View & Respond – What Most Schools Don’t Teach [Short Film]

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Today, the class will work on (7.SL.1) & (7.SL.5) common core speaking/listening standards with this view & respond about teaching kids how to code on computers. From Fox News, “NEW YORK – Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter creator Jack Dorsey are among the tech luminaries appearing in a new video promoting the teaching and learning of computer coding in schools.” I literally decided to implement this view and respond about 30 minutes ago. I knew I downloaded this video for a reason, and today that reason will hopefully come to fruition. I can remember in the early 1990’s when I learned how to type. I thought it was the coolest thing. I had no idea of how it would help me later on in life. I now type around 65 to 70 words a minute. It’s not earth shattering, but it’s a good skill to have. I also taught myself how to build very modest websites by learning how to code in my early 20’s. That too was a very good skill to have. I’m hoping that I reach a good portion of students so that I may spark their interest in something that will be a very good skill to have in the future, coding. Some of the students are already interested in this because they have told me to visit their websites that they put together in Computer Class, and that is soooo awesome!

As I mentioned previously, this view and respond was a spur of the moment type of idea, so I didn’t have time to create a handout. However, I think the video will do a good job of giving students an idea of what they need to know. I will begin the class with a bell work prompt, “What do you know about coding in regards to computers? If you could build websites for a living, would you?” We will also be using our active listening skills by using the 5W’s notes format (who, what, why, where, when). Once the video is complete, I will give students about 3-5 minutes to jot down any information they couldn’t during the short video, and then I will open the floor up for discussion by asking initial reactions. One of my main objectives with this type of view and respond is to engage, effectively, in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) on topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own point(s) of views clearly. I hope to reach that outcome through the multimedia source presented as well as the news story that will be handout with guided prompts for the students.