#Picademy - #100DayProject - Day 018

Image Source: Raspberry Pi

I am starting to get very excited because, at the end of the month, I will be traveling to Mountain View, CA to attend Picademy! What is Picademy you ask? I wondered the same thing when I started seeing the hashtag #Picademy showing up in my social media timelines back in late February 2016.

So what is Picademy then? According to the Raspberry Pi website,

Picademy is the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s FREE teacher training initiative. Our goal is to give educators the experience and tools they need to teach computing with confidence.

Doesn't that sound so cool! I was immediately hooked on the idea as soon as I started seeing pictures of the February event and had to know how I could get involved. So I reached out to my friend Rafranz Davis, who was lucky enough to attend the February event and she pointed me to their website and sign-up form so I could try my hand at joining in the fun. I submitted my information with very little confidence that I would be selected since there would be so many applying for so few spots but still, I had just a glimmer of hope. Imagine my surprise when I received an email on March 29th telling me I have been accepted! It was so amazing and yet, so surreal!

Image Source: Raspberry Pi

What does it all mean then? I will be taking part in a two-day training event for how to utilize the Raspberry Pi system in helping students become more confident in their computing abilities. I will also be allowed to take a tour of the Computer History Museum which is also where the training will be taking place. I am so excited to have the opportunity to learn more about the Raspberry Pi system as well as learn from the trainers and fellow participants.

How can you be involved with this amazing opportunity as well? First, follow along on social media using the #Picademy hashtag and see what awesome things are going on. Then, if you decide that #Picademy is something you are interesting in attending, go to the Picademy USA page and fill out the form to be updated of when the next US training will be held. Once you find out about the next training, enter as quickly as possible so you too can take part in the Picademy!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a little preparation to do. I need to familiarize myself with Scratch from MIT and the Python programming language. If you have any helpful hints on either, please feel free to let me know either via the comments below or via Twitter - @lars3eb.

Remembering #Picademy - #30DayProject - Day 03

Image Source: Raspberry Pi

Its been over a year since I took part in #Picademy training at the Computer History Museum in Mountain
View, CA but I haven't forgotten the amazing opportunity it was and the fact that it pushed me to a different level of computer skills. It was at those two days of training that I really got into computer programing and coding and that I learned I wanted to do more with it. While I haven't been able to do as much programming as I wanted to do, I have taken lots of time to help get students interested in looking at computer programming and coding more. In fact, I recently ran into a parent of a student who told me her daughter has decided she wants to study computers and has gotten involved with some coding and programming at her school this last year and was on the school's First LEGO League team. Talk about a great present for a nerdy teacher, it was better than Christmas!

Sadly, I didn't document my experience as well as I wanted to do, but my pal Peter Strawn wrote up an awesome blogpost reflecting on the weekend. He also included some excellent pics and videos of the Show & Tell as well as another video created by the awesome Brian Briggs. You should totally go read Peter's great reflection on the weekend and get excited for #Picademy.

The amazing team at the Raspberry Pi foundation have decided to continue the push for more #Picademy training opportunities and there's still time to apply for the last two groups of classes being offered here in the good 'ol US of A. The final two locations (hopefully just for now) are Ann Arbor, MI and Boise, ID. Now, there will be two different sessions at each of the two locations, so below is a table I borrowed from the official #Picademy website, which you should probably be sure to check out ASAP so you can apply for these events.

2017 EVENTS

CITY	VENUE	DATES	APPLY BY
Providence, RI	Johnson & Wales University	June 5 – 6	April 13
Providence, RI	Johnson & Wales University	June 8 – 9	April 13
Irvine, CA	University of California, Irvine	June 19 – 20	April 27
Irvine, CA	University of California, Irvine	June 22 – 23	April 27
Ann Arbor, MI	Ann Arbor District Library	July 24 – 25	June 2
Ann Arbor, MI	Ann Arbor District Library	July 27 – 28	June 2
Boise, ID	JUMP	August 7 – 8	June 16
Boise, ID	JUMP	August 10 – 11	June 16

After you complete the 2-day
training you become a
Raspberry Pi Certified Educator!

Again, if you notice, there are two dates you need to keep in mind if you are interested in applying for either of the last two locations, June 2nd and June 16th. These are the deadlines for applying, which you should all be considering doing RIGHT NOW! In fact, why are you even still here reading this amazing site? Get over to the #Picademy website and click on the Apply Here link to get started! Be sure to tell them @lars3eb sent you so they know I'm still doing my part to help the #Picademy program grow! You actually have a place to list it at the end of the application. 

