The parents: They like the idea of their children blogging. They are the ones responding to their children’s blog posts, and one can see that the experience is positive on both sides. Some of them are inspired by their children to explore blogging for themselves. All of them are very pleased that their children have the opportunity of exploring Sugar and experiencing an innovative computer technology. “What is Sugar?” On March 17, during our parent-teacher Spring conference, I showed them their child’s stick and their homescreen, showed them some of the activities their child had explored, and told them the plan of turning over their child’s USB stick and blog to them at the close of the school year. I am now thinking that perhaps we can have a SoaS class party towards the end of the school year in which the children will introduce their parents to the world of Sugar. I can see that at least some parents will explore them with their children. The thing is, it tends to be the male parent who shows interest in exploring the activities too…hmm…

The teacher: This week, decisions have to be made about use of classroom time. When the daily schedule is affected by one-time or periodic school events such as school assemblies or field trips, classroom schedule shifts, and decisions had to be made. For instance, do I forego Writing Workshop so that children can have the “morning work” time to engage in different activities including Sugar activities? Or should I the morning work period today, and find another time for it later this week or maybe next week – which will mean bumping out time scheduled for other subject matter? Making daily decisions about allocation of time for a myriad of activities is part of our job as teachers, and can be stressful. However, it also brings my thoughts to “Next time, I think I can/will do it another way…”

This being the first week of our SoaS project, I started each session with a mini-lesson. The mini-lesson focused on the “job” of the students as a Q. A. engineer. I listed responsibilities,  one  per day:

1) Blog to tell others what you did and what you are thinking;

>> On day one, I reminded them that blogging is a way to communicate and be connected with the Sugar Labs community. The community is interested in what they did, what they discovered, and what they are thinking. The three children who were on the netbooks that day dove right in and explored. Maze was a big hit, while Colors! was a source of (low to medium) frustration to one student who likes to paint and draw. The two other students were more patient and simply chose a different activity when one activity did not work. Two of the children actively exchanged information about what they are discovering about the different activities and how to navigate the environment.

2) Explore and notice;

>> Day two: I likened the Sugar learning environment to their classroom learning environment, particularly when they were in pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, where activity areas called learning centers were clearly defined, e.g., the water table, the discovery table, the dramatic play or house corner, the art easels, the writing and drawing table, the math center, and the block area. In those classrooms, they were encouraged to freely explore materials and make discoveries. I said that the Sugar learning environment, with its array of icons representing various activities, encourage them to do the same. The three children who were on the netbooks this day explored Mazes, Flipsticks, and Implode. No frustration expressed by any of them. They shared information with one another as they explored.

3) Detect bugs and report them.

>> Day three: I showed everyone the 42 seconds video clip of a real life engineer named Max (Mel’s colleague) talking about the work of QA engineers. It was perfect! They immediately gathered around my laptop (mine from home) when Max introduced himself. When he said that a lot of times software engineers make mistakes just like they do on their math homework, eyes widened, ears perked up, and some sat up straighter. I think one child even exclaimed, “What?” They could not believe their ears! The video clip was just awesome and a very effective teaching tool to use. (Thank you, Max and Mel.) I then expanded the list of their responsibilities as QA engineers: I encouraged them to be explorers and detectives at the same time when engaging in Sugar activities. The three children who were on the netbooks on this day explored. At the end of the session, one of them expressed a little disapppointment that an activity she was looking forward to explore did not work. I acknowledged her feelings and then complimented her a second time on what she did the moment she found the bug- She wrote a bug report soon after discovering that Speak did not work, and wrote what she did that led to the discovery of the bug, and what the bug looked like.

Later, during our large group meeting, I complimented everyone for their good work during our morning work time and told everyone about the bug report that this one student wrote up upon detecting a bug. When the children wrote their blog posts, about half of the children told about discovering a bug. One child used the word “detected.”

The children and I also began a list of icons and words that users will be seeing and using a lot, e.g., the stop and shutdown icons, the word “Activity,” the check mark, and the button that leads back to home screen.

