“I think that’s all they really want in the first place,” she admits. She likes to sit down next to her students, work with them, and give them individual attention. “Every teacher should be excited about what they teach,” Ms. I’m constantly switching things up, and I know that if I’m bored, they’re bored.” Griffin to empathize with her budding coders. As she recalls, “because I had that knowledge, I was able to teach computer programming… so I was just very thankful for that.”īeing a self-taught programmer allows Ms. Seeing Computer Science as the future, she took the initiative to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Her class evolved along with technology moving from word processors ( Keyboarding), to desktop computers, to a laptop lab with an interactive board.
Griffin began teaching CTE electives 20 years ago, her class was called, simply, Careers. Griffin, who is now the lead CTE programming teacher at UCPS. I never dread coming to school, every day is just so different and not monotonous at all. “I love teaching and everything about it. Students start with a week of computing basics and then dive into absorbing the fundamentals of coding through GameSalad’s hands-on project-based curriculum. Griffin’s “Exploring Computer Science” course. UCPS’s CTE department stresses this goal: get the students excited about the subject matter so they will pursue the subjects in high school.įor students on the pathway to Computer Science in High School, this means spending a semester in Ms. Upon entering 7th and 8th Grade, they choose their two favorites for semester-long study. At Piedmont, 6th Graders rotate through a sampling of 6-Week elective courses to gain a better understanding of what the courses teach and which ones suit them. Griffin’s classroom approach reflects Piedmont Middle School’s mission: Preparing All Students to Succeed. Griffin is one of the team of five middle school teachers using GameSalad at UCPS, encouraging students to create and build confidence in themselves through game creation. Piedmont is part of Union County Public Schools (UCPS), among the largest public school districts in North Carolina, serving over 41,000 students across 53 campuses*. They can try implementing some of the ideas they have just seen or thought of while playing their peers’ creations. They share the games they created on Arcade Day, sparking their creativity and excitement about coding. Griffin’s students have all created their own video games in GameSalad, a visual programming platform. Students looking forward to an assignment is a brilliant outcome. “It’s really cool, because a kid will say, ‘Oh wow, how did you do that?’ So, kids are teaching other kids and they are already getting excited about the next project.” Griffin shares, speaking from her desk at Piedmont Middle School in Monroe, NC, where she teaches introductory computer programming. “I have found that the kids really love this,” Ms.
Patti Griffin’s 7th grade computer programming class: “The one day I let them socialize,” she grins, “and go around the room and play each other’s games.” Students are happily chatting about programming and sharing ideas. This teacher has a heart for reaching middle school students and chooses GameSalad for the heart of her curriculum. FebruGame Salad Spotlights Piedmont Middle School Coding Teacher Patti Griffin
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