Blog Archives

Hour of Code is Rolling Along - Computer Science in Ed Week

12/9/2014

We are super excited to celebrate unlocking any fuzz creatures, especially our first, SimonFuzz!

We enjoyed a tremendous amount of excitement yesterday and today using Kodable on the iPad and on the desktop computers (woo hoo!) to begin learning the basics of computer programming and all that awesome collaboration and logical thought processes that go along with it.

As a district we are full steam ahead! At our high school, the Geeks and Girls Only Coding Club, with support from inspiring teachers Aaron Braskin and Jane Lofton, are fanning out to host an Hour of Code in the labs on campus during lunch this week. How cool are they?! Also, at our middle school we have an amazing team of science teachers (I personally can vouch for some of the staff because my daughter has had the great opportunity to be in their class) that are hosting an Hour of Code in their classrooms this week. If you are ever wondering how you can personalize the Hour of Code experience to make it more meaningful, look no further than the brilliant idea from Creighton Dreshcer, who used Google Forms, CopyDown Add-On and formMule to generate an email with options to entice any student to give coding a try. Lastly, we are making great strides in our elementary school to share the joy of coding.

If you are thinking about trying to learn to code, try different applications. You might enjoy one more than another. Did I mention Kodable? Yes, super fun for kids of all ages. Over the past weekend I hosted an Hour of Code in the community where I live and people ages 8-60+ loved getting inspired using Kodable and Code.org.

Happy Coding!

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Hour of Code - 5 Strategies to Get Unstuck When Your Coding

12/3/2014

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Hour of Code is a great way to join in on the fun and help inspire kiddos to learn skills that translate across the curricullum as well as in real life. Learning to program can be easy at first but becomes progressively more challenging. Helping lead the students to success that they earn is a feeling that no money can buy. It's an epic win when you see a child complete a challenge (they are so proud of themselves and I share that with them when I'm in the classroom). So, I thought I would capture some great strategies for dealing with the times when kiddos might be stuck. They reach a road block. They want to give up. We need to help them become more resilient so here's some ideas that helped me over the past few years.

Yesterday, a class of amazing 3rd graders, super eager to learn to code, helped me brainstorm ideas for helping other students who might get stuck when they are coding. Here is what we came up with.

5 Strategies to Get Unstuck:
1. Test it in small pieces - Try entering only a few commands, run, add more, run, repeat until successful
2. Try, try again - Try different ideas, even going back a level and then forward
3. Shake it up or take a short break - helps you attack the challenge with fresh eyes and gets the wiggles out when you stand up and reach for the stars
4. Take a big deep breath and let it out like the North wind - relax, then attack.
5. Ask 3 before me - asking for help from a seat partner or another class expert (nice if you can identify some helpers ahead of time with coding experience. Most of the time, their moment in the sun when they help someone helps is a super proud moment for both kiddos.)
6. ? Can you add more? Please add them in the comments session

Happy Coding!

P.S. Does anyone know why Kodable is spelled with a K? Some curious 3rd grade coders want to know. They loved, loved, loved learning to code with Kodable - sequence, conditions and loops.

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Winning the Hour of Code by Personalizing it for Students!

12/1/2014

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Image credit: Rachel, "Hourglass", https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelcaitlin/8033579260/

Here's a hot tip for techie and non-techie folks (may require having a techie friend) and fellows leading the Hour of Code event at your school. I learned today from our instructional technologist at our Manhattan Beach Middle School, Creighton Drescher, that using our district MBUSD Google Apps for Education Accounts (GAFE) he's stepping up the Hour to personalize the experience for kiddos in grades 6-8. He's crafting a survey (Google Forms) to query kids about how much coding experience they have. I'm not sure if he will be distributed the survey link using a shortened URL, I like goo.gl, or a QR code the teacher projects or a mass email. Then, based on the student responses, they receive Hour of Code links that better suit their experience or comfort level with computer programming. Sweet! Personalizing the Hour of Code is a huge win especially with a large campus of over 1000 kids. Way to go! If I get the links or more information (my bet is he's using AutoCrat add-on) I'll share it with Creighton's permission. :)

Just a thought, if you don't have email accounts, you could use a webpage with link options to personalize a students experience with the Hour of Code. Start with the survey and based on a students score or letter (share the score so they get feedback right away but not the spreadsheet which might side track some kids), tell them to go to the right link to match their level.

I've introduced coding to 5th graders and 2nd graders recently. Here's two solid tips. First, start with a quick game of Simon Says. Then follow it with Kodable iPad app and then Hopscotch, if time permits. The Simon Say's game helps you make coding real for the kids. Kids can make the connection easier to computers and code. You might even hear "Ahhhh" computers will do exactly what you tell them to do, just like Simon Says, step by step directions = code. Kids need to understand the basics, the foundation for all coding languages. That's where Kodable comes in and does an exceptionally fun job making the important points like sequence, conditions and loops, in a rather short period of time, too.

Happy coding!

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Author: Jeanne Reed

Engineer turned educator, now educational technologist - sharing my passion and perspective on technology in education to improve student learning. Hope you enjoy!

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Reflections by Jeanne Reed is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

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