Even with the challenges of online learning, the students in Ms. Cullen's class prospered. “I've never had kids grow so much in a school year.” Ms. Cullen attributes the students' growth to the top three apps she was using for online learning: Kodable, SeeSaw, and Epic.
“I would say the reasoning skills they're doing in coding carried over to reading and learning, as well as building their confidence at navigating through tough programs and technology,” Ms. Cullen said, “Kodable was a bright spot in their day!”
“At the beginning of the school year one student said 'Why are you testing me? I can't read',” Ms. Cullen recalls, “but by the end of the year she was reading almost at the end of the kindergarten level.” Ms. Cullen describes helping this student with her self-confidence: “We worked on getting her to say 'I can read,' and by the end of the year she was writing me notes.”
Building confidence was a major milestone for many students who were learning to read and did not have any reading skills at the start of the school year. “Many [students] knew zero letters or numbers, and by the end of the year they were reading at a third or fourth grade level,” explained Ms. Cullen.
At the end of the year, students were asked to write something they learned: “I can code and I can read,” read one student's response.
