Coding really can be fun! Seriously...

     Today in my IT class I got the opportunity to use coding to create a game! I am not going to lie, I was quite nervous when my professor said we were going to do coding today.....Two of my roommates are computer science majors. Whenever they mention coding, it is usually followed my groaning and frustration. Then she said that we should teach