Community Service Learning (CSL) Experience
Coding for Kids program – Teaching kids how to code, 2016-2019
How did the experience transform your learning?
Through my experience with the CSL program, I was able to gain valuable insight into teaching and learning. The Coding for Kids program enabled me to work closely with elementary and middle school teachers to create a coding curriculum from the ground up. In addition, by implementing the program in a classroom, I was able to understand the various elements required to deliver a lesson to students. The CSL program provided a safe environment for me to experiment with new concepts which allowed me to continuously improve the program by recognizing previous mistakes and learning from them.
After two years of working on this program, I was delighted to hear that a Canadian charity was interested in partnering with us. Being able to make a positive impact on more children’s education was something I had strived for since day of one of the program and it all came to life through the partnership.
What did you learn that you weren’t expecting to?
During the first year of developing the program, I spent a lot of time researching and understanding how curricula are developed within school systems. Although I didn’t have any teaching experience, I knew that by careful planning, I could create a curriculum that was easy to follow and engaging for the children. After completing the lesson plans, my team and I implemented the program into a grade 5-6 split classroom at École Élémentaire Casorso Elementary School. During this process, I finally understood what being a teacher feels like and how overwhelming it can be at first.
In one of the coding lessons for the LEGO Mindstorm project, I presented the class with instructions on how to program their robot to follow a maze. After the instructions were given out, the class started working on their own coding solutions except for two children. After approaching them to offer some help, they began explaining how they found a better solution and why their approach is more efficient in comparison to the instructions provided. Through checking their code, it became evident that they had actually created a better solution despite working on the project for less than a day!. Having the opportunity to learn from a 10-year-old child was definitely not something I was expecting, however, it’s an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
How did you learn about the opportunity?
During my first year of university, I was very eager to find volunteer opportunities to get involved. After exploring on-campus resources, I came across the Campus Life office (now called Student Experience office) where I met Lori and Phil from the Community Service Learning (CSL) program. Afterwards, they helped me find multiple volunteer opportunities on and off campus such as Coding for Kids, Society for Learning in Retirement (SLR) and UBC Reading Week: Days of Caring. I have been volunteering through the CSL program for the past 4 years and each year I have been able to grow and learn more skills while continuing my Computer Science degree.
Learn more about CSL.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.