Thing 17 ....Coding

In my opinion, coding is like learning a foreign language...it is so much easier to learn the younger you are!  I was very excited about the Computer Science Education Week December 9-15.  There is a newer math teacher in our district that started offering a beginning computer programming course and I was happy to support him in this venture.  During the computer science week we asked teachers to please show the 5 minute promotional video from the code.org website.  We then picked a day during that week to close the library and open only for students interested completing an Hour of Code.  We had a great turn out....some teachers even joined in during their lunch and prep times.  I worked on quite a few but had a bit of frustration the longer I worked.  I tried  Angry birds, Lightbot, the Dog and the ball.  I truly believe we are missing the boat when it comes to computer science and our students!   I was thrilled with what code.org offered through their website.... http://learn.code.org/   - it is  a k-8 Computer Science class for 15-25 hours.  I wish I could offer it as a class.....or maybe as an after school program....the wheels are turning.  The computing occupations are among the highest paying for new graduates but fewer than 3% graduate with a degree in computer science!

An interesting article:

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21601250-global-push-more-computer-science-classrooms-starting-bear-fruit