Again, you can't ask for a better 2-days of professional development by a better group of trainers. I really enjoyed my time working with the Raspberry Pi crew at the Computer History Museum and would LOVE to have the chance to join them again sometime in the future. Although it'd be fun to be on the teaching side of the training this time around. All they need to do is get in touch and I'd make it happen because it was that awesome! 

If you end up applying for one of the MI or ID sessions, be sure to let me know. Oh, and best of luck to y'all in your applications!

#Lars3ebDoesSF - #100DayProject - Day 029

Today has been amazing and it's not even done yet! I've been able to meet so  many cool people I feel so lucky and happy.

As I mentioned earlier, I was accepted to come to the #Picademy training in Mountain View, CA this weekend and I am still shocked and honored! So I loaded up my car late Thursday night and started driving West towards California for a little weekend of learning and nerdery. Little did I know just how amazing the trip would be in its first 12 hours or so.

Upon arriving in Mountain View, CA I was told I was too early to check-in to my hotel and would have to keep myself busy for roughly 6 hours. Six hours! What was I supposed to do? I jumped to social media and started contacting some ed-tech companies I love and arrange to meet-up and tour their facilities.

Outside the @Voxer HQ.

First up was Voxer. Voxer is an app that turns your smartphone into a walkie-talkie, kind of like the old Nextel phones of days past. I LOVE this app because it allows me to actually TALK with others and get to know them better than just typing or texting with them. I use Voxer daily and have found it to be a great tool for personalized professional development. I was able to meet some of the team and have a great chat with them. I want to thank Amanda for helping me find the place and even providing me with a little snack. Thanks Voxer!

Sad face outside the @ClassDojo door.

After Voxer, I tried to go visit the great folks over at Class Dojo, but they weren't there. Now, in all fairness, I didn't give them much warning because I didn't know I'd be in the area, but I know that if they had been around they would have welcomed me with open arms and shown me around their neck of the woods. Class Dojo is a great app that allows me to track my students' behavior in a non-threatening way that allows parents to see what is happening each day. It also allows for messaging between parents and teachers which is always nice. I really love using Class Dojo and my students (and their parents) do too!

The wall of quotes at @RemindHQ.

And now, I'm sitting in one of the amazing conference rooms of Remind while they finish a whole-team meeting. Remind (formerly Remind 101) is another excellent app that I use to send messages out to parents. I mainly use it as a reminder for events or assignments, but there have a built in messaging service as well that is outstanding. I have my parents subscribe to my Remind class and then they can receive my reminders as well as message me questions to answer or even just comments. I realize I have two different places parents are sending me messages, but I feel that they should be able to use whichever is more convenient for them and whichever will have them contact me. The whole point is that they feel comfortable enough to have an open communication with me. While at Remind, I met Brett Kopf, one of the co-founders, face-to-face for the first time. We've been on GHOs together and even chatted, but it was great to meet him and shake his hand. I love the Remind service and am so grateful he started it. Special thanks to Jordan for helping me find the Remind offices, even though she wasn't there to meet face-to-face, she still helped me get to the right location!

I can't believe the day still has more greatness with a tour of the Computer History Museum and a meet-and-greet with the #Picademy crew and then the Raspberry Pi action will begin tomorrow and Sunday. Stay tuned for more on the weekend. If you want to follow my antics in San Francisco, feel free to follow #Lars3ebDoesSF online, it's sure to be crazy!

What Happened? - #100DayProject - Day 033

Image Source: Chris Griffith via Flickr.com

What happened here at ETB HQ? I thought I was doing a #100DayProject where I would post at least one new post daily for 100 days. So what happened the last three days? Life happened and I learned that I have to be better prepared in order to fulfill a goal.

I was at #Picademy in Mountain View, California over the weekend for a life changing professional development opportunity and I didn't plan ahead like I thought I had. I had a number of posts in draft form, but just didn't get around to completing them enough to publish. #Picademy was an incredible event and I will definitely be writing more about my experiences very soon, but I don't have them ready yet.

So what's going to happen with my goal of writing daily for 100 days? I have officially FAILED my goal. Or have I? My goal was to write 100 days on this site, but I won't be able to do that by the deadline I had of July 9th. So I guess I better modify my goal and add a couple of additional days to my end date so that I can still have success and achieve my goal. My new last day will be Tuesday, July 12th and I'm okay with that. I will still keep the numbering as it is, so I'll finish on Day 103 instead of Day 100 and I'm okay.

