Day 1
01 Workshop Opener 02 Previously, on Unit 3 03 Break 04 Model Lesson U3L7 05 Reflection 06 Debugging 07 Lunch 08 Curriculum Investigation 09 Assessment 10 Break 11 Conclusions and Connections 12 Scenarios 13 Wrap Up 14 Debrief

Session 12: Inclusion Scenarios

30 minutes

discussion-based

Purpose

The purpose of this session is for participants to continue conversations that were started in the 5-day summer workshop around identity and inclusion. Participants will focus on how the role of the teacher impacts creating a culture of inclusion for students in CS.

Objectives

  • Participants use a shared definition of inclusion and identity.
  • Participants are able to describe how their identity, experiences, and beliefs shape how they see their role as a CS teacher.
  • Participants are able to describe the influence they have over culture and success in a CS classroom.

Supplies & Prep

Room Setup:

  • Participants are seated in pods

Facilitator Supplies:

Teacher Materials:

Agenda

Scenario 1 (11 minutes)

Scenario 2 (10 minutes)

Reflection (9 minutes)

Facilitation Guide

Scenario 1 (11 minutes)

(2 minutes) Context Setting

Remarks

As we all know, there is a lot more to teaching than delivering content to students. As teachers, we are constantly faced with choices that have the potential to impact a student’s sense of inclusion in our class and their beliefs around their ability to succeed in CS.

In this session, we will spend some time thinking about and discussing common situations that come up when teaching and how we might leverage our role as the teacher to build a culture of inclusion and success in our CS classrooms. We will start by reading a scenario together. You will have some time to reflect individually on how you might respond in the situation before discussing with a partner.

(1 minute) Setup

  • You are teaching CS Discoveries.
  • You are halfway through Chapter One of Unit 3: Interactive Animations and Games.
  • Student A and Student B have been working together using the pair programming strategy.
  • Student A is often absent from school. Recently, Student A has been missing class any time CS is the first class period of the school day.

(2 minutes) Reflect and Write

Prompt:

  • What would you do as the teacher in this situation? Would you intervene? If so, how? If not, why?

(6 minutes) Share and Discuss

Participants share their responses with a partner and discuss the following prompts. Prompts:

  • How might your identity and beliefs about who belongs in CS influence the choices you make in this situation?
  • What impact might your choices have on Student A?
  • What impact might your choices have on Student B?

Scenario 2 (10 minutes)

(2 minutes) Setup

  • You are teaching CS Discoveries.
  • At the end of the week, you will be beginning the Chapter One project of Unit 3: Interactive Animations and Games.
  • Student A is an active member of the after school coding club and robotics. Student A typically finishes all of the classwork including all of the choice levels before the end of the class period.
  • Student A enjoys helping other students in the class, but you have noticed that Student A tends to complete the work for other students instead of helping them solve problems on their own.
  • Student B is typically the last student in the class to finish. Student B rarely reaches the challenge levels and often becomes frustrated while working on skill building levels.

(2 minutes) Reflect and Write

Prompt:

  • If this happened in your classroom, what would you do as the teacher? Would you intervene? If so, how? If not, why?

(6 minutes) Share and Discuss

Facilitator Tip

A common strategy that teachers use in this situation is to have the early finisher help the late finishers complete their work. It is important for teachers to consider the potential impacts of this strategy. Consider using probing questions to help teachers think through the implications of this strategy. How might this strategy impact Student B’s self confidence and sense of belonging in CS? Is Student B getting the support they need? * Is Student A being challenged?

Participants share their responses with a partner and discuss the following prompts.

Prompts:

  • How might your identity and beliefs about who belongs in CS influence the choices you make in this situation?
  • What impact might your choices have on student A?
  • What impact might your choices have on Student B?

Reflection (9 minutes)

(5 minutes) Whole Group Discussion

Discussion Goal

Answers will vary, but teachers should recognize that their choices can potentially lead to threats to inclusion. For example, using the student helper approach for early finishers could be a threat to inclusion for students who need more time to finish. These may end up feeling like they won’t ever be able to reach the level of understanding that the student helper has. Additionally, if a student who is absent from class is expected to complete the work on their own time, this could be a threat to inclusion for students without access to computers or internet at home.

Prompt: What potential threats to inclusion can you identify in the scenarios we just discussed?

(2 minutes) Journal

Prompt:

  • Think of your current students. Can you identify a student that may be feeling, or at risk of feeling, excluded from your CS class? What can you as the teacher do to reduce or eliminate threats to inclusion for this student? Try to provide concrete examples.

(2 minutes) Share Out

The facilitator leads a quick popcorn style share out.