Other thoughts and/or observations:

• Only two children expressed some frustration (low level) that the two activities they wanted to engage in did not work. The rest of the children did not linger over non-working activities. They simply got out of it and looked for other activities to explore.
• Children are teaching and learning from each other. Hooray!
• The children like having a blog of their own. Their families left comments and seemed just as excited as they are about this project, including grandparents! For some children, it is clear that their blog is part of “school.” When I suggested to a student that she and her father check out her blog at home  so that over the weekend she can read the comments her dad had written, she looked puzzled at first and then said that she would rather do that at school, even if she has to wait until Tuesday to see the comments. It was clear that at this time, she has categorized the SoaS project and blogging as part of her school life and work, not to be mixed into her life at home.
• Time – specifically in managing and maintaining the children’s blog. Ideally, I would like to have them input their blog posts themselves after they edit their writing. At this time, I edit their writing (spelling mostly) and post it for them. I would like to turn over that job to the writers and their peer editors once I teach them about editing. My problem is finding the time for them to do this because of limitations in time and resources. I will keep thinking about this and figure out a way that will work.

Overall, it had been a very good week on the Sugar front.

I think the next lesson will be the blog journal. I would like them to know why it is important that they do so -i.e.,  to connect and communicate with others in the Sugar Lab community, document their thinking and the process, and practice the communication skills they have been learning. Next week, I would like to have a session on what they think the job of a QA engineer is, and what it entails. I think I would like to film/video record an “interview” with one or two real-life QA engineers in the next few days (during the weekend maybe). Any volunteers out there? I think it is important for me to keep referencing the role they play in this community so that they can begin moving away from the notion that they are “playing video games” and begin thinking of themselves as users and contributors to this community.

“What is the Sugar Labs?” Some of the children wanted to know. I explained that just like our classroom community is part of the larger CFS school community, Sugar Labs is a community that is part of the larger Open Source community. Briefly, I told them that the open source community started when some people thought it would be a good idea to make software programs that would be available to more people at very little cost or no cost at all. Sugar Labs is one such community within the Open Source community.

Then I told them why it is called “Sugar on a Stick,” specifically what “stick” it refers to. I showed them one of the three netbooks they will be using. I told them there would be three netbooks all together. Each netbook has a different color and a name: a red netbook named Crookshanks, a blue netbook named Fluffy, and the silver netbook named Hedwig. As expected, all of the children recognized these names as that of creatures in the Harry Potter series. I then showed them the USB sticks. I told them that each USB stick contains the activities that they will be exploring. They know about the XO laptop and the Sugar activities from the short visit they had with Sebastian and Mel months ago. When I told them that Sebastian was the one who figured out a way to put these activities into the USB stick, they all gasped in amazement and admiration. I think I have just elevated Sebastian’s status into the superhero level.

Then, I gave each child a USB stick for them to personalize using a stretchy string and an assortment of beads. The result: necklaces, bracelets, and a colorful tail distinguishes one USB stick from another. I also used a permanent marker to label their sticks. See attached photographs.

After lunch, we got on Skype to communicate with Sebastian in Germany, and with Mel Chua who is about 45 minutes away from Cambridge. Some children wanted to know, “What is Sugar Labs?” “Why is it called Sugar?” “Why is it called Sugar Labs?” Some just wanted to start working on the netbooks. The children’s loudness, restlessness, and use of “Man” in their language (as in “Hey, man,” of “We know, man”) were clear indications that they were very excited. They wanted to know if they were going to start working on the computer today. I told them that they would not be on the netbooks this week, but very likely, next week. They seemed willing to wait.

The Skype session was good and necessary because it gave them some concrete notion of the Sugar Labs community. They saw people with whom they will or might be interacting. They will not be relying on their imagination or assumptions but they will have actual faces to visualize when they think of Sugar Labs and when they correspond with people within the Sugar community down the line.

There are some things that I need to figure out as the teacher, but I think we are off to a good start. Tomorrow, they get to give themselves a name which they will use to identify themselves when they share information with others in the Sugar Labs community. Naming the netbooks with recognizable names was a good idea because it got them interested and it got them to start thinking about what name they would want to use within the Sugar community. I told them that I have a Sugar name too – LMYLim. Another example to think about. Some immediately said that they know what name they will use. I told them to keep thinking and that we will need their names tomorrow.

