Computer Immersion Instructional Coach | Redding, CA | Redding School District | Grades: 2nd – 8th
Tell us a little bit about your background, how you became a teacher and specifically a teacher in Computer Science?
Back in 2006, my college journey began with a focus on Computer Science and Networking courses at CSU Sacramento. In high school, I was pretty much self-taught but was really into programming, design, and how computers work.. However, as college rolled on, I got interested in Anthropology. Learning about human relationships, how societies work, and digging into ancient history just fascinated me. So, in 2012, I earned my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Anthropology from Sonoma State University.
After that, I started feeling the pull towards teaching as a means to inspire students and ignite a passion for learning within them. Plus, with my family background—my mom teaching elementary school for decades, my dad going from high school teaching to a successful law career specializing in education and business law, and my brother juggling roles as a middle school admin and science teacher—it felt like teaching was a part of me. Teaching has since become a source of inspiration for me, motivating me to empower students to discover the joy of learning for themselves.
I began teaching in 2015, and it was 2016 when my school district adopted this amazing program called Code to the Future. It brought in an instructor to give weekly lessons, and I loved seeing how the students reacted. Their faces lit up when they got something right, and they showed such determination when they hit a snag. So, I started whipping up my own extra lessons and projects to give them a boost in their learning and tie it all back to what we were covering in class. This continued for a number of years as I offered programming and engineering electives in both 5th and 6th grade at two different school sites. Maybe it was because I always kind of regretted veering away from that Computer Science dream of mine. Reflecting on it, I wonder if having access to different resources or being part of different teacher or peer groups could have altered my path.
My district sought to create their own Instructional Coach position for Computer Science lessons in our schools in 2020. I interviewed and earned a teacher on special assignment position titled as Computer Immersion Instructional Coach for the Redding School District. I now get to teach students programming and robotics weekly lessons across the district and am seeing them have the same joy for learning and discovery that I uncovered in my exposure to Computer Science concepts but now at an incredibly young age.
How do you utilize CodeMonkey courses and platforms with your students, and why do you think it is a good educational tool for kids?
I utilize CodeMonkey courses with students as a means for both introduction to key programming concepts and skills as well as a supplemental supporting tool in conjunction with other resources both unplugged and plugged. CodeMonkey is the industry best when it comes to creating a learning experience that is engaging, fun, and rewarding.
I assign CodeMonkey courses to each grade level band that we work on for several weeks at a time. They learn about algorithmic thinking and debugging surrounding high-level Computer Science concepts but through game-based learning the concepts that are easy to understand and what they learn truly sticks and resonates with them. The wealth of teacher resources are phenomenal and there is more support that you could dream of. From the customer success team, to the teacher resource guides, lesson plans, posters, videos and so much more there are hundreds of hours of content available to your students.
CodeMonkey is an incredible educational tool not only because of the engagement that I see in my students, but it also creates leadership, self-expression, and communication opportunities. Students work in pair-programming to solve challenges forcing them to use the academic language. Also, I have students get up in front of the class and program solutions to challenges, explain their thinking, provide feedback to each other, and even create tutorial videos about how to solve challenges.
Students will often provide details about what potential challenges future students might have on concepts and challenges which helps strengthen their own understanding of problem-solving and critical thinking about situations across a broad range of ability levels.
I have tried dozens of different programming and Computer Science online platforms over the years and no company does it better than CodeMonkey. I couldn’t believe that it took me so long to implement this in our district. CodeMonkey is our school district’s flagship program and the results couldn’t have been better.
Could you share a funny or interesting short story that happened in class with your students, which you think is relevant to mention?
A 3rd grade student created a challenge using CodeMonkey’s Challenge Builder Course which uses the text-based programming language, CoffeeScript. I gave this challenge to my middle school students and they found the challenge to be difficult and extremely entertaining. I watched as the middle school students communicated their ideas on how to beat the challenge, express their failed solutions, and overall enjoy the struggle! They were so confident from all of their experience on CodeMonkey but they truly had to think outside the box.
Complete the sentence: It’s important to me that my students…
It’s important to me that my students develop critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and creative innovation through learning computer science as these skills are applicable to all subject areas as well as in life.
What is one piece of advice you have for teachers who are just now introducing educational technology into their classrooms and are looking to engage their students?
For teachers that are just now introducing educational technology in their classroom, I would advise them to let students often take the lead in providing instruction and explanation. Don’t always feel like you have to be an expert in the topic. There will be student leaders who will excel and often they are the students that you least expect. Some of my most dedicated and high-achieving students are the ones that come out of nowhere and I believe this is due to the self-confidence that Computer Science gives. It feels like a super power when we learn something new! By giving those students opportunities to speak to the class it will remind students that everyone can learn something new as well as that all students.
