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:
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