Teacher
Training Doc Ver. 1.1.1

created by AiGolearning

Welcome to AiGoLearning’s training site! Here, you will find information on all the courses we offer, as well as other related resources that will help you on your way to becoming student teachers. To get started, log into school.thinkland.ai using the account information that was/will be emailed to you. and follow the instruction there. When you are ready, request an evaluation. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact someone on our training team. Happy learning!

Step 1: Log into the school.thinkland.ai , and complete your Discord server profile

Step 2: Choose the course(s) you want to teach, and familiarize yourself with the curriculum, which can be found in our Thinkland training classrooms.

Step 3: Sign up and complete your evaluation.

Step 4: Fill out legal documents.

Step 5: Start teaching!

By this point, you should have already completed the following:

  1. Filled out the AiGoLearning Student Information Form, or the Student Teacher Sign-up Form.
  2. Joined our New Teacher Training Server (NTTS) on Discord

Create your account on our training/teaching platform

  1. Navigate to school.thinkland.ai, and select “Log-in” on the top right corner. Follow the instructions on the "Start Here" page in the Thinkland Platform
  2. Thinkland.ai is the platform where the training materials are stored and is where you will manage your online classroom.

Complete Your Discord Server Profile

  1. In NTTS, rename yourself with your real name
  2. Assign yourself with the roles that correspond with the courses you want to teach

At AiGoLearning, we offer student teachers a number of courses to teach. You can teach more than one course, but you can only teach classes you have finished evaluation for (see Evaluation page). Therefore, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with more than one course. Our training instructor will also be available on the Discord server if you have any questions.

Start by selecting the course you want to teach, then select “View Course”. You will be redirected to a Thinkland classroom, where you will need to log in with your Thinkland account and select “Enrol me”.

Make sure you review the resources linked at the bottom of the page. These resources cover what you’ll need to do when you start teaching, including submitting attendance and writing class reports.

Course Description: “Scratch Jr is an introductory programming language that encourages creativity and expression, enabling five- to seven-year-old children to create their own interactive projects through coding. It provides young children with opportunities to design, create, and express themselves. Using Scratch Jr, children can use the programming blocks to bring their characters to life.”

View Course

Course Description: “Extending from Google’s CS First themed curriculum, we introduce grades 2-5 students (7 years old and up) to coding principles, all in project-based activities. Kids will systematically learn to program in Scratch, meanwhile explore storytelling techniques, build fun games and craft interesting presentations. The projects will showcase their creativity with the aid of coding and digital designs.”

View Course

Course Description: “Have you ever wondered how Alexa could always find an answer to your whimsical questions? We have and we figured that out, in Scratch. Using the proprietary AI platform built by Thinkland.ai, we introduce students to the concept of machine learning and its applications in real life. Learning with 10 projects from different AI focuses all implemented in Scratch, the kids will explore the meanings of artificial intelligence in our daily life and the engineering principles behind these AI-based applications.”

View Course

Course Description: “Get started with an introductory session for those interested in learning Python, programming, and how to use programming in various mathematical and scientific tasks. Students will install Python 3.8, learn the basics of Python programming, and apply the basics to various tasks. And then gradually expand to computational thinking skills behind software application design.”

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Course Description: “An in-depth course detailing everything related to java, from basic concepts of how a computer functions to advanced concepts that appear on the AP exams. This course blends rigor with fun as students participate in hands-on projects and labs to better understand the language of java and take the step into more advanced coding.”

View Course

Once you are ready, sign up for an evaluation using the link below. You will need to complete an evaluation for each course you wish to teach. When you sign up for an evaluation, choose your preferred platform: Discord voice channel or Zoom. We will send you a confirmation email/message after you have submitted an evaluation request.

Each evaluation will last approximately an hour. However, it is unnecessary to use up all of that time. You can complete the evaluation for all the courses you want to teach in one sitting, or you can choose to split it up into multiple evaluations. If you want to choose the latter, simply submit the form multiple times.

Make sure you turn up on time, and good luck!

Evaluation Sign Up

Teach a lesson on the three bullet points listed in the section. Link here.

Teach a lesson on the project “Bouncing Ball”. Your goal is to have the student complete this project. Link here.
FYI: to open up the template, go to Scratch → Project Template

  1. Demonstrate you can create a machine learning model.
  2. Teach a lesson on the project “Bouncing Ball”. Your goal is to have the student complete this project.
Link here.

Teach a lesson on the project “Calculator”. Your goal is to have the student complete this project. Link here.

