Coding

This is what we were doing today in class…

I’m just kidding! Coding can be much more simple! It can look more like this:

And we’re just learning how to start.

We experimented with coding in class today. This was something that I have not had a lot of experiment with. Most of my exposure has come from any in-situ, practicum, or course work. And taking all of that into account, there is still not much experience.

We were able to play around with the program Scratch. With a short tutorial and some playing around, my name animation can be found here.

One thing that always in a concern in the back of my mind is the availability of technology in the classroom. And where it may be available, there may not be enough for one device for each student. This is where the idea of Pair Programming comes into play. There will be two students working on one device. It has been shown to help students learn even more and are more engaged with their assignments.

In my future teaching, I will for sure be trying this idea in my classroom. I think there is a time and a place for individual work, but also a lot of value in group learning. In most classrooms, there is technology available, but there may not be enough in the class for each student to get their own to work.

This is logistically a great idea to try with what may or may not be available. This is not the only thing that Pair Programming can do. It is also a great way to have students collaborate, learn from each other, and learn how to work through problems they come across.