Experiencing Alice

When the assignment was first presented to me, I really saw it as an impossible task for me to make a game. I was overwhelmed with how complicated everything seemed, but I was determined not to give up. I continued to work with the tools on Alice and ask my peers for help when they figured out how to do something that I could not. I still, however, could not figure out how to make the people walk correctly without leaving random body parts behind. 

I honestly can say that I did not really enjoy my experience using Alice. I found the codes that were available useful, but I found it nearly impossible to create a new movement, or method, for a character to do. Since I had such a hard time creating my game, I do not feel that I will use this in my future classroom of second graders because if they needed help with something I am not sure I could help them. This software can be useful if you are well skilled in coding or if you are trying to do a computational thinking activity for older children, definitely not for second graders. A positive note about this experience for me was that I was able to keep working with the software and realized that I could create something, even if it is not perfect. I think an important aspect for teachers who would use this software with their students would be to tell them beforehand that it is okay if you cannot figure everything out perfectly, as long as they try.

Benefits of Education Societies

I feel that since I am going into the early education field, I would be most interested in joining the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). NAEYC works specifically on behalf of young children; it has many publications of books, brochures, and videos. The members are very active in becoming more educated on the latest advances in the early childhood field. Young Children is a magazine that is members only and contains much of this new and helpful information. I feel that if I joined the NAEYC it would help me professionally. One important reason is that I could be a step ahead in my field with all of the newest breakthroughs rather than finding them out after other educators are already incorporating them. Joining would also help me to be able to connect with other people who are passionate about the same things that I am, and we could share our views and ideas to advance the field even further. A final reason that I think I would be helped is that I could be a part of the NAEYC's different accreditation systems. Not only would I be able to provide programs to help the children receive the best possible education, but I am sure that it would look great to a future employer if I was involved in an organization that is so focused on helping the children I would like to teach.

Check out the National Association for the Education of Young Children's website at:
http://www.naeyc.org/