I don't know how to express my gratitude to the great minds behind code.org. Their diverse and extensive set of tutorials was an incredible gift. The tutorials were so well organized that students and staff could easily access them and move from one to another as their skill improved and interest peeked. What an amazing opportunity to have the tools to guide students through the discovery of coding.
I had the privilege of working with several other classes in addition to my own and while they were all unique experiences the constant between them was that each class was highly engaged in learning! They worked at their own speed, helped each other, shared their excitement and eagerly "attacked" each level. It was fun to watch them - I could actually see them thinking! I absolutely love that look!
The excitement continues as we have started a computer science club to keep on learning. My class is participating as well as several students from other classes. We are going through code.org's 20 week tutorial. I have learned so much already, not just about coding, but about our students as well. While learning is difficult for many of them, they don't shy away from this challenging problem solving opportunity, in fact they embrace it fearlessly! I also learned that the great staff that I work with will willingly try just about anything given the necessary tools and support! I am blessed!
I had the privilege of working with several other classes in addition to my own and while they were all unique experiences the constant between them was that each class was highly engaged in learning! They worked at their own speed, helped each other, shared their excitement and eagerly "attacked" each level. It was fun to watch them - I could actually see them thinking! I absolutely love that look!
The excitement continues as we have started a computer science club to keep on learning. My class is participating as well as several students from other classes. We are going through code.org's 20 week tutorial. I have learned so much already, not just about coding, but about our students as well. While learning is difficult for many of them, they don't shy away from this challenging problem solving opportunity, in fact they embrace it fearlessly! I also learned that the great staff that I work with will willingly try just about anything given the necessary tools and support! I am blessed!
A fun update: I just learned that our superintendent wrote 80 lines of code after watching our video! I love it when the excitement for learning spreads! Enthusiasm is contagious! How do you share the love of learning beyond your classroom?