopscotch and Tynker.

Education, K-12, Parenting, Teaching Tools, Videos, Websites

Real Change: Artists for Education

Terri Eichholz
from "Estella's Brilliant Bus"
from “Estella’s Brilliant Bus”, one of the short clips featured here

Real Change is a television program that will air this evening, Tuesday, April 23rd, on CBS.  According to IMDb, the show “celebrates teachers and individuals who make a difference in American schools today.”

I’m not sure about you, but we are in the middle of standardized testing season here in Texas.  At a time when so many people decry the value of our school system and, sometimes, the abilities of the teachers it employs, it is nice to see some reminders that we educators really can have a positive impact.

Below, I’ve embedded the trailer for the show.  You can find other clips on this page, sponsored by Office Depot.  You can also visit this link online to watch the show – officedepot.com/realchange.  And, if you would like to give a shout out to a favorite educator, you can tweet  it, #TeachersChangeLives.

Interested in seeing more inspirational videos for teachers? Visit my Pinterest Board, http://pinterest.com/terrieichholz/inspirational-videos-for-teachers/.

Creative Thinking, Education, K-12, Language Arts, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Videos, Writing

Video Writing Prompts

Terri Eichholz

I found out about the Video Writing Prompts site from one of my new, favorite blogs, Technology Tailgate.  Video Writing Prompts is part of teachhub.com. What’s nice about this resource is that it has done all of the work for teachers by collecting the videos and offering thought-provoking questions for different sets of grade levels. Many of the videos are movie trailers, and not all of them would work with elementary kids. But if you click on the link, you will see the appropriate grade levels and questions. (As always with videos, however, please preview before you show your class.) I can think of some higher level questions to go with some of the videos, but the fact that they are already curated and have some suggestions gives me a great jumping off point.

Video Writing Prompt for Monsters University Trailer
Video Writing Prompt for Monsters University Trailer
Apps, Education, Fun Friday, Games, K-12, Research, Social Studies, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Videos

Morfo

Terri Eichholz

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Morfo is an app that was probably designed purely for entertainment, but some creative teachers have found a way to make it educational.  Because it can be both, I decided to use it for this week’s Fun Friday post.

Morfo is a free app on iTunes that allows you to basically animate a still picture of a face.  After you give the app some direction, the eyes on the face will move around, and you can add a recording that will play as the mouth moves.  You can even change facial expressions.

I was trying to make an example for you, but gave up after I goofed up five recordings.  Fortunately for me, the internet was right at my fingertips.  I found this delightful video that not only explains how to use the Morfo app but, by applying it to a picture of Henry the VIII, gives it the educational tweak that I was trying to achieve.  In addition, the narrator has a lovely accent that sounds much better than any recording I could ever make! Here is the link in case the video does not play: http://youtu.be/N4geZwqZ-Lg

Apps, Education, K-12, Parenting, Problem Solving, Teaching Tools, Websites

Hopscotch and Tynker

Terri Eichholz
photo from Tynker.com
photo from Tynker.com

First of all, I have a confession to make; I know very little about programming.  What I do know is that it is wonderful for teaching problem solving skills and logic.  I also know that those skills, and programming specifically, are in high demand in our nation’s job market.

So it makes sense that we should find ways to introduce our children to programming early.  While they learn, so can we.  Hopscotch and Tynker both aim to do that.

Hopscotch is an iPod app that is free, and allows the player to create simple programs using methods similar to MIT’s Scratch (also free). I have mentioned two other apps – Daisy the Dinosaur and Cargobot – before on this blog, and I think Hopscotch fits perfectly between them.  Daisy is a fabulous introduction to young children.  Hopscotch would be the next logical stage.  And Cargobot has more complex challenges.  All of these apps are free.

Tynker is a web-based platform, and also looks similar to Scratch.  I have not tried it yet, but read about it here.  I just got my registration approved, and I am eager to try it.  I used Codeacademy earlier this year with my students, but I am looking for something a bit more kid-friendly, and Tynker looks promising.

According to this Forbes online article, Hadi Partovi of Code.org “cites estimates that 1.4 million programming jobs will be needed over the next decade while current projections are for only 400,000 graduates in the field.”

We can change this with the help of resources like Hopscotch and Tynker.

H/T to my co-worker, “D”, for forwarding me info about Hopscotch!

Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Education, Games, K-5, Math, Parenting, Science, Teaching Tools

GoldieBlox Now on Sale

Terri Eichholz

glb001

Last November, I posted about a new toy that was expected on the market this April.  I just received an announcement from Fat Brain Toys that they have GoldieBlox in stock now for $29.99.

In case you don’t remember, GoldieBlox is the creation of Stanford graduate, Debbie Sterling.  She intends to produce a series of these toys that are designed to encourage young girls to engage in engineering.  The first kit of the series, GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine, includes a book and a project kit.  The minimum recommended age is 6 years old.

In my first post on GoldieBlox, I mentioned my discouragement in finding so many online toys that were labeled with traditional gender roles.  I applaud Debbie Sterling’s attempt to even the playing field by creating an engineering toy that may have more appeal for girls, but I still hope for a near future when there is no distinction.  That being said, this looks like an interesting educational toy, and I would love to get feedback from anyone who uses it with students or their own children.