During my first year at UNBC I took first year programming and computational logic courses which I enjoyed and found gave me useful skills I have used since. These courses however were quite a jarring shift in thinking for me and would likely have been a step to far for many high school students or recent grads, making for a high bar for entry. When I heard that we would be partaking in a Scratch workshop I was excited as I was hoping to learn an easier way to teach and get into the mindset of computational thinking that would be more appropriate for younger students and those who have not been exposed to that kind of thinking. I found Scratch to be an excellent tool for entering this mindset as it allows the user to start with very basic computational thinking without needing to know the complicated syntax of programing languages. It is encouraging for students to be able to explore and create with Scratch blocks and to build and learn logic without having to simultaneously learn about a new complicated system of communication at the same time. With the simple directions we were given I was able to complete the basic tasks then move on to creating my own scenario where I had my cat endlessly chasing my bouncing ball back and forth across the screen.
I believe Scratch could easily be used in a high school setting to introduce students to the basics of programing and computational logic. Depending on the complexity of the project given to students it could be used to reinforce mathematic principles or give students the opportunity to be creative and create a game or a pre-set performance. For students who are highly proficient with Scratch they could also use it to present their learning in any other subject area.
In my practicum for EDUC 391 I could use Scratch to explore concepts in Bridging Math 9 such as arithmetic, mental math strategies, and proportional reasoning. One concern with using Scratch in this instance is the amount of time that teaching students to use scratch would take may be unreasonable given the relatively short practicum and the fact that there may be more time effective methods of exploring these topics. However, using scratch for teaching these topics would also introduce some valuable cross curricular learning as they would also be gaining computational logic and programming skills while practicing certain math principles. If given the chance to do my later practicums in junior programing or robotics for example I would definitely give Scratch a try in the classroom.