Hi everyone! I checked out Hour of Code on Code.org and I had a lot of fun! I was surprised! I am not a very tech savvy person and was expecting it to be much more difficult than it was. Granted, I chose the one made for 2nd graders. I wouldn’t say I necessarily learned how to code but I now have a better general understanding of the concept, which is something I knew nothing about before. As someone who wants to teach highschool science, I think learning about computer science might be something I should look into and this made me feel more at ease with the idea!
The coding activity I chose was called “Nasa’s Space Jam” and even though it was for second graders, I had a lot of fun with it! If I were going to teach elementary school, this is absolutely something I would use in my classroom. I think it would also be great if parents knew about this site and used these as “screen time” activities instead of Fortnite or Roblox. This is really engaging and I can see it being super beneficial for kids who are always looking for a challenge or for something to do. I also think it would be a healthy source of dopamine, the reward chemical in your brain! Having kids code or solve these types of challenges where they can see change or cause and effect in real time, would be a great alternative to receiving that boost from a shooter game, for example. It also gives a little certificate of accomplishment that you can print out at the end, which I think is so cute and would be a total confidence booster for kids! Imagine doing a coding challenge as a kid, and receiving a certificate and being able to show your friends or have your parents put up on the fridge, or on your wall! For kids who may not get this sense of accomplishment and achievement from other sources like sports, this would be a total game-changer! This is going to be something I recommend to so many people!
I think coding is really important in the modern age. Our whole lives run off of coding. Medical technology, which is a really important part of my life as I have type one diabetes and need an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitors to survive, is all run by coding and artificial intelligence. I also think that coding is such a good thing for kids. For all the benefits mentioned earlier, and for helping gender inequality in schools.
There is a really great 12 minute TedTalk that I watch every year called “Teach girls bravery, not perfection” by Reshma Saujani. If you’re going to watch any TedTalk in your life, please let it be this one!
It truly changed the way I view education and how I approach lesson planning. Reshma Saujani is the CEO of a non-profit organization called “Girls Who Code” and she shares how girls and boys are socialized differently around risk-taking and it has a significant impact on their education. She found in her program that at the start, girls will code something and if it doesn't work, they erase it and don’t have anything to submit at the end of the class. They would rather show nothing at all, than show a code with errors. This is found in so many other areas of their education and leads into adulthood when applying for jobs, universities, scholarships, and more. It leads to women being underrepresented in industries like STEM, politics, and business. The statistics and stories that Reshma shares are truly eye-opening and crucial to understanding how important it is that children, especially girls, learn to be brave and to make mistakes. Coding is the perfect way to teach them this because coding is all trial and error. You cannot code without making mistakes! At the end of the program, Reshma found that the girls had a whole new perspective when it comes to coding and making mistakes. I cried watching this video for the first time, I’ll be honest. I have never related to and felt so seen by a video before so I could not be more passionate about this organization!
The great thing about this is it is a worldwide program that is available in Canada! You can do this with your students! They offer clubs for elementary, middle school, and high school students, summer programs, and even college programs. They offer training to teachers and others who want to start this club in their school or community and offer free resources and lesson plans for educators, women in STEM, and more! I urge everyone to check this out because we have the opportunity to change so many lives with this program.
Here is the video I made documenting my little coding activity. I used iMovie to speed it up by 4x and add a silly little song because the silence felt awkward.
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