What I am thinking about:
- I need to work on my own vocabulary. I am definitely going to be learning alongside the children.
- I have asked parents to see if they have optical mice and mouse pads lying around their house or office that they can donate to the pilot. Some children may not find the touch pad easy to use, so the availability of alternative ways of navigating the screen would be helpful.
- I have to narrow my focus on the goals I have for the children. Objectives will include:
The children will generate a list of responsibilities a QA engineer, or “tester” has;
The children will generate a list of what makes a good QA engineer;
The children will write about their experience – not only about what they figured things out, but also how they did it.
The children will provide feedback for future SoaS deployment or pilots.

On my part, I will want to note how much time children spend on the computer each week and how they tend to use their time on the computer. Because they are on the computer for a very small window of time each week, I wonder how that impacts their overall experience. But I am not inclined to increase the time I have allotted. Scheduling issues.
I have to figure out how their work will be reflected in the classroom. Might have to shift things around.

Write activity did not work well when I tried it today. When I typed the text, the menu bar items disappeared and then reappeared when I dragged the curser over the area where the menu bar is located. I have recorded it to show how it looks on the screen.

1. Record does not appear to work on this image with our netbook. The load icon keeps on blinking but the Activity does not start. We should take it off the image until we can test it.
2. Moon works, but just shows static information – the kids will probably be confused as to what they should do with it.
3. Flipsticks – lesson plan 1 is truncated. (“…it will turn pink so you” – and then it suddenly stops.)

The scrollbars in the Sugar interface (for instance, scrolling through Journal items) is too narrow for little kids to click effectively.

Additional notes 2/24/10:

1. Might also have optical mouse available to meet needs of children with different levels of fine motor skills.
2. Have blog journal. Might insert prototype. post journal page
3. Will look at Sugar activities this weekend.
4. Fourth graders at CFS are also Sugar users using XO laptops. One of the fourth grade teacher and I are thinking of using the Sugar pilot as another experience that fourth graders and first graders share (they are buddy classrooms). Right now, I suggested that the fourth graders will serve as a resource for Sugar activities since they have been using them since school began. Fourth grade teacher suggested that we have a message box where the first graders can drop off notes to their buddies when they have questions or any discoveries to share. Also talking about having a fourth graders “play” with their buddies using Sugar activities.
5. Thinking of either doing a chat or webcam communication with Sebastian when we introduce Sugar on a Stick to my students. More concrete would be better. Introduced notion of “satellite” today.

Dear Families,

At Tuesday’s Meeting for Worship, we took our time preparing for silence by reading, thinking, and sharing. We continued to focus on the Quaker testimony of Stewardship during Meeting for Worship in the classroom this week. We began with the question, “Who is your steward? Who takes care of you?” Everyone got to share their thoughts. Everyone named their parents. Those with siblings included their siblings. Some children included their grandparents and ancestors. Some included their pets. A few included their cousins. One included his godparents. Then we read the book entitled “On the Day You Were Born” by Debra Fisher. The emphasis was on “you,” which meant “all of you.” The book tells about how the whole world waited and celebrated their arrival into this world. There is a part that said that the earth promised to hold onto to them and not let them float away (gravity). It also told of how the animals knew of their arrival, and how the news was passed from one creature to another, from one end of the world to the other. I told them that people begin exercising stewardship towards babies while they were growing inside the bellies of the birthmother. I emphasized that this is true for all of the children in the class.

To illustrate, I shared with them stories of my two children, specifically what happened as they grew inside of me, what I did so that they grew and stayed healthy, how it felt to be carrying them, how they were like when they came out of my body. I talked about how the muscles in my body helped push my first born out of my body, and how my second child refused to turn upside down when it was time for her to exit my body. I told them how my first born entered into this world, and the children laughed when they learned that she screamed so loudly and was so red with anger when she was born. I told them that after being in a dark and cozy place for so many months, she must have felt that the hospital room was too bright for her, and she was feeling cold (she was born naked like everyone else, I added). A child then shared about how his father had wanted to walk him around the hospital but it was too cold to do so.

