ECISD's Hour of Code #hourofcode #ecisdtweets

Pecan Valley Coders! Mrs. Walls' class of future computer programmers!
Image Source: Mary Ray (@mray29) See more tweets from Mary Ray

Daniel Christian, Mary Ray, Marguerite Lowak, and Dawn Drisdale are joining ECHS students in introducing ECISD's campuses of with students of all ages to "coding," or programming. Students at ECISD campuses are joining others in introducing students to programming, or coding.

Watch Video: 

John Glenn students LOVE #HourOfCode #ecisdtweets #JGastros pic.twitter.com/9sv585SFsv

— Mary Ray (@Mray29) December 7, 2015

Susan Reeves (ESC-20 Digital Learning Specialist) shared her insights into The Hour of Code via this VoxerChat, an audio format (find out more about ECISD Voxer Chats). A brief description:

The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. One-hour tutorials are available in over 40 languages. No experience needed. Ages 4 to 104. . .The grassroots campaign goal is for tens of millions of students to try an Hour of Code during December 7-13, in celebration of Computer Science Education Week.

Anyone can go online to The Hour of Code web site and participate in one of the available scenarios such as those shown below:

...then they earn a certificate like the one shown below (special thanks to Mary Ray (@mray29)):

Mr. Shobe's class

Why is Coding Important?
Coding is important for many reasons. One is expressed below, such as by Laura Willson, a high school age student--featured in U.S. News--at the time this was written, Girls Who Code and the Importance of STEM:

Coding is important because it makes it possible for us to create computer software, apps and websites—it involves both problem solving and programming in different computer programming languages. A person who knows code might get a job creating and designing games or in creating programs in the medical field, for example in treating diseases. 

We have to start helping young folks get going with coding early:

Kids need to learn computer science early in order to get the experience they need to work in the field later on, said Chris Bradfield, founder of the national advocacy group Kids Can Code. They can’t wait until college to get interested in coding, he said, because they won’t know enough by the time they graduate; employers don’t want to hire people they have to teach basic skills [to]. “Starting young means you have more time to work at it,” Bradfield said. 

Source: Coding for Kids, International Business Times

Some photos from Hour of Code events in the East Central ISD:

ECISD Girls Coding!

Hour of Code Relevant Links and Resources

1. Hour of Code Countdown Planning
2. Hour of Code Resources:
1. My 6 Favorite Code.org/Hour of Code Links: http://hourofcode.com 
2. direct to tutorials: https://code.org/learn 
3. Pair Programming Video to show students: https://youtu.be/vgkahOzFH2Q 
4. Understanding 4 types of Mistakes from KQED:http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/11/23/why-understanding-these-four-types-of-mistakes-can-help-us-learn/ 
5. Promotional materials: https://hourofcode.com/us/promote/resources -Includes sticker, certificate templates, media release drafts, posters and more
6. Printable student certificates (up to 30 at a time, be sure to print landscape mode): https://code.org/certificates
3.  BEYOND HOUR OF CODE: 
1. https://code.org/educate
   Information for teachers and school districts about training options and opportunities 
2. https://code.org/professional-development-workshops
   K-5 Teacher training opportunities (underwritten by Code.Org) 
3. https://code.org/educate/professional-development-online
   Online, self-paced workshop for elementary teachers 
4. https://code.org/educate/districts
   School District Partnership Information

I leave you with Jennifer Smith (Librarian and Campus Tech Coordinator at Legacy MS (@readjunkee)) exhortation to teachers:

The Hour of Code has kicked off to a great success.
Walking through the labs yesterday and today have been a dream.  The students were engaged.  I could almost see the wheels turning in their heads!
This morning, several students went back to the site by choice!
Thanks to the 6th grade Science Teachers, Mrs. Galindo, Mrs. Pajares, Mrs Washington, Mr. Phillip, and Mr. Joseph, for taking the time to bring your students to the computer labs and monitoring their progress.
If you work with 6th graders, please ask them about their coding.  Some of the options they had were Minecraft, Star Wars, Frozen, and Classic Maze with Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies.
Please take a little time out of your crazy week to try the Hour of Code (hourofcode.com) yourself.