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CCP – Lesson Final Report – Fall 2022 – Tori Martin

Creative Computing Final Project

PSC-IT and ISTE-E Standards Addressed in the Project
6.2/6b Managing Technology & Learning
Candidates manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in a variety of
environments such as digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces, or in the
field. (PSC-IT 6.2, ISTE-E 6b)

6.3/6c Design & Computational Thinking

Candidates create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and/or
computational thinking to innovate and solve problems. (PSC-IT 6.3, ISTE-E 6c)

6.4/6d Creativity
Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, knowledge, or
connections. (PSC-IT 6.4, ISTE-E 6d)

In this document you will outline the proposal for your Creative Computing Project. This project
could be part of your normal teaching or part of an extra circular activity in either a formal (k-12
school) or informal (library, community center, etc.) learning setting. Projects should include
some type of computation (e.g., Scratch, Makecode, another programming languages, or CS
Unplugged Activity.)

Suggestions include (but are not limited to):

o Teaching digital storytelling with Scratch
o Doing a CS Unplugged activity to teach about the steps of an algorithm
o Using the Makecode website to teach block-based coding
o Using your SparkFun Inventor’s kit to teach students how to breadboard (e.g., make
their first LED blink and/or control the servomotor.)
o Creating a robotic pet

This activity could be done with a whole class, or a small number of students depending on your
teaching environment.

Name: Tori Martin

Grade level: 2nd Grade

Subject(s): Science and Math

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Description of Your Proposed Creative Computing Project

This section should include a detailed description of your Creative Computing Project. What is
your inspiration for the project? What materials did you need? What will be the teaching
context? (e.g., traditional classroom, after school program, makerspace, etc.)

This project will take place in a traditional 2nd grade, whole group, classroom setting. My
inspiration stemmed from the digital story telling using Scratch. My thought is to have students
wok with a partner to demonstrate their knowledge of the butterfly life cycle using the Scratch
coding website as an assessment for our current science unit. The materials needed include
Scratch, Nearpod, anchor charts, a non-fiction book about butterfly life cycles, and a blank hard
copy of a life cycle diagram with four elements. The project will take place in the classroom for
the majority of the time, but some time will be spent researching in the library.

Students will use their knowledge of computational thinking skills, the butterfly life cycle, and
digital storytelling. Each element has been selected to showcase their knowledge and
understanding of these concepts. students will also be reviewing each other’s projects as a way
to Practice constructive criticism and analysis.

Use of Technology and Student Learning Strategies (ISTE-E 6b)

This section should document how you plan on managing the use of technology and student
learning strategies as part of your Creative Computing Project.

ISTE Portfolio Questions

1. What rules, guidelines, and parameters, regarding the use of technology, do you have
for your learners when they are working independently in alternative classroom
settings?
At the beginning of every school year parents and students sign a section of the student
handbook stating that they agree to the terms and safety regulations for using
technology at school. This section lists any violations and safety precautions the school
will be implementing during the school year as well as any consequences that will be
issued if students cannot abide by the regulations.
Students will be given a refresher lesson digital citizenship and cyber safety to ensure
browsing and content is secure. A list of credible websites will be given to students for
research, therefore eliminating rogue surfing of the internet. I have set clear
expectations for students from the beginning of the year when It comes to using the
internet. Students understand they are to be on task while using technology, as well as,
how to care for the devices.
Some of my classroom technology rules include:
-Students will participate in the online activities by responding to questioning and typing
responses.
-Students will use polite language and stay muted until their turn to talk on a Zoom call.
-Students will complete all online lessons and assignments.
-Students will show digital citizenship and stay safe.
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2. Do you guide learners to reach out to their peers for support and troubleshooting?

They typical rule is ask a friend before you ask me. This is in place to help foster
discussions and put the responsibility of learning and task completion back into the
students’ hands.

3. What ways do/can they troubleshoot their needs, independently?

Initially, they should try to solve their own problem. If students are unable to come up
with a solution independently, then they need to ask a friend for help or advice. In the
event that this method is unsuccessful, then they may raise their hand and I will
accommodate e them as best I can.