Then one child asked, “What does ‘birth’ mean?” Another answered immediately, “That means when the baby comes out of the mother’s tummy.” Some children wondered how babies come out and from where. A child answered, “Through the hole that your pee comes out.” So I said we have various holes on our bodies. We named the holes, starting with our nostrils. Children piped in. “Mouth.” “Your eyes.” “Our ears.” Then we said that there is the hole where one’s poop comes out, and that is not the hole through which babies come out. Then I said that there is a hole in a woman’s body, not the hole where pee comes out, but near it, that is the hole through which babies come out. We also talked about another hole – the umbilical cord when it is cut – and that hole is now sealed and is our bellybutton. A child said, “Yeah, the umbilical cord. I had that.” “I still have mine.” It is how the growing baby got food from the birth mother while still inside the belly, I added. It is cut when the baby comes out because it does not need to be connected to the birth mother anymore. The baby will now eat from his or her own mouth. That is why everyone has a belly button.

The children wanted me to tell the story of my second child, specifically how she was like when she was born. I told them that the doctor cut my belly open to take my second child out because she did not turn upside down when it was time for her to do that. Two children said that was how they came out too. I talked about how we have skin cells that are alive, and that as they grew, the cut skin of the belly and the bellybutton become sealed once more.

Towards the end of the book, the illustration showed a woman holding a baby and people and animals surrounded them. One child asked, “Is the baby adopted?” I said some children are adopted by their parents, and it is possible that the woman in the story adopted the baby. Then I asked the children to reflect on the query, “Who is your steward?” A calm, robust energy enveloped us as we sat in silence, molding our plasticene. It felt really special.

Today, we read the book, All The Colors We Are by K. Kissinger. We began by looking at our skin color. Prompted by the book, we took turns describing the color of our own skin, e.g., tan-ish, pink-ish, peach-ish. A child said, “White.” I said that there is no skin that is really white in color. We looked at what is white in the room. I then said that when people say they are white, the word “white” is really used to refer to a group of people, just like “black” might be used to refer to a group of people. “Yeah, no one really has black skin. They are brown.” Then someone said that the African dance teacher has black skin. Then another said that his skin is really dark brown and not black.

The children learned about the three ways we got our skin color: from our ancestors, the sun, and melanin. One child said, “DNA.” We defined the word ancestor, and then used the terms “ancestors” and “birth ancestors” together in subsequent readings. We learned about what melanin is, and thought about whether or not the melanin in our body is very busy or not very busy based on our skin color. Some children pointed out to the freckles they have on their skin. The melanin in those spots are very busy.

To further illustrate the premise that the place where one’s (birth) ancestors lived a long time ago has something to do with our current skin color, we located the equator on the globe and on the wall map. We had a flashlight to represent the sun. We noted that the part around the equator got more light than the surrounding areas away from the equator. We also thought about heating vents. The closer we are to heat, the warmer we feel. We located the north and south pole. We noted how little light hits that part of the globe. I then showed them where my ancestors were from, and where I grew up. We noted the distance between China (northern part) from the equator. I also showed them where the Philippines is located and talked about the general climate there, and about my Filipino friends having darker skin color than mine.

Then we got to the last part with the question, “Do you think your ancestors came from a place that was very warm and sunny, or a cooler place with less sunshine?” Each child had a turn drawing a conclusion based on their skin color. Some children named the places where they were born. Some children named the places where their ancestors were born. Most of them said that their ancestors came from a “middle” or “medium” place where it is not too warm and not too cold. One of the children said that he was born in Ecuador. We located it on the globe. We found out that it is right near the equator, and that part of Ecuador sits on the equator. That was amazing information. At the close of our discussion, I briefly told them about the continents, and identified them on the wall map.

This is certainly a beginning conversation on racial identity (and geography), and a continuing conversation on identity in general. Thank you for your support and your interest in what we do in school. The learning process is ongoing, and I am certainly learning from the children and from you.

Take care.

Lynne May

PS _ Thank you for coming to our potluck breakfast. It was a nice treat for all of us.

