The Transparent Tech Teacher |
Top Four Reasons You Should Teach Your Kids to Code1. Coding Helps Kids Develop Problem Solving Skills
Linda Liukas, founder of the Rails Girls coding organization, describes computational thinking as a "a way to structure your thinking in a way a computer understands it." According to Sol Shaikh, a teacher of tech, computational thinking is, "the logical thought process, the ability to spot mistakes, and a willingness to solve a problem." These skills all come from learning to code. Although my experience is not vast, I have worked with coding enough personally and with my students to see these skills being developed first hand. Coding rarely works right the first time. In order to make a game, program or character work, one must be constantly evaluating the written code, the process, and the order of things. This ability to stick with a task through it's completion and all of the skills that come from learning to code can be helpful in any career and in every aspect of life. "Learning to write program stretches your mind, helps you think better, and creates a way of thinking that I think is helpful in all domains." -Bill Gates 2. It is the Wave of the Future Check out these statistics on the growing job market for computer programmers:
Technology isn't going away! 3. Learning Coding Empowers Kids Coding gives kids tools to express themselves in really cool ways. With a spike in technology use in education today, there are surprisingly few schools who extend technology use into the coding arena. Kids no longer just need to know how to use technology but how to create it. 4. Coding is the New Literacy Computing is a language. Learning to code expands our options for communication in the same way learning a new language, such as Spanish or French, does. Coding is quickly becoming the universal language. Being able to speak the language of code will prepare our kids to thrive in this technology rich world. Resources Statistics on the Coding Job Market 5 Reasons to Teach Kids to Code Why We Need to Teach Kids to Code Promote Computer Science Why Learning to Code Benefits Kids
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The 2017-2018 school year will be my first time teaching a 6th grade coding elective. In my research on what resources to use to develop my curriculum for this course, I refined the tools to those I view most helpful. I've included a brief description of the website, why I prefer it, and the appropriate age level. Coding WebsitesScratch-I fell in love with this free website, developed by MIT students, during a BSU course I took last summer. It has a phenomenal array of tools and endless programming capability and is yet quite simple to understand. Students LOVE this site!
Recommended Grades: upper elementary and middle school students (even high schoolers) Kodable-This is an excellent FREE resource. It is written in a concise and organized manner including everything that the teacher in me loves: teaching objectives, vocabulary, direct instruction lesson plans containing short videos that present lesson content to the teacher, and informal assessments. Recommended Grades: lower elementary Code.org-For the past four years, my students (grades 1st-6th) have used this website in some form, whether they participate in the Hour of Code, visit the website when they've completed their project that week or are completing an assignment for my class. I love this site because it is extremely user friendly and the website is so well developed. Their graphics are amazing and they are constantly adding activities to match current student interests (Frozen, Star Wars, Minecraft...whatever is popular at the time.) They also offer a curriculum for both elementary and middle schools. Recommended Grades: lower & upper elementary and middle school In 2003, I graduated from university and entered the REAL world. My first teaching job came by happenstance and was with a school where I had previously done a lot of subbing. In October, an FTE became available which the teachers voted to use to employ a technology teacher...yours truly! Thus, my first REAL teaching job was placed in my inexperienced hands and I was in the field of technology education completely by accident. I didn't have any training or even special interest in technology, but it was a salaried job with benefits so I neither hesitated nor complained. Fast forward 14 years where I am just beginning my 6th year as a technology teacher at a charter school in Idaho. I now specialize in and love teaching technology.
Since that first teaching job in Draper, Utah I have come so far. The experiences I've had with technology as I strive to teach new and interesting topics to my students as well as content of my master's courses have equipped me to be more prepared and effective teacher than I was 14 years ago. This coming school year, I'm teaching a coding elective for the first time ever. I've allotted time for coding with students in previous years, but this is the first year we'll offer an elective where the focus is strictly coding. It's exciting to look back and see the road that brought me to this point, but it's even more exhilarating to look ahead at the path in front of me. Where will my experiences lead to next? I hope to be a transparent teacher. Transparent is defined as, "easily seen through, recognized or detected; obvious; open, frank, candid" (dictionary app). As with any relationship, being genuine puts a lot of deposits in the emotional bank account. This is the way I try to interact with my students. My blog title is a reminder that candid teaching is important to me. |
AuthorBecky teaches tech to 3rd-6th grade students at Compass Public Charter School. ArchivesBlogrollCategories
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