Innovation Plan

Innovate for Alief

Introduction

Elsik High School is a large campus that houses over 4,220 students. There are 76% of the student body on free and reduced lunch.(USA News) The campus is made up of two separate campuses; one that contains all the ninth grade students called Elsik Ninth Grade Center and another that contains tenth grade through twelfth called Elsik Main Campus. Both campuses try to be “One Elsik”, but this does not always happen when you have different budgets, different administrators, and different cultures. Today, Duane Daigrepont and Alex Ortiz bring both campuses together in inspriation of the idea “One Elsik!!”.

Problem

Why is it so hard to get students in Coding class? Coding is the future of technology, and Most jobs in IT contain some type of coding. Preparing students for the future is an opportunity in Alief, we should try to provide this opportunity to as many students as possible. Unfortunately, the problem encompassing our community is that the importance of coding is not communicated to the student, their parents, teachers, or school administrators.

Branding

First, we need to create a brand for Coding on Elsik Campuses, where students know they are part of something that will continue to grow and build. A logo for all coding activities on either campus where we can attach this too posters and announcements along with social media posts and commercials. Elsik needs to compete in coding competitions with other schools and districts to show the amount of learning that is happening on campus. We need another coding camp with future coders and present coders. Where both students integrate and work together to create, develop apps that they can be proud of and inspire to create through the coding class.

In Pheonix, Arizona, Apple had a conference for all the teachers that are participating in the coding cohort program, where teachers were treated to like Kings and Queens while getting some of the best professional learning in the world. The discussion then became how do we bring this back to the teachers and students that we work with. The first thing we discussed was bringing Bio Journaling to our students. In Bio Journaling, students will take their IPAD and creativity to create things that they can take with them to social media and other platforms where they can be part of the communication to their parents and friends. We will create events where students can interact with nature and technology together to get them further interested in coding. How do we bring this learning to teachers? Apple Creativity and Accessibility Lab where teachers will interact with IPAD’s in a way never seen in Alief before. A professional development where there are no chairs, teachers go from station to station participating in doing activities where they learn to use the IPAD in different ways like; Drawing, Coding, Video, Photography, Music, and Accessibility.

The most important piece to this puzzle is administrators. The influence that they hold with students in counseling and getting students interested in things that they should be involved with is what will catapult these programs to the forefront in Alief. Classes should be available to all students. Coding should be added to degree plans that students are currently enrolled in like robotics, engineering, and design. Councelors and AP’s should encorage students to go to coding camps and coding clubs on campus. At 8th Grade Enrollment, Coding should be added and even pushed to students that are currently tanking the programs in Middle School.

Benefits

Coding has become very popular in the business community. The average salary for a coder coming out of college is 81,000 dollars.(Wired, ) As educators, if we can add more students to this career path we can bring a difference in to those students lives. This is one solution in getting students College and Career Ready. The problem solving that they learn within the class can take them to the next level in math and science. Students also learn to design apps and work with groups creating an environment which is much like the present day workplace.

What do we need?

We have an outline of some of the things that are happening in coding and are important to the future of the program.

Outline

- January 22, 2019 Presentation of Innovation Plan
- December 17, 2019 Presentations at ENGC App Showcase
- January 15, 2020 Competition FBLA Mobile App Dev
- January 27, 2020 Meeting for Planning for PD
- February 17, 2020 Staff Apple PD
- May 4, 2020 Presentations at ENGC App Showcase
- June 22-26 2020 Elsik Coding Camp

Future

Outline

January 22, 2019 Presentation of Innovation Plan - Innovation plan pitches to Alief Board, Principles, and the Superintendent.

December 17, 2019 Presentations at ENGC App Showcase - First, student showcase at ENGC. Principles and Department Heads invited to judge the outcomes.

January 15, 2020 Competition FBLA Mobile App Dev - Future Business Leaders of America contest where ENGC will have a group of student coders participating in the App Development category.

January 27, 2020 Meeting for Planning for PD - A day of planning for the Staff Apple PD meeting.

February 17, 2020 Staff Apple PD - The Apple Mobile IPAD training for Elsik 9th Grade Teachers.

May 4, 2020 Presentations at ENGC App Showcase - Second, student showcase at ENGC. Principles and Department Heads invited to judge the outcomes.

June 22-26 2020 Elsik Coding Camp - Invite incoming high school students to join coding on Elsik High School Campus.

Coding Flowchart

Key Assumptions:

Since Alief ISD's coding courses are still relatively new, district students, parents and staff may not be aware of their existence, and therefore, students may not be as likely to enroll in the coding courses offered. To encourage students to take coding courses and to complete the course sequence, steps should be taken to increase awareness and recruitment efforts.

Awareness:

Guidance & Counseling

Educating middle & high school counselors on new coding classes

Due to counselor turnover, it is important to keep counselors informed about the newest course offerings, such as the coding classes.
Educating counselors on the fact that coding classes can count as tech credit, that there is a coherent sequence that students should follow, and why the course may be beneficial to all students

Handing out coding marketing materials to prospective students

A physical press kit will be given to middle and high school counselors.
Printed marketing materials can be given out during course selection counseling, camp opportunities, Career Day presentations, PBL showcases, Open House/Parent Night and other campus events with high parent/student attendance

Coding students & teachers answering questions during Course Selection Process

The traditional course selection process involves students receiving a course booklet/form and a brief meeting with the counselor to help students pick the appropriate courses to not only meet graduation requirements but also to help students find courses that are of interest to them.
Coding students and teachers can make themselves available to answer coding course questions from middle and high school students during the spring time when students are selecting their courses for the following school year.

Coding Showcases

Free Coding Camp Opportunity for Prospective Students

The district should continue to hold coding camps to engage prospective students. Rather than having the showcase only at the host school, the district should consider having a district showcase that includes all participating Alief coding schools so that students can learn about the coding opportunities at the different grade levels

Student-Led Career Day Presentations at Elementary, Intermediate & Middle Schools

JROTC and CTE students already present at Career Days at the lower grade levels
Student-led presentations can empower students to be coding program advocates and to become student leaders and stronger public speakers

Have coding students join Elsik-specific PBL showcase opportunities

Elsik already hosts PBL showcases regularly
Joining the existing PBL showcases will increase exposure of the program

Professional development session on coding for middle and high school staff

Not only do counselors need to learn about the program, but middle and high school staff (professional and paraprofessional) should be encouraged to take a coding PD to learn more about the coding offerings so they can be coding advocates

Innovation Letter

Bonfigilio, Chontelle. “8 reasons why every child should learn to code

.” https://teachyourkidscode.com/why-coding-is-important-to-learn/, 1/22/2020, DD.

Teach Kids Code – Computer programming challenges kids to be resilient. Coding teaches kids how to think.

McFadden, Christopher. “Code Literacy: Why Coding Became Important

.” https://interestingengineering.com/code-literacy-why-coding-became-important, 1/22/2020, DD.

Code literacy – Coding teaches students problem solving and design skills.
Code Literacy – Society has to accept what they see, but a coder can change things for the better.

Addair, Travis. “Why Is Coding So Important?

.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/08/16/why-is-coding-so-important/#189890b72adc, 1/22/2020,DD.

In Forbes, Coding takes up everything we do in society.

Why is coding important? Why should we teach it to our students? Why should our kids have an understanding of Coding. The importance of Coding is that it is in every electronic device in this building and in the world. Coding helps kids be better problem solvers and makes them more resilient to problem solving. Coding gives a person the ability to change the world.

Citation

Dear HD Chambers,

The first step is education. Students have choices in high school. If they do not know that Coding is available, how will they sign up for a class that does not exist? The Coding class should be available to every student no mater the level of their education. Every counselor should have this class available to them when signing students up for classes in grades 8 through 12. Then comes the classroom, the class should not be a college curriculum that is made to just deliver information with no context on how to use it or what to use it on. The curriculum should involve how to design, how to problem solve, and how to code. Students need to communicate their knowledge to the district through projects displayed through Science Fairs and AIA Projects.

The next step is communication and expansion. Students should participate in Information Technology contest where they can feature the learning that they are receiving in the class. Project Based Learning should be added to the curriculum of the coding class where students work on projects that begin to use the knowledge they are developing in the class. Finally, expansion of the class to the career center, so that all students in Alief can benefit from the education that we are providing for just a few.

Currently, the problem is there are only seven students in the class, with two of them having plans to leave the class in the second term. Students should be allowed to join this class in the second term to continue to push the envelope on its importance. All counselors should have these classes available to them for enrollment. Also, the class should be added to the Career Center to make it available to all Alief students.