I am posting what I had written to the parents in my class about the pilot. I teach in a Quaker school, Cambridge Friends School. I am one of those teachers who tend not to jump into things very quickly. I tend to examine the reasons behind my decisions around curriculum, and lay them against our school’s mission and Quaker principles. Sharing how I look at things and the process of my decision making with parents is something I do from time to time, particularly when embarking on a curriculum that is new. It is one way I partner with parents in the education of their children. They are free to respond and share their comments or questions. I value their input. It allows me to view matters from different perspectives, especially that of the parents of children whom my curricular decisions directly affect.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUGAR ON THE STICK PILOT PROJECT

Hello, parents and guardians of children in grade one room 2,

As mentioned in our newsletter dated February 12, 2010, we are set to launch a Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) pilot project in our classroom. I hope to provide you information about this pilot project that, hopefully, will make you want to participate in it as well.

What is Sugar on a Stick? As mentioned on the newsletter, Sugar Labs is an open source software project that collaborates (largely online) to fulfill their mission to produce, distribute, support, and gather users and developers of the Sugar Learning Platform (Sugar). Sugar was originally developed for the One Laptop Per Child XO netbooks. It can be run by most computers, and is free. It offers a kid-friendly desktop or home screen, and the simple and meaningful icons invite free exploration.

Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) means that Sugar is loaded onto a USB stick or thumb drive, making Sugar very portable (you can carry it in your pocket or around your neck) and increasing the accessibility of technology as a tool for facilitating learning. This is a revolutionary idea. From the SoaS wiki:

“Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) enables children to reclaim computers. SoaS aims to make it easy for children, parents, or local deployers to provide each student with a small device (USB stick or thumbdrive) that can starts any computer with the student’s personalized Sugar environment… Sugar on a Stick starts up (“boots”) the host computer directly, without touching the hard disk…”

Each child in our class will have their own USB stick containing Sugar. They will be encouraged to freely explore the Sugar environment, and in the process, assume the perspective of both user and contributor. This is, in essence, what our pilot project is about. Please go to http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick for more information on SoaS.

Is this pilot project the very first one at CFS? Yes and No. Our classroom will be the very first Sugar on a Stick pilot at CFS. However, we will not be the first class to pilot the use of Sugar by students. Currently, the fourth graders are users of the Sugar Learning Platform (Sugar) via a pilot program using XO laptops. Last school year, an XO pilot project was also launched in the sixth grade classroom.

Why do the pilot? The answer might seem obvious: to provide children the opportunity to use computers as a learning tool. But I felt that this was not a strong enough reason to do the pilot. The children had an initial exposure to Sugar a few months ago when Mel Chua and Sebastian Dziallas, SoaS deployment team members, visited our classroom with three computers running Sugar. The children had a blast, interacting with the Sugar activities in teams of three. But their experience caused me to pause because of what I heard the children say. Out in the playground minutes after engaging in the Sugar activities, a number of our kids told kids from the other classrooms, “We played video games!” Most, if not all, students have access to computers at home. Many of them also have other electronic equipments like game boy, DS, and the Wii. I wondered how much time the children already spend in front of a screen or monitor. I wondered whether or not I would be meeting a need, versus responding to a want.

I gave the idea another shot, and tried to see it from the vantage point of our social studies curriculum. That was when it all came together. I felt that the compelling reason for the children to participate in this pilot is for them to have the opportunity to expand their notion as computer users and to recognize their potential to be contributors – to receive something great from another, and give back something in return. We have to see ourselves as participants in the Sugar Labs community, and as contributors to the Sugar learning platform. That led me to investigate what the Sugar Labs community is about. What I discovered sealed the deal. It seems to me that People who are actively involved with Sugar Labs tend to be passionate about the education of children, the use of technology in education, and about collaboration and free sharing of knowledge. Their mission statement is compatible with our school’s mission, the Quaker principles, and our pedagogy. I quote from their wiki:

The mission of Sugar Labs^® is to produce, distribute, and support the use of the Sugar learning platform; it is a support base and gathering place for the community of educators and developers to create, extend, teach, and learn with the Sugar learning platform.

Sugar is based on the following principles:

· everyone is a teacher and a learner;

· humans by their nature are social beings;

· humans by their nature are expressive;

· you learn through doing; and

· love is a better master than duty.

Please go to http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs to learn more about the Sugar Labs community.

