The continuing adventures of Kano Boy - the Last Day!

So, it had to come at last - Tuvia's final day at the Kano camp run by Star Camps.  This day was particularly exciting for Tuvia as he got to bring his Kano home.  Here is our final interview...

Well son, this was the last day of camp!  What was the thing that you were most looking forward to?

Tuvia: Taking home my Kano!!

I get that, but what I want to know is what was the thing you were looking forward to at the camp itself?

T: OH.... well then... (Tuvia furrows his brow in thought) fixing my scratch calculator program!

Cool... so what was the first thing you got to do when you got to camp?

T: At drop off, before Kano rotation part one, I built structures with dominos.  One of the other kids was building with me - it was fun!

So tell me about Kano part one.

T:  I practiced using terminal to program my Kano - I made it make sounds.  When I was done with this, I played Minecraft.  After, I "modded" Pong.

Ah, Tuvia, is "modded" actually a word?

T: Yes, Tattie, it is a word - just like "Googled."  It means modified!  Anyhoo... (me: I wondered to myself if that was a word as well, but I didn't say anything.)  I finished off the rotation with Minecraft again.

What was next?

T: Snack and rotation two... Scratch programming.

What did you do here?

T: I edited my Plane drawing game and made it into an actual game. When I was done, I finished editing my calculator program - I really wanted to finish that!!  From there I went to recess and played chess.  Oh! There was a surprise dance by the minecraft camp.

OK, we can skip that...

T: NO WE CAN'T!!! It was the "surprise of the week!"

OK, so I included it... what next?

T: Lunch was next and then rotation three - activities where I played Stratego.  It was fun!  And then on to rotation four.. the last Kano class!!

What did you do here?

T: Played Snake - no editing... just playing.  Then I used code to draw pictures. I played some more and then I got to pack up my Kano and bring it home!

Were you sad that the camp over?

T: Not really, I got to take home my Kano FINALLY!!  How could I be sad??!!

What did you learn from going to this camp?

T: That computers are more awesome than I thought they were... I also learned more about coding techniques... Oh yes, how to build a Kano!!!  That was cool too!!

So there you have it.  A week with Tuvia - Kano Boy!  When Tuvia got home, he couldn't wait to hook his Kano up to our big screen TV and show us everything that he learned.  Here are some pictures.

Next week Tuvia is in "Tech City... all things 3D" camp.  That should be an awesome experience as well!!

As always, your comments are solicited on the blog site.

Regards...

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High SchoolTechnology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

The continuing adventures of Kano Boy - Day Three

As a parent, regarding my child's growth, I constantly ask myself: "Is my child having fun?  Are they learning?  Are they developing into a fine adult?" So, on Day Three of camp,I am concerned that Tuvia keeps on having a good time AND is learning.

Well, I am happy to share with you that it appears that he is!  He is now incorporating words and pictures together in his journal (he is only 10 and this IS a work in progress) and he IS still having fun and learning.  So here is the Day Three banter.  Enjoy...

What were you looking forward to at camp today?

Tuvia: I wanted to make a specific video game that I had an idea for.

Did you get a chance to do it?

T: Yes, but I will tell you about it later...

How did your day start today?

T: We started with Kano rotation part one

What did you do?

T: Used a program called "make snake" that allows me to modify snake.  I used the command terminal.

What is the command terminal?

T: It is kind of like a C.M.D kind of thing (Tuvia looks at me like I should know exactly what this is!!)

OooKay... what was next?

T: I played MineCraft PI edition using my previous mods from the day before. I then decorated my Kano computer box and then I coded with scratch on the Kano.   The game I made was that lasers shoot up from the bottom of the screen to the top where your avatar is standing.  You have to move side to side to avoid it.  It was fun and it took a little while to code it.  Then it was snack time.

So what did you do in snack?

T: Drank water and ate animal crackers... what else do you do in snack Tattie!! After snack I went to Rotation 2 - scratch programming.

And what did you do here?

T: I coded a series of instructions that allowed a airplane icon to draw lines on the screen using the keys on the keyboard.  Then the teacher asked me show the class how I coded the program so that you could adjust the size of the drawing by using variables.

Wow, the teacher asked you!!  Cool!!

T: Yes, he liked the way I was using variables.  After that I coded a calculator and then it was recess before lunch - so I went out and played chess.

What did you do after Lunch?

T: Rotation 3 - Activities.... I built circuits and play Stratego. After that it was straight into Kano Part two...

So what did you do there?

T: I coded with the Terminal and then played snake.

What was the hardest thing you did today?

T: It wasn't that hard a day, but what was the most challenging for me was to teach the class on how to use the variables for the pen size.  It was really hard because I had to keep stopping teaching to allow the class to keep up with me.

Welcome to being a teacher my son!!!

