What Most Schools Don't Teach...

So...how do we take the intimidation of coding (computer programming) out of the equation? "In the next ten years, there will be about 1.4 million jobs in computer science and only 400,000 qualified graduates to fill those jobs."

Please see the following video that stresses the importance of computational thinking and learning how to code (program). If you attended my classroom 2.0 live webinar yesterday, this video is a more detailed version of the one we previewed at the beginning before the session started. It REALLY is a powerful message and includes Bill Gates and a quote from Steve Jobs.

Stay tuned for my first instructional video geared toward my vision of K-8 computational thinking (programming) for all! I will be posting a video for the "newbies" that uses only three of the programming blocks and is easy enough for even the K-2'ers!

Magnetism & Electricity Video Game

Video games can bring engagement through mastery of content. Bailey, a fourth grader who scored above an 80% on her pre-test for an up-coming unit on electricity and magnetism, decided to create a video game review for her classmates to use in preparation for their unit test.

Not only did Bailey increase her computational thinking skills, but she also scored a 100% on the post-test, as she had to know the content forward and backwards in order to create her game. Her classmates also found success in studying for their unit test, but evaluating and providing feedback to Bailey on the game she created.

When all was said and done, over 90% of the students received grades of 90% and above on their unit final. The lowest score was a 73%! Take a look at an up-close and personal interview with Bailey, as she shares her project and insights with you!

Welcome to K-8 educational programming!

I've finally decided to split my blog so that I could focus on providing resources, ideas and materials for those interested in K-8 computer programming. I keep hearing that we are not generating any interest in this topic, however...I am hoping that there are more of you out there that are attempting to incorporate the skills of computational thinking and programming into your core curriculum. 

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/heidi_STRETCh/3048296

I have just finished creating a template for teachers to use in creating a realistic Family Feud type of game that will allow their students to play on the web. For those of you familiar with Scratch, this should be pretty easy.

For those "newbies," I have created a document that provides you will step-by-step directions on which seven programming blocks you need to change to create your own questions and answers. Click on the game and feel free to download and use in your own classroom!

If you would like the directions, you can find them here:

http://goo.gl/eDAFn

My goal is to post at least two/three new resources each week. Also...check out the K-8 programming playground at:

https://sites.google.com/a/stretchinstructor.com/k-8-programming-playground/home  

    

Feel free to follow along on my journey! Your STRETCh Instructor - www.stretchinstructor.com