Robert Pogson

I made a contract to teach K-10 computers in a remote northern community today. This could be very good or a very tough year. One never knows exactly what to expect in such places.

I usually teach high school subjects so this will be an adventure. I have been advised to keep the little munchkins busy and having fun, so I will stock up on strategies and resources all summer so I do not go under fire unarmed, so to speak.

The little ones are active learners so this could be a lot of fun. High school students often carry a lot more negative baggage and limit themselves in school. I will start by reviewing the K-12 curriculum for computing. The high school computer science was recently revised and is much better than the previous 1990s stuff when computers were capable of much less. My impression is that the introductory courses cover far too little for engaged students (too much warm/fuzzy stuff). I will treat the curriculum as a minimum requirement and put in as much reinforcement of the regular classroom learning as I can manage. For example, teachers often have only 1 PC in the classroom so it is hard to do much for the class. I will have a lab to put to work with games, graphics, audio, video, and even hand-eye coordination for the little ones. How to use a mouse and keyboard may take some time.

Last year, I had some grade 5 students who could manage mouse and keyboard fairly well, as expected, but they had little idea what could be done with computers. We did something different every day, visiting websites, checking out spreadsheets and word-processors. I touched different areas of the curriculum each day: language arts, science, math, social studies but did things that are quick and easy using computers and difficult without. One day we visited Babelfish and found out what translating repeatedly does to meaning… Another day we did a search on the local server for text about anything and found books to read without going to the library or turning a page. We researched endangered species in Canada and tried to find out why they are endangered. We found pictures of things they never knew existed. Kids love pictures. I can set up a database for the kids to store images and annotate. I can set up a local search engine with local content so kids have a very snappy and safe environment. Activites are limited only by the imagination of the computer teacher.