CIS Coding and Robotics Club 2018

It was a full house each Tuesday for 8 weeks this Spring, as our 5th annual after school club met to explore computer programming and robotics.  The CIS students used Scratch to animate Mother's Day projects.  We built Lego WeDo robots using the same kits provided by the COCISD Education Foundation our first year "in business" so thanks for funding that grant proposal waay baaack! The last 2 weeks were spent programming Dot and Dash robots  using an iPad app named Blockly.

Just like what's happening at LJH, I feel like the past years of this club, combined with work in class and 4 years of Digic@mp (summer tech camp) are building capacity so that the students are more easily understanding the processes and more willing to do the problem solving to make things work.
It's not the programming that's hard, it's the problem solving after you realize that it "doesn't work."
YET!!!
Here are some examples- I encourage you to check out the animated Mother's Day cards that were created using Scratch!  Some students from club helped students during an enrichment time to create these!


Scratch Animated Mother's Day Cards: Click here.





WeDo Lego Robots- build, plug in to the computer, program, and run!

 

Here are some snippets of programs built using Blockly to make Dot and Dash communicate with each other.

Lincoln Junior High Coding Club!

Spring 2018 LJH Coding Club!

A small but mighty group met every week on Thursdays to explore and develop coding skills using a fun programming language called Scratch!  This year's group was way more prepared than in year's past, so I really ended up having it more like an Open Lab time- students could choose the project or work on their own.  I think that the Computer Science pipeline is beginning to show results!  As in year's past, I began the group by introducing the CS First program.  

Why CS First?

1.  It provides user names and passwords for Scratch!  This is important because our students can't receive emails from outside COCISD, and creating an account in Scratch will require email verification.  Creating a Scratch account through CS First bypasses the need for email verification because it goes through the teacher's CS First account.

2.  It provides step by step lesson plans and video lessons that allow students to work at their own pace!  

3.  Because of #2, a teacher (like me a few years ago) who is clueless can still manage to lead students!  We all just listen and watch the videos and follow the online directions. 

We All Learned Together!

4.   Students can personalize their projects, allowing for voice and choice, and extensions at the end of the project allow for even more creative expression.

5.   CS First has a badging element to the projects! Students collect badges they put in their Passport upon completion of each project- or teacher discretion!

6.   The online materials provided address issues students may have, and address the teacher's desire to feel confident in providing instruction.

7.   There are many themes to choose from, ranging from Gaming to Fashion to Sports!

LJH ❤ CS First! 

We have a wonderful Tech Apps teacher at LJH named Natalie Martin, and she has been working with me to introduce coding to the students at LJH.  She has worked with me to help organize "Hour of Code" weeks each of the past 5 years.  This year she made the commitment to use a curriculum named "Creative Computing with Scratch" to help introduce programming to students. 

So....many more students are getting the opportunity to learn programming/coding skills than in years' past!  That's the pipeline starting to work!

Here are a few pics and projects: