Issue link: https://publications.tfs.ca/i/609675
"It's every student's dream," says Charles Rotenberg, Junior School and West Campus math coach, "to be able to build a robot and then tell it to do whatever you want." Anyone watching a group of Grade 5 students coding, programming and then running their robots to move along a line, pick up an object, or avoid obstacles created out of LEGO ® pieces, can see that the students are really captivated with their inventions. During the school year, Grade 2 to 5 math studies include two five-week rounds of a specialized mix of robotics, Scratch programming and LEGO ® work, all of which complement the math curriculum. While rotating small groups work with Mr. Rotenberg, the remaining students have dedicated math time with their homeroom teacher. Susan Elliott, executive director of the Learning Forum, explains that by working with small, flexible groups, "both the teacher and the coach can focus on and build skills, review and challenge according to each student's abilities, and ultimately the students all come away feeling like real mathematicians." TFS' Primary Years Program (PYP) coordinators are teaming up with math teachers and Learning Forum specialists to develop a powerful continuum of math and technology, one in which scope and sequence of skills are thought through on a micro level. Robotics, Scratch programming and LEGO ® have been integrated into the Grade 2 to 5 math curriculum since 2014, with remarkable results. Just one indicator is the eight Junior School students who made the honour roll of a national math contest, out of 14,000 competitors (see page 9 for details). Chances are, the students are able to tackle math problems in a truly nimble way as their minds are being stretched by the combination of skills. Robotics started out as an after-school activity, once a week. Due to the positive response from students and parents, and the relevance to the curriculum, the Junior School introduced Scratch – a free programming language and online community where users create their own interactive stories, games and animations. The lunchtime pilot class filled to capacity in less than two minutes. With the student appetite for programming firmly set, and so many overlaps with the math curriculum, it became clear to teachers and administrators alike that this was an important direction for the school to pursue. The program now has real teeth, woven into the PYP's units of inquiry, and supported by the principals on both campuses. Not surprisingly, robotics and Scratch are supported in large part by the Parents' Association, which has brought in Cubeletes sets and Beebots, financed the school drone club, and just recently committed $10,000 towards a programmable NAO robot. Indeed, the Junior School has become a hub for technological resources, with half its attic now a dedicated LEGO ® League lab with MINDSTORMS ® bricks and LEGO ® pieces filling storage boxes to the brim. Skills that Last a Lifetime What may be viewed as a cool piece of technology for kids to play with is, in fact, the impetus for improved math performance, keen student engagement, an early introduction to the scientific method, and a gateway to what is being called the next language: coding. As a language-based school, TFS has started to view coding – which, at its most basic, uses words to communicate an idea between an agent and a robot – as a skill akin to bilingualism. It's not a new concept worldwide. In fact, in the United States, a growing number of states are offering programming languages as a "foreign" language option. Coding courses are required for students in the United Kingdom. By introducing them at a young age, our students' math, science and computer science skills will be so broad and strong that by the Senior School level, the use of technology 18 TFS ENTRE NOUS 2015