This month CSTA Iowa shines a spotlight on Erin Chute. Erin is the K-12 Instructional Coach and Digital Literacy Coach for the Kingsley-Pierson Community School District.
CSTA Iowa Spotlight on Erin Chute
District/Organization: Kingsley-Pierson Community School District
City: Kingsley, IA
Describe your teaching position or role:
I am the K-12 Instructional Coach and Digital Literacy Coach for the Kingsley-Pierson Community School District. In addition to my coaching duties, I also teach the Student Tech Team course offered at our high school. Technology and computer science are my passions and I enjoy sharing this with my coworkers and others in my area of the state. Kingsley Elementary was one of the schools selected to receive the Computer Science is Elementary awards provided by the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council. Through this opportunity, I have been able to assist our district in changing the landscape of computer science in our schools. Students will now have access to quality computer science education at each level. Our teachers have been able to participate in professional development and learn about the computer science standards while collaborating with others to provide engaging computer science lessons to our students. I enjoy going into classrooms and co-teaching computer science and digital citizenship lessons with my colleagues. It is very rewarding to assist with building the confidence of the educators in the district and to see the spark of achievement and a growing interest within our students.
What 's your favorite CS concept or lesson to teach? Why?
My favorite computer science concepts to teach are Algorithms and Programming and Impacts of Computing. Algorithms and Programming is what established my love of computer science. I believe that the plugged and unplugged lessons for this concept are engaging and challenging for students. These lessons encourage students to use computational thinking and allow them to think outside of the box. I also enjoy teaching Impacts of Computer and think that it is very important. Impacts of Computing incorporates soft skills and takes a more worldly perspective to computer science. It is important for students to understand the deeper implications of computing on our society.
What 's your favorite CS resource? Why?
Code.org is my favorite computer science resource because it is where I got started and it allowed me to bring computer science to a broader audience in my classroom and district. I am able to find curriculum, professional development opportunities, and research with just a few clicks.
Why did you join CSTA & CSTA Iowa?
CSTA is a great tool to find valuable resources and it provides me with a network of professionals to collaborate with. I know that CSTA will provide me with access to the most current information in the computer science education field.