 |  |
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.
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.
RSS Feed
