Coding

Coding, the universal language of computers and other electronic or mobile devices. Playing withe the Dash and Dot robots, as I mentioned in a previous blog, was my introduction to coding in a formal way of, this is what coding is. I was then a Grade Level Instructional Aid assisting two 6th grade teachers in a Gifted STEM school. I fell in love!! But now, since I have been further educated on coding since my Instructional Aid role has now passed, I have been introduced to coding in the form of different computer and phone/tablet apps and the frustration is real. How you get your robot or characters to move is different because the way you get them to move is different per app. Sometimes there's significantly more codes that get the move to happen and sometimes there's only one step. As you go higher on the coding block, the more complex things get, so you really have to want to code and love to code. I do believe that ALL people can code, again it's a matter of want. I have come to learn that coding is simply giving clear and percise directions of what you want the computer, device, robot, or app to do. I have had the privilege of working with scratch and a few other robots and computer apps to learn coding in different way. 

How can coding be implemented into my classroom or school setting? Into my classroom based off the curriculum that I have to follow, I can't. BUT I can definitely encourage it if a student or a group is done with their assignments early and they have an interest in coding. I mean, I have closed scratch at least 5 to 6 times if not more a day on student devices during instruction time because they prefer to code instead if learn the other things that I have to teach them that don't involve coding. One could argue that it would be a good opportunity to stop what I'm doing and involve coding into that lesson, but it can't alway be the case. I can offer it as a project for students to show me what they have learned in the science lessons that I have taught and yes I can do that, but I'd have to first and foremost, so that I don't loose my job, teach things in the way that they are asked in the curriculum. I can also implement coding as part of a STEM club station. There really is endless possibilities but I know that I need my admin on board before I can use it in my classroom at all, otherwise, it'll always be an issue and that I don't want.

Below is my screencasify of me using cospaces. We had a guest speaker that came in a taught us about coding in cospaces and using VR to see our work. It was a pretty cool day.

https://watch.screencastify.com/v/XJqi2x5IjkDo4YAln4ah