4. How do you manage the use of technology in these alternative classroom settings?

It is challenging to manage technology in certain classroom settings. For example, when

we have digital learning days typically, I see very little participation. Our district is not
one-to-one. Additionally, many students do not have devices or internet at home.
Another barrier is the lack of available devices at school. I have been assigned 9 laptops
and 3 desk top computers for my classroom of 18 students. This is ok if students work in
partners. For this project, forming partnerships is best due to these barriers.

Design Process (ISTE-E 6c)

In this section you should outline the five (5) step design process that you plan on using as part
of your creative computing project. Possible design processes include:
o Creative Learning Spiral (Imagine, Create, Play, Share, Reflect),
o Creative Play (Inspire, Imagine, Create, Play, Share),
o Engineering Design Process (Ask/Define, Understand, Plan, Create, and Improve), or
o Design Thinking (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test)
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ISTE Portfolio Question

1. How do you implement a recognized design-thinking process into your instruction?

I plan to implement the creative play process for this creative computing project. Step 1,
students will research and view a few of the Scratch projects created online. They will also be
subjected to a few coding block tutorials to show how the sprites can perform differently. Step
2, Students will imagine how they will create their story line and possible codes that may work
to achieve their desired Scratch project. Students will also decide in this stage if they prefer
their project is game-like, video-like- or more of a presentation. Next, students will create their
Scratch life cycle project. Students will have freedom to choose the sprites, backgrounds, and
storyline designs to help foster creativity. Also, students will have a chance to experience the
projects firsthand. They will share their project links and I will post them on our online
classroom page. Students will explore one another’s creations. Finally, students will be given
the opportunity to provide their friends with feedback. This will include a glow and grow.
Students will describe one aspect about the project they liked and one aspect they do not like.
The students will be required to give a peer response to atleast 2 people.

Inspire Students will be subjected to some examples of different scratch

projects. They will then document some ideas for their life cycle scratch
projects with sample avatars and storylines.
Imagine Students will imagine how they will create their story line and possible
codes that may work to achieve their desired Scratch project. Students
will also decide in this stage if they prefer their project is game-like,
video-like- or more of a presentation.
create In this stage students will create their Scratch life cycle project.
play Students will play or watch their projects as well as other’s projects in
the class.
Share Last, students will share feedback with one another and make
suggestions to improve their Life cycle projects.
Note: Please use this table to list the steps of your design process and include a detailed description for each step
within the context of your Creative Computing Project.

Evidence of one or more computational artifacts (ISTE-E 6c)

This section should provide evidence of one or more computation artifacts developed as part the
implementation of the Creative Computing Project. This evidence should include one or more
photos of students’ project and a written description.
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This is one of my student’s projects. I recorded it because I did not want to expose her identity
by using her username in the link. She drew the arrows, the eggs on the leaf, and the
caterpillar herself on the Scratch website. I showed her how to upload the picture of a chrysalis
because she was having a hard time drawing one on the computer.
In her project you can see all four stages of the butterfly life cycle. She also made the butterfly
move upon mouse cick. The rubric required atleast one sprite to move and a description of
each stage. She added a very appropriate backdrop because normally butterflies are found in
nature. The rubric also stated the background had to make sense and be some place you would
see a butterfly.

https://watch.screencastify.com/v/w5HSh0KNMaE1j0kKJPQz

Focus on process, not product (ISTE-E 6c)

What went well in your design process? What could be improved in your design process?

Success:

During this project, my students seemed engaged. They were able to apply their knowledge of
the butterfly life cycle that we have been discussing in our science segments. Students had
many creative ideas and for the most part planned out their projects well. Another successful
aspect is that students took pride in their creations. While experimenting with others’ projects,
I noticed students describing how they implemented that sound or movement of their sprite.
My students were also able to give great feedback to one another upon exploring with the
projects.
This project was very open-ended, so there were several different creative takes on how to
represent the butterfly life cycle. That was probably the biggest success. I enjoyed seeing all of
the variations and even more so, enjoyed seeing sparks fly as my students problem-solved with
amateur coding.

Improvements:

The most challenging section of my design process was helping students understand the
combination of puzzle piece codes to help their sprites take the desired action. I could have
done a better job at teaching which coding pieces combined created movement, messages, and
sounds. This was a simple enough project but, the butterfly life cycle has several sequential
events, the students may have been more successful with a topic that lends itself to less
transitions for their first project with Scratch.