What would the pilot entail? What would it look like and feel like? With such a seemingly grand goal, one might think this would take over our whole day everyday. Not really. The children will participate in the Sugar Labs community as users and quality assurance engineers, i.e., they will freely explore the Sugar learning environment and provide developers feedback about the activities developed for Sugar:

1. Resources, Supplies and Schedule:

a. The children will each have a thumb drive or USB stick that can start a computer using their own personalized Sugar environment. It will store the “activities” (Sugar learner applications) and their work. The school will provide the children with the USB sticks.

b. The children will use their USB stick on netbooks that the SoaS deployment team brings into the classroom. There will be three units all together.

c. Each child will spend 30 to 45 minutes each week on the computer. They will work in teams of three, with ratio of 1 child: 1 netbook.

d. Mel Chua is the SoaS deployment support for our pilot. She will be accessible in multiple ways, including face-to-face and online meetings.

e. The pilot project will begin week of February 23, 2010 and at the end of May, 2010.

2. Learning Goals:

a. The children will learn by doing, i.e., by freely exploring the Sugar activities they find interesting. They will be taught how the Home Screen (desktop) works and how to access the different activities and features of the Sugar learning environment. After that, they will explore on their own.

b. The children will learn to collaborate with one another and with the SoaS Deployment support team as learners and teachers. At this time, the children are learning how they can be more supportive to their peers as they work on acquiring new knowledge and skills, and continue to develop the skills they have learned. They are learning when to “mind your own learning,” and when they can offer help and how. The pilot will provide them opportunities to figure out how to be a stronger community of learners.

c. The children will learn how to offer constructive feedback and relay sequence or series of events, with attention to cause and effect, e.g, “when I…this happens…”

d. They will find ways to record their thinking and findings. They will post their findings on a shared community Sugar journal accessible to all.

e. They will learn to file bug reports, post blog entries, and check in with the larger Sugar Labs community during regularly scheduled “Upstream Day” with the SoaS deployment support, Mel Chua.

f. They will demonstrate their learning by mentoring other users and communicating to others their observations and thinking, e.g., their first grade peers.

g. They will identify resources to help them solve problems they encounter, including fourth graders who are users of Sugar activities.

h. They will post blog entries to document their work and interface with others in the Sugar Labs community. They will use pseudonyms for their blog posts and Sugar community membership.

How can parents participate or be involved? First, I welcome any comments and questions you might have about this pilot. Letting me know how and what you are thinking  would be helpful. Secondly, you will have a chance to meet Mel Chua on Friday, February 26, 2010, at dismissal time. She is planning to hang around CFS from 3:00 to 4:00 pm.

I am documenting our pilot project via my public blog, http://lmylim.wordpress.com, and will include taking pictures and video taping some sessions. We will create another blog that will be where the children will post their entries using pseudonyms. Visiting these blogs from time to time is a sure way to stay involved. You will be informed as soon as the children’s blog is up and running.

Should you want to see for yourself what this is all about, you are cordially invited to drop-in to observe during the first three weeks of March, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, between 9:30 to 10:15 am. Please let me know ahead of time if you want to do this so that I can prepare the children. The presence of parents can cause a lot of excitement in the classroom, so letting me know ahead of time is important.

If you want to volunteer in the classroom, the pilot project is a great opportunity for you to do so.  A consistent or predictable involvement is preferred. The time slot is from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The volunteer work will mean working alongside them, exploring Sugar activities with them, and supporting them as they attempt to solve problems they encounter and record their thoughts and findings on the community Sugar journal. If you want to bring your own laptop and plop down next to them to work, that would be awesome!

Thank you for your attention. Please feel free to be in touch with me to share your comments and questions.

Have a great week, and, a happy lunar new year to all!

Lynne May

“Sugar is based on the following principles:

• everyone is a teacher and a learner;
• humans by their nature are social beings;
• humans by their nature are expressive;
• you learn through doing; and
• love is a better master than duty”

To these principles, I say Yes! I think it is important for my students to know that Sugar is based on these principles. I want them to think whether or not  these principles are compatible with their own thinking about themselves as learners, and about learning.  I see how these principles connect to the Quaker principles of our school. Will they? They need not offer a response right away but this question or query would be one that I will revisit often with them. They are learning how to learn and grow, and I am learning how to facilitate that process more efffectively.