Tuvia will be on a field trip for tomorrow and then he brings his Kano home on Friday.  I will most likely post his last day exploits on Sunday.

Take care all and have a great Shabbat and weekend.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High School
Technology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

The continuing adventures of Kano Boy - Day Two

So day two has come and gone and Tuvia came home today just as excited and happy as he did yesterday!  For those of you who are educators reading this blog, examine carefuly some of Tuvia's comments about expectations and impressions.  These are unedited comments that give a wonderful insight into the mind set of a 10 year old boy.  Feel free to add comments (and questions for Tuvia) via the comments on the blog page!

Day Two...

What was the big thing you were anticipating for today?

Tuvia:  Working with Kano and modifying the games on the Kano.

What was the first thing you did at camp today?

T: waiting in the drop-off area for camp to start and watched people play games.

Why didn't you play any games?

T: I didn't want to PLAY the games.  I wanted to watch other people play.  I wanted to see HOW other people played so that I could get information that I could use for my own programming in the future.

So what was the first thing that you did when the camp started?

T:Rotation one was Kano part one. Here I played one of my favorite games - Minecraft Pi Edition. It played like an old version of Minecraft Pocket Edition (the iOS version) with a few little PC features included.

So, you are a minecraft expert?

T: Well, I know a lot about the game... I work in Red Stone, I create my own maps of my minecraft world, make my own server, install mods and I customize the .bat files... so not really an expert. (My Note... yes, he is an expert!!!)

OK... so what happened next?

T: I went for snack break - the two cookies you packed - Thanks Tattie (Yiddish for father)...  Then next  was scratch class.

Like yesterday?

T: Yes, except I added to the game from yesterday by adding a timer and a better score keeping algorithm.  Then we had recess and I played Handball - I really like handball. I was playing with about seven other kids...

Then what?

Lunch -I ate my whole sandwich... thanks again Tattie!!  After lunch I went to rotation 3

What is Rotation 3?

I made circuits with snap circuits (http://www.snapcircuits.net) and with this cool magnetic circuit thing... you use magnets to attach the circuits (http://littlebits.cc).  The magnet stuff was really cool and I was learning a lot.  Can we get that set Tattie?

Not for now, son.  I know that you love making circuits... how much fun was this?

T:It was good.  Not as complicated as I do at home... there were no transistors. Besides at home, I am going to start bread-boarding soon!

What was next?

T: Rotation four. Kano Part Two!!!! (Tuvia said this with MUCH enthusiasm!)

So what did you do here?

T: I got to edit Pong and Minecraft.  This is where I get to customize the games and change them to the way I want them to be.  Then it was drop off and I got to play chess with one of the kids.

On a computer?

T: No Tattie!! on a chessboard!!!

So, what was the most challenging thing you did today?

T: Making mods to Pong and Minecraft.  I had a lot of concepts to learn before I could make things work the way I wanted.

So there you have it folks... Impressions from a real 10 year old!

Regarding Tuvia's journal, I told him to include some words with his pictures.  So today, he went all "word" and no pictures.  Hopefully tomorrow he will get the balance!

Stay tuned for day three!!!

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High SchoolTechnology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

The continuing adventures of Kano Boy!

As you may be following, my 10 year old son Tuvia is taking a week-long summer camp called "Programming with Kano" from the Star Education group here in Los Angeles (http://www.starinc.org).  I asked Tuvia if he would share his experiences with my blog readers and he was all for it!

So here is how it works... I ask Tuvia questions (some from you...) and he answers them.  Ready?  Here we go!!

Tell me what your impression was as you came to the camp?

Tuvia: It was a tall building, 4 floors and Ima (mother in Hebrew) and I went up to the second floor.  We went to a balcony where waited for camp to begin.

Were you excited?

T: YES!

How many kids were there?

T: about 30.  Some were younger and a few older.  We broke into three groups grades 2 and under, grade 3 and 4 and grades 5 and up.  I was in the last group.  Most of them are older than me though.

Did they all know programming already?

T: No, there were only a couple of us that had programmed before. I was pretty advanced and there was one other kid more advanced than me.

What was your schedule for the first day?

T: We broke into our three groups and my group went into the Scratch Programming class.  We used PC's and and those of us who knew how, started right away!

What did you do?

T: We made a game that has a dragon chasing a scratch kitty that was chasing cheese puffs.  By moving the cheese puffs, we could move the kitty so that it would not be caught by the dragon.

Sounds like fun.

T: It was!  I added a score counter!

How long was this class?

T: About 30 minutes

ONLY 30 MINUTES?

T: Ok, maybe longer... It's hard to tell time when you are having fun!!

So what was next

T: We had a break and then we played a game called Robot.

How did the game work?

There were three of us, a Robot, a Programmer and and Translator.  The programmer pointed to a paper with arrows on it and then the translator would tell the robot what to do.  Then we had Lunch.