One solution I debated was to give students a key with several codes and allow them to pick the
desired combinations instead of starting from scratch. I think an older grade-level would have
been successful starting from the ground up, but 2nd grader may be too young for such an
independent implementation design.
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CCP – Lesson Final Report – Fall 2022 – Tori Martin

Failure (ISTE-E 6c)

What type of failures did you experience with the project? This could include failures that you
had with planning and teaching your Creative Computing Project in addition to failures that you
observed with students.

Some failures I experienced while implementing this project included (1)my students’
background knowledge of scratch. I planned as if my students had used this program many
times. To preface, our librarian uses this program with our students for STEM activities. I
assumed they had at least been exposed. While teaching them about the program, I made note
that this was very much a first-time experience. This notion made me realize that I poorly
planned based on student background knowledge. I had to rethink our starting point after the
introductory lesson and take an even slower pace and really facilitate during the creation
phase.
Secondly, I failed at teaching the coding movements and blocks. I had to revisit my plan book
and give students a slower and more comprehensive description of what each block code could
do. When this was even still too much, I created a blocking cheat sheet that helped students
create their desired movements and haptics.
Finally, I feel I could have done a better job at centering the project around computational
thinking. It was for sure a part of the project, but the computational lesson did not transfer to
the butterfly life cycle Scratch project easily. I know my students took the computational
thinking steps, but they were not aware of it. Next time, I will be more intentional with this
step.

Computational Thinking (ISTE-E 6c)

Using language such as abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition, and algorithms,
describe how you plan on incorporating computational thinking into your creative computing
project?

ISTE Portfolio Question

1. How do you provide opportunities for your learners to apply the components of
computational thinking?

ISTE NOTE 1: To meet this criterion you must show how you provide opportunities for your
learners to engage in the Design Thinking or Computational Thinking process, just presenting
on what it is, is not enough.

I provided this very elementary description of computational thinking to my students as a

warmup to help them get thinking prior to the creation of their Scratch project. If you watch the
video, you will also see that it seems to be created with a simple coding program as well. Then, I
gave my students a simple task to solve such as cleaning a messy room or building a fort to
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teach them how to problem solve effectively and use the steps described in the video. Students
used the computational thinking graphic organizer below to help them solve their problem.
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ISTE NOTE 2: Please specifically identify each of the steps of which process you identify in your
artifact, as well as how the details of the lesson/activity as it fits into the Design Thinking or
Computational Thinking process, in your artifact.

I provide opportunities daily for my students to use computational thinking. I am very hands-off
when it comes to my students’ daily struggles. This may sound cruel, but I am talking about if
they need a pencil, glue stick, or can’t find something. I simply suggest that they solve their own
problem. They may say” I’m confused!”, and I will prompt them to ask a question that will help
them better understand. Computational thinking in my classroom looks like independence
lessons, but these examples are only the simplest form that I implement. I also provide my
students real-world math problems during math workshop. This allows students to compute
the math operation and generate a cognizant response.

For this specific project students were faced with many challenges in which they have to use
computational thinking. Coding in Scratch is about manipulating objects and telling them how
to move or what to say. Students had to find a way to convey meaning of the life cycle process
and make sure their project has the appropriate sequential order. Students had the opportunity
to make sense of a virtual life cycle and will be faced real-world questioning in the share portion
of this project.

Decomposition
Students broke down the task of creating the Scratch project with their partners. They
identified necessary key elements to the butterfly life cycle and drew out each scene on paper.
Some students included which sprites they were using or even a couple codes to help them
remember to include those within their final project.

Abstraction
Students will begin with the process of computational thinking. They will weed out the sprites
and exclude any backgrounds or information that appears irrelevant to the science of butterfly
life cycles.

Students decided which information was key to teaching the life cycle and which elements were
extra such as what the caterpillar eats. For the purpose of this project it was not necessary to
include the diet of the caterpillar just that they eat and grow.

Pattern Recognition
When working with coding, students identified patterns of block code that control the sprites.
Certain block codes were repeated as they manipulated the movements and haptics of the
sprites. This allowed students to adequately represent each stage of the butterfly life cycle.
Additionally, since the butterfly has a distinctive life cycle, students uncovered the patterns
within the cycles within their research.

