Thing 17: Coding

I learned quite a bit reading through these coding materials and trying out some of the programs/apps. I looked at Kodable and Flappy Birds. I can see where kids would get a kick out of making their own game, and learn in the process. I will be honest here---we do not have access to IPads in my school, so I tend to skip right over the iPad apps. I did read "7 apps for Teaching Children Coding Skills." It is interesting to read how coding can be linked to literacy. I read about the Hour of Code and will share that information with the elementary and middle school librarians in my district. I read "Why Should Librarians Learn Python?", but I am still not convinced this is something I should be teaching my high schoolers. I think they probably already know way more about gaming and coding than I ever will. I read "Why Programming Teaches So Much More Than Technical Skills" and find this interesting with the push toward STEM. I shared "These Are Skills Students Learn from Coding" with our tech savvy Math teachers. I played around with Codeacademy animating my name. I was able to follow all the steps and found it quite easy with the step by step instructions. I will share some of the coding programs with my study hall students who play games on the computers. Maybe they will actually learn something useful.