No time with the Kano's yet?

T:NO!! I didn't want to keep waiting, but there was another group ahead of us... (at which point Tuvia sighs heavily!)

So when did you get to the Kano's?

T: Right after lunch.

Note:  At this point Tuvia just let loose with 10 year old excitement about what he did with "Kano Time."  I will just list it as the stream of consciousness that it was...

T: Very excited!!  I wanted to make a computer.. that's why I signed up.  each student got their own box.  Opened box - excited in ripping off the box - like my birthday.  Inside there was an orange box, and then another box and inside was the Kano set. The teacher told us what the parts were, but not what each one does...  plastic case.  Mother Board into case.  We then hooked up the speaker to the Mother Board.  put speaker on top of the case.  Plugged components... USB key for keyboard, plugged in flash memory, hooked up to monitor and put the charger into the charging station that gave it power. USB keyboard was plugged in...Booted for the first...exciting.  turned on Kano OS.... put in name, setup procedure... used it  play two games that came with computer.  Pong and snake....  then loaded scratch... and used it....  our group was the most advanced, so it was very easy for us. 

What was the most challenging thing about the day?

T: WAITING... to build the Kano!!

OK, after that...

T: Building the computer was the most challenging... I had to plug in the cords and some didn't work and the teacher came and helped.  I couldn't touch the circuit board as static electricity could have blown the Mother Board.

Wow, sounds like you had a great time!

T: Yes, I can hardly wait for tomorrow!!

And so there you have it... day one of The Adventures of Kano Boy!!  Oh yes, Tuvia started a journal... Here is a sketch he did of assembling the Kano!

More tomorrow!

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High School
Technology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

The exploits of "Kano-boy!"

It is Sunday in our home and my 10 year old son Tuvia is pacing the floor in excitement...

"I can't wait until tomorrow!" he keeps on saying.  

You see, Tuvia is going to a one week session at STAR Camps' "Coding with Kano," where he will be building his very own computer and then programming it!

  

The concept is simple.  The students build their own computer using the Kano platform (a RasberyPI and the Kano OS www.kano.me).  As soon as they have the hardware conquered and the OS loaded, they immediately start programming challenges such as making and modifying games like Pong, Snake, and even Minecraft.

What Tuvia finds so cool is that he will be able to build his own computer and bring it home when he is done.  To a STEM educator like myself, Tuvia's enthusiasm is like music to my ears!!  Could you imagine a 4th or 5th grade class taking a couple of hours for a few weeks to build and program their very own computers?  Think of the empowerment to this group of young learners!!

Yossie's 10 year old son Tuvia, holding his journal.

So, here is what I am going to do.  For the next week, Tuvia will be my guest blogger.  He will be taking a small journal to camp so that he can document his experience.  Every night, he will dictate to me what happened in class and what were the high and low points.  (I am going to ask the camp instructor to take pictures and send them to me daily...)  

Now, here is a bit of a "golden opportunity" for you, my readers... Send me questions for Tuvia to answer about his experience.  How did he like it, and so on.  You will have access to an actual 10 year old to get some invaluable data.  My mail is y.frankel@shalhevet.org  Pass this on to your colleges and let's see what can come out of this experience.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High SchoolTechnology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel

Woolly socks on a warm day

Hello!

I am at the CIJE (Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education) engineering training session in New York "hobb-knobbing" with some amazing educators.  During one of the breaks, I overheard a cool, little, easy to use, science lab.  (Shout out to Heshy and Yaffa)

MS Teachers taking CIJE training

So here is the scenario:

As a child (or maybe an adult??) did your mother ever yell at you: "Don't walk outside in your stocking feet!!"

And what was your response?... "Aw-gee Ma, I am only going out for a second. What's the harm? I won't step on anything!!"  Well, this little lab can show what really happens...

Simply, have your students walk outside (usually in the spring or fall for best results) in a pair of woolen socks.  Let them walk through the grass, close to trees, flowers and so on.  Bring them (and their socks) back into the classroom.  Sprinkle a bit of water on the socks and (optional shake a bit of potting soil on the socks) put them in a zip-lock bag.  Let them sit (in a warm environment) and germinate for about a week.... look at the results.

Here is a link that I found on the web from New Zealand...

http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Science-Stories/Seeds-Stems-and-Spores/Woolly-sock-walk

So, what do you think of this lab?  What questions does it raise?  How would you use it in your classroom.  As always, your comments are solicited on the blog site.

Yossie

Yossie Frankel

I.T. Director - Shalhevet High SchoolTechnology Specialist - CIJE

Checkout my blog @ technorebbe.blogspot.com
Twitter @yossiefrankel
YouTube Channel: YossieFrankelChannel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yossiefrankel