I'm trying to show a Growth Mindset here that I think is helpful on many levels, the least of which is as an example for my students and my children. Calss Dojo, the great company I tried to visit while in San Fransisco on Friday, has put together some very cute videos on the topic of Growth Mindset that I encourage you to go watch and then share with your students. By allowing yourself to learn from mistakes and grow, you are actually doing better than if you just did it perfectly from the get-go. And I truly believe that!

So, here's to messing up, dropping the ball, falling down, and failing because now I have the chance to step back up to the plate, pick myself up of the ground, and try again. Failure is only the end if we let it be, but if we are determined, it can merely be a pitstop to excellence! Upward and onward!

Intro to Raspberry Pi -->

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In my excitement to share the good news about taking part in the #Picademy, I maybe didn't explain what a Raspberry Pi computer was. I was just reminded of an excellent intro to Raspberry Pi written by the amazing Alice Keeler and thought I'd pass you that way.

"Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive computer, as low as $5. It runs Linux as the operating system. Students can play Minecraft and access the internet on a Raspberry Pi computer."

So if you are looking for more info, check out either Alice's post or go the Raspberry Pi website and learn more about the amazingly powerful little computer. 

To Tech Or Not To Tech - #100DayProject - Day 034

I am a fan of all things tech and try to get my students involved in as much of it as possible. I tell my students on the first day of school, I'm hoping to turn them into little Nerds or Geeks (they can pick their title) by the end of the year. I also try to convince them these title aren't bad, but actually good. Even still, I have some who aren't so sure, but most come around to the idea by the end of the year.

I'm also a supporter of good analog tools and taking time to unplug. Tonight on #UTedChat we were having an excellent discussion all about #MayThe4thBeWithYou (like I said, nerd alert!) and an excellent question was posed by one of our moderaters, Michael Hakkarinen (don't try to pronounce it, you might hurt yourself!):

Q5: #UTedChat Droids were sci-fi in 1977. Today they're in our pockets & roving Mars! Do students today need to learn robotics? Why?

— Michael Hakkarinen (@EdTecHakk) May 5, 2016

What an awesome, thought-povoking question! And yet, how would you answer? What are your thoughts on the idea of kids learning robotics? 

My answers (yes there were a few of them), were:

A5 I think Ss need to be introduced to #coding & #robotics but they don't have to do them all the time. Good for well rounded! #UTedChat

— Derek Larson (@lars3eb) May 5, 2016

Also, having just returned from 2 intense days of training w/ @Raspberry_Pi org, I'm 100% on board for MORE #coding! #UTedChat

— Derek Larson (@lars3eb) May 5, 2016

@jamesballif @codeorg Even if they don't need #coding for their job, learning it will help them better understand digital world. #UTedChat

— Derek Larson (@lars3eb) May 5, 2016

We need to remember that it's not good to deal in absolutes as that is the way of the Sith! Ss need lots of learning options. #UTedChat

— Derek Larson (@lars3eb) May 5, 2016

 Other than the fact that I nerded out a little with that last one, I stand by the idea that students need to have a well-rounded academic career. I think all students should learn a little coding, but they don't have to take advanced classes in it, but they should know a little bit. Why do we have all students take a Life Science and a Physical Science if they aren't going to all become scientists? Having that background knowledge of how Science works is very helpful for their lives. So then is having a background knowledge in coding and Computer Science. We live in a digital world and the better our students understand that, the less likely they are to believe what some can do with computers is magic and more that it's just lines of code placed in the correct order.

Having just returned from #Picademy and being immersed with Raspberry Pi and Python programming, I am even more sure of the above statements. I'm not a professional-grade programmer, but I better understand what some of my professional programming friends are doing. I am better rounded (and I don't just mean my belly after the amazing food!) and able to understand what is happening behind the screen.

We need to remember that it's okay to teach Computer Science to ALL students but we also need to realize it's equally okay to teach more of the analog skills as well. That's part of why I still support teaching and using cursive handwriting and handwriting in general. And it's totally okay for students to choose their mode of technology for assignments, whether high- or low-tech, it should be about the project and not the tool.

So let's get our tech on and help our students to do the same, but don't forget the pencil and paper in this high-tech world we're moving into!