Algorithms
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Students were given Scratch step-by-step instructions using block-based coding to create
algorithms to control sprites. They realized as they moved from section to section they were
repeating a few seps with the creation. This helped students to realize there is certain rules
when coding to create the desired outcome. To facilitate students algorithmic planning, I
provided a step-by-step checklist to help keep students stay on track and focus on the task.
Students will be able to see the big picture of their projects as each smaller component is
created.

Nurturing Creativity (ISTE-E 6d)

Explain how you plan on intentionally modeling and nurturing creativity and creative expression
to communicate ideas, knowledge, or connections as part of your project. Consider using the 4P
framework (Projects, Peers, Passion, and Play).

ISTE Portfolio Questions

1. How do you demonstrate creativity and creative problem solving for your learners by
providing them opportunities to obtain feedback and showcase their final work?

Students will obtain feedback from myself, as well as, from one another in the share
portion of this creative play process. Once everyone has experienced a few of their
classmate’s projects, this will lend itself to peer feedback and conversations.

2. What opportunities are you providing for your learners to express their own creativity?

Students will have freedom to use any of the Scratch avatars and backgrounds. They will
also not be limited to the number of movements, says, or descriptions they may add to
their project.
3. How do your learners share their work with others?

Students will share their project links on our online classroom page and will have the
opportunity to experience many of their classmate’s creations.

4. Do you provide opportunities for peer feedback?

Yes, Students will obtain feedback from myself, as well as, from one another in the
share portion of this creative play process. Once everyone has experienced a few of
their classmate’s projects, this will lend itself to peer feedback and conversations. I will
only require students to provide one glow and one grow to atleast 2 classmates, but
they may share as much feedback as they would like. Students will provide feedback
based on the concept of glow/grow. They will provide 2 classmates with one concept or
strategy that worked well within their project and one strategy or suggestion for
improving their project.
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CCP – Lesson Final Report – Fall 2022 – Tori Martin
5. Do you encourage this creativity using technology resources and/or tools?

Yes, Scratch is a completely technological tool that requires computers skills and coding
abilities. Students have creative freedom in their life cycle project designs, and are
encouraged to be very creative. I will model this creative process by sharing a few of my
very own scratch projects and encouraging my students to think outside the box.

Scratch encourages creativity and provides voice and choice by allows multiple solutions
through coding, and also allows students to express creativity with the creation of
graphics (sprites and backdrops) and audio (sound effects, music, voiceovers). When
using scratch students will have a plethora of options of backgrounds, sprites, and
communication strategies.

Final Thoughts
Use this section for any additional reflection that you have about the Creative Computing
Project or how you see creativity could be better infused into the learning process.

Upon completion of this project, I feel overall it was successful. My students thoroughly
enjoyed creating on Scratch. Some were more elementary, but some were very extensive for
my students’ age. Students had complete open creativity for this project. They could have
imported images, drawn images, made the sprites move anyway they wanted to, and been as
descriptive as they would like with the overall process of the life cycle of a butterfly. There were
certain requirements, such as there had to be a description, the background had to make sense,
the sprites needed to be some various form of the accurate stage, but overall, this was not hard
for my students.
To make this project more creatively infused, I could have allowed students the open ability to
create any life cycle that they wanted. That would have allowed students to have more
freedom and ability to problem solve as well. However, we had been studying about butterflies,
so that was what this project was focused on. Another way that creativity could have been
better infused for this specific project is if I had allowed students to not only display the life
cycle but create a story using the butterfly and or Caterpillar characters. Finally, students could
have been allowed to send in video peer reviews. I decided that typing it out was better, so
they could have some practice with typing. Video responses would have allowed for more
creativity.
As far as computational thinking goes, I feel like my students understood what computational
thinking was in the beginning with my activity, but I feel like for the scratch process it wasn't
necessarily implemented. I feel like they learned what computational thinking is, but they did it
without explaining how they did it. When implementing the Scratch project I going forward, I
will require students to tell me each stage of computational thinking that they go through as
they create their scratch project. I will require them to write it down either in a graphic
organizer like the one above or after making the Scratch project. I feel this will be a better
indication of whether or not they have understood the concept of computational thinking.
Computational thinking Was not the biggest objective however, I do feel like it was important
to the process. Next time, I will make it a bigger part of the project.
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CCP – Lesson Final Report – Fall 2022 – Tori Martin