Let’s talk about differentiation. We have some tips below, but would love to hear what’s worked for the educators here. When it comes to student pacing, do not fear–everyone learns differently. We understand, accept, and celebrate different types of learners! Vidcode is designed for your students to feel successful regardless of where they are.
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For developing students
- Here is an example Slides presentation for Creative Coding 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Create a Filter
- Here is an example lesson plan for students with special needs, ELLs or elementary
- Pre-teaching by sharing vocabulary or re-teaching by having students repeat activities with a stretch-it prompt
- Parallel teaching - two teachers teaching the same content to two different groups in the same room
- Small groups - one teacher pulling out a small group of students to focus on a particular concept
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For students moving at a steady pace - cut practices (practices are represented by a star icon when accessing activities)
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Speedy & accurate students
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In order to be a successful programmer, you have to:
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Say What are you going to make with all of these tools? We’re using code, not just to code, but to create! Give them a challenge included in the Educator Resources
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Reflect - use your programmer journal with a good old fashioned pencil & paper, this will allow students to deeply understand what they’re working on
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If advanced students are going above and beyond, make sure they explain their work. You might say, “Explain your thinking and define terms in plain English–as if you were sharing your project with your 3 year old sister.”
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You can also provide them with stretch-it prompts if they are doing all of their work with accuracy and are able to thoroughly understand it. For example:
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Create a digital postcard from one character to another in the novel you’re reading in literature
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Pick a tricky concept in science. Create a Vidcode activity to explain that concept simply
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Students can create these prompts for each other
- I.e. On Monday, speedy students write a prompt for a science class on a notecard, Tuesday, they’ll write a prompt for literature, Wednesday, they’ll write a prompt for history, and Thursday, they’d write a prompt for an elective class. At the end of each day, they submit their notecards to the facilitator. The facilitator keeps them all. When a student finishes early, hand a student-created notecard with a challenge prompt to have the student stretch-it!
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