Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Tips for Organizing an After School Club



After School Club

Last year I ran a weekly after school coding club for fifteen 3rd and 4th graders at my elementary school. Boy, did I learn a lot from this experience! Here are some suggestions if you are interested in starting your own after school club.

1. Create a Pacing Guide 
Before you even send the notes home to the students, write out a rough pacing guide. It doesn't have to be as detailed as weekly lesson plans, but I would include the objectives, materials, and teaching order for that week's class. I learned I spent too long on the planning stage of their projects as opposed to the teaching and students actually creating their projects. If I had created a pacing guide prior to, it would have helped me use our time better throughout the year. 

Don't forget to include make up lessons and a couple of fun weeks in your pacing guide too! 

2. Convince Another Teacher to Help Out
Even though there was only fifteen students, it was fifteen students learning new things who had lots of questions! I wish I'd had a co-teacher to help manage all the students and brainstorm lesson ideas together. Asking someone else to help you will only make your club better!

3. Show Off! 
Don't forget to have a time to show off your hard work! We had a parent's night where the students could be the teachers and show their parents what they had learned with programming in Scratch.  Students also went our district's Project Based Learning Expo to show off their projects.

What tips do you have for organizing an after school club?