  1. Teach a lesson on “strategic coding” up to the examples (evaluator will ask for the explanation for 2-3 examples)
  2. Explain the code for the project “palindrome”. Link here
  3. Be prepared for on the spot coding with a given prompt

Follow the instruction and fill out the AiGoLearning Employee Documentation Form linked below. If you are 18 or over, you should start completing your legal documents after you have completed your evaluation. If you are under 18, you should start filling out this form as soon as possible, since the A300 working paper will take time to complete.

Everyone will need to complete the AiGoLearning Employee Documentation Form, even if you choose to receive volunteering hours only.

Additional instructions for those under age 18: You must fill out the A300 Form to start work. First, complete section A of the form and send it to the office email: office@aigolearning.org. We will then complete section B and email it back to you. Once you have received the updated A300, continue to fill out the rest of the form as needed.

AiGoLearning Employee Documentation Form: Click Here

Congratulation! Now you have completed your evaluation and are ready to be assigned to teach classes. There are teaching guidelines that you must abide by:

  1. Start Zoom at least 3 – 5 minutes before the start of class, and log into http://school.thinkland.ai/
  2. At the beginning of class, complete attendance using the Thinkland Platform (Select classroom → Participant → select all students who are present → Choose "Send attendance notification").
  3. At the end of each class, write a class report for each one of your students using the Thinkland Platform (Select classroom → Participants → Report). Make sure you select “Save & Email” after you finish writing up the report.
    1. If you are a teaching assistant, “check in” by submitting a class report for yourself.
  4. Pace your class using the “pacing guide” that can be found in each course’s Thinkland training classroom.
  5. Do not skip break (if applicable) nor shorten the class time.
  6. Do not skip or reschedule class on your own. You must notify the office in advance. We will discuss alternative options with you (substitute or reschedule).
    1. Do your best to make the class, because a scheduled class is like a contract you sign with students and their parents. If you absolutely cannot teach the class, let us know at least 24 hours beforehand (either DM one of the admin in NTTS or send an email to office@aigolearning.org).

Class change form: Request

The training program is self-paced. When you think you are ready to teach, just sign up for an evaluation. If you want to take time to prepare, that’s fine as well.

As many as you want! After evaluation, we will assign you to be a teacher or TA based on the evaluation result. Please do let us know if you want to teach more classes.

That’s up to you! However, generally speaking, Scratch classes are more popular among students.

Of course! Our training materials are designed to help you learn, and you’ll be teaching children. Additionally, whereas the 003 Python and 005 Java courses will require you to have some background knowledge, the 000 and 001 Scratch courses are fairly simple and easy to learn. At the same time, if you think Scratch is too easy, try the 002 Scratch + AI course.

No. You can sign up for an evaluation at any time.

The rate depends on the course you are teaching, as well as the number of students in your class. Furthermore, you can choose whether or not you want to receive payment or service hours, or a mixture of both.

Use the Thinkland Scratch Editor. This is for both 001 and 002. All of your students are given a Thinkland account. Also, all of the Scratch project templates can be found in the Thinkland Scratch Editor.

3 - 8 students.

That is up to you. The training materials we have are åll resources for you. If you want to make edits to a certain project or add in a mini-project, feel free to do so. However, make sure you pace your class accordingly (use the pacing guide in the training classroom to help you). You don’t have to follow the guide step by step, but just make sure your class ends on the right unit for each session.

Let us know at least 24 hours beforehand. You will have to make up this class at another time. After discussing the situation with the office, send a message to all of your students explaining the situation. You can do this by either sending an email and cc office@aigolearning.org, or use Thinkland’s send message tool. If you just started teaching, do your best to avoid skipping classes.

You can submit both attendance notifications and class reports by going to your Thinkland classroom → Participants. Visit the Thinkland Platform Guide for more specific instructions. Remember, you must submit attendance at the beginning of each class and class reports after each class.

The main goal of being a TA is to learn from the teacher so that you can start teaching sooner. In some cases, be prepared to teach the class when the teacher is absent or when the teacher asks you to do so. Generally speaking, help out the teacher when the teacher needs an extra pair of hands.

Complete a class report for yourself in your Thinkland classroom for each class you TA for.

  1. Don’t be late. Start your class meeting five minutes before class time. Remember how you felt when your teacher opened up Zoom a few minutes late? Yeah, don’t be like that.
  2. Don’t turn your class into a lecture. Although it is hard to maintain an active online class, try your best to engage your students with questions and activities. Emphasize “fun” over “informational”.
  3. At the same time, maintain control over your classroom. Sometimes, online classes can get out of control, especially with younger kids. Make sure you are leading the students, not the other way around.
  4. Give homework. Homeworks are optional. In fact, you should not rely on your students to finish their assigned homework. However, giving additional practice or projects for students to work on after class will make your class more effective.

Syllabus School@Thinkland Platform Guide Teach Checklist