Walking into the campus of Tainan Chongxue Primary School, I found that one of the classrooms was specially arranged at a distance. What you see in the classroom is the space to break the traditional system. Teachers don't have to stand on the podium, they can sit in a unique hexagonal seat and interact with students at close range.
Various table games and robots make parents and children stop to watch. This is the operational thinking classroom of Chongxue Primary School, and one of the behind-the-scenes promoters is Zhang Wanxiang, the school teacher and current monitor.
What is operational thinking? "In fact, it is to teach children logical thinking and solve problems. Zhang Wanxiang said that operational thinking not only covers the training of programming, but also trains children to think systematically.
"People think I'm a manager and I'm a programmer. Talking about the background, Zhang Yuxiang said with a smile, in fact, I studied elementary education in college, and I started to get in touch with digital technology in my junior year. But because he is not a "pure science person", he can especially understand the needs of students when teaching. " What I want to talk about is how to make children with weak ability have interest and confidence in learning projects. 」
Explain loops and Boolean values directly. If students can't understand it the first time, they will lack interest. However, in this class of computational thinking, there is no difficult noun explanation, but children are allowed to enter the "board game grand view garden" and students begin to explore. "These unplugged games can help children learn to disassemble problems in the middle of the game. Zhang Yuxiang said confidently.
"Confucianism is a student of remedial teaching. When he comes to make up lessons in winter and summer vacation, his eyes will be distracted. He mentioned that the school will start classes during the winter and summer vacations, and students who are backward in learning will have to "remedy" this situation. Although different teachers teach in different ways, children are frustrated with the subject, and the effect of remedial teaching is still limited. " I think operational thinking is actually related to mathematical logic. 」
Usually in remedial teaching, a child's eyes light up when he sees the book dead and hears playing games. "He plays games with great care, and you will find that he can do it, too." In fact, Zhang Wanxiang also experienced setbacks in the process of studying. "In the past, the grade of primary school was average, and it took seven years to test the teacher. So in his eyes, these children are like themselves when they were young, and it is his teaching mission to help them.
The board game "Invincible King" allows children to learn the ability of planning, sequential reasoning and problem solving while enjoying the game. Provided by Zhang Yuxiang.
In my teaching career, I was a computer teacher for the first two years. Programming and Scratch Software Application has been implemented in the information class of Chongxue Primary School for nearly ten years. "But students only study for one semester, so they often let the course pass. Feeling limited by the number of information classes in schools, Zhang Wanxiang began to think about how to make programming jump out of information classes and become a more popular "national movement". "
Decided to organize a teachers' association and convene other teachers in the school to discuss. Zhang Wanxiang participated in the whole process from the formulation of the course, to the organization of the pilot teaching course, and then to the formal start of the course, which was not hypocritical to people. But is it easy to ask teachers to change?
"Our school attaches great importance to reading, and all teachers are very serious in promoting reading, and they all have their own characteristics. Zhang Wanxiang was suddenly enlightened, and "reading", which was proud of worshipping primary schools, became the most crucial piece of puzzle for all-round promotion.
English words are combined with picture books and English teacher's tutorial codes; Chinese teacher's reading class lays the foundation for the understanding speed of information science; Coordinates and angles in math class are the premise of Scratc *** * * drawing. Zhang Wanxiang is no longer alone. Every teacher is a gear to promote computational thinking.
There is no trick to finding the right book for children, only the perseverance and perseverance of trial and error. "I often go to the bookstore. Children and teenagers are related to information technology, so I immediately bought a book to read. Looking up, I found that books bought by Zhang Yuxiang were slowly piling up a wall on both sides of the electronic whiteboard.
Students gain the preparatory knowledge of programming through reading for a long time, and enter the computer realization course in the next semester of grade five. The problem of disassembly becomes faster and clearer. Coupled with the understanding of the course content and the confidence generated by keeping up, although Zhang Wanxiang admits that he is still crossing the river by feeling the stones, it is still worthwhile to see the smile on the child's face.
Junior students began to contact programming from the picture book Ruby Task. With advanced knowledge, senior students can get into the situation faster when operating the computer. Provided by Zhang Yuxiang.
"In the past, when teaching children to write programs, they were put in the computer without applications. Now we put them in the Micro: Bit (a 4x5cm microcomputer board for STEM education) to let children actually operate and combine life more closely. When introducing a small circuit board that can be played in the palm of your hand, Zhang Yuxiang demonstrated how it can sense the surrounding environment and display different arrow directions like a gyroscope in a mobile phone.
The 25 LED lights on the circuit board turn bright and dark with different writing programs, forming different signals. "After writing, two people can play dice and fight. When Zhang Yuxiang shared how the boys in the class competed with small circuit boards, their bodies danced with the children.
Not only can you tell the direction, but micro:bit can also sense the "temperature". "The school has a green roof. I gave the children a circuit board to have a look at. The school has a green roof, and there is another place that is not installed. Is there a difference in temperature? Knowing that programming languages can't exist only in computers, Zhang Wanxiang took his students out of the door and put them into the common sense of life and the big problems facing the earth with practice.
"You don't have to learn to write programs, you have to learn to think. Zhang Wanxiang emphasized that learning anything requires a little talent, so it is not necessary for every child to excel in programming, but to train the computer to plan and think systematically and arrange big and small things step by step through the interest of experiencing operational thinking.
With students doing things, learning while doing, thinking while learning, facing the rapid changes in the world, Zhang Wanxiang trained children to disassemble problems through computational thinking, and also encouraged these future masters to roll up their sleeves, participate in changes and start solving problems.
The green roof built by Chongxue Primary School allows children to take temperature through mibro:bit, enjoy close contact with nature, and also understand the problem of global warming. Provided by Zhang Yuxiang.