January 31 – February 4: Weekly Update

Jan 31, 2022

I hope you are all having a good start to the week. Please read below for this week’s updates! 

  1. I will be checking your family folders for the second check in (January 16-31) starting tomorrow. If you have not added any evidence of learning yet, please make sure you have one example from each subject in the “January 16-31” folder (or other folders if you have set it up differently) in the next few days. Thank you. 
  2. On February 2, 2022 at 9:30AM, there will be a Marvellous Micro:bits virtual workshop on Teams. Note that this workshop is aimed towards grades 7-9 students, but you are welcome to join if you are interested.

Description of the workshop

THIS ONLINE TECH-UP WORKSHOP WILL INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO CODING WITH RANDOM GENERATORS AND ARRAYS WITHIN MICRO:BIT CLASSROOM.

In this workshop we will work to familiarize your students with coding within the micro:bit classroom, opening up the opportunity for you to continue using micro:bit lessons with your class, no physical micro:bit required.

Students will learn how to create, access, and changes lists as well as explore the uses of inputs and random numbers. They will work towards creating a random generator to help them solve the everyday problem of “I’m bored, what should I do?”. This workshop will cover basics, variables, arrays, and input and leaves room for possible further extension. This workshop will be done entirely using the online simulator, no physical micro:bit needed.

  1. Remote students can join using the link I provided through my weekly email. Please email me if you do not have the link. I will send it your way.
  2. They will also need to be comfortable using the conferencing platform, and how to switch between separate program windows on their device
  3. Ensure the audio and video are working prior to the workshop and if your students are comfortable turning on their cameras, it will help our facilitators to gauge their engagement and understanding.
  4. Each student will need a device connected to the internet, with a webpage open and ready to login to the session at http://microbit.org/join
  5. Specific classroom joining details and PIN will be provided by the facilitator during the workshop
  6. We do NOT recommend using physical micro:bits for this session (see attachment for more details)