Beyond Hour of Code

Did you get the chance to participate in Hour of Code last week? If so, in this post, I hope to share with you some ideas how you can continue to give your kids the opportunity to continue trying coding. If you didn't participate in Hour of Code, don't fret! You can still participate, either by using the lessons I shared with you or by finding or developing your own! I am available to come into your class to do this with your kids; you can also talk to your building level technology specialist to come help, too!

Now that Hour of Code is officially over for 2016, what else can you do to capitalize on the kids' excitement and enthusiasm and continue the critical thinking, collaborating, and problem solving that comes with the coding lessons? Here are some ideas/resources:

• Go to code.org.  This is the best place to learn coding of all different kinds and at all different levels, in my opinion. Some of the coding activities in the lessons I shared with you came from code.org.
• Extend learning and make curricular connections using the Spheros. The Lightning Lab app uses block coding as well as lets you see the actual code behind the block coding. You can give the kids mazes to maneuver through or give a math tie-in with angles or geometry or connect science with lessons on friction and velocity, just for a couple quick ideas. Added bonus we just discovered this week: with the Lightning Lab app that has been pushed out to the Chromebooks, you can enable Bluetooth on the Chromebooks and control the Spheros using Chromebooks! No more relying on phones or iPads!
• Khan Academy has lessons on computer programming, computer science, computer animation, and hour of code lessons and activities. This would be a great place for your kids to extend their coding experience and even get some extra learning in for other subject areas, too!
• There are engineering, technology, and computer science related activities at BrainPop.
• Kahoot has a quiz you can use that they developed for Hour of Code.

If you had the chance to see any of the kids working on Hour of Code lessons last week, then you probably saw what I saw: kids who were engaged in their learning, kids who were collaborating, kids who were facing challenges and making mistakes and doing creative problem solving, kids who were thinking critically about what they were doing, and kids who were having fun while learning!

Coding isn't just a "science" or "technology" thing, either. Having kids collaborate, learn from mistakes, problem solve and think critically isn't only necessary in science or computers class. These are things we want our students to be able to do in all subject areas, in life, and in their relationships, and in their careers. So coding really has application across all curriculum areas and grade levels. In some schools, coding is indeed part of the STEM curriculum, but in some schools, it is actually part of their foreign language or ELA curriculum because, quite honestly, learning to code is very much like learning a language and developing precision of communication. Don't believe there are meaningful tie-ins beyond STEM? Check out this article about coding and how it can work with the CCSS, math AND ELA!

I encourage you and challenge you to take Hour of Code beyond an hour! I can't wait to see and hear about the great learning happening in your classes!