Beyond the Hour of Code

After seeing the excitement and engagement of my students when they participated in the Hour of Code, (see the related post here), I talked with my principal, Mrs. Parker, about finding a time students who wanted to continue could participate in the 20 hour coding course offered by code.org.  I created a quick survey in Edmodo for students to let me know their interest.  We decided the 30 minutes each day of tutorial time, before their 45 minutes of enhancement, would be the perfect time for those students to come to the computer lab and work through all the levels.  Code.org, in participation with DonorsChoose, was offering the first 1,000 schools that had 15 students complete the course a $750 grant from DonorsChoose.  If half of the students were female, they included another $250. I had to admit that was the motivation I needed to set up all the students with usernames and passwords that wanted to participate.  I began with 47 students in 3rd-5th grade.  The course got very rigorous around about level 15, and some students chose not to continue.  I had 28 students complete the course and received the DonorsChoose grant.  I purchased an iPad mini for the classroom.  Students used it to make their drawings come to life using the colAR Mix app.  I learned so much, and I know my students did, as well.  We celebrated with a pizza party. I am thinking over summer break how I can incorporate coding in my curriculum next year, at least for all the 5th graders.

coders

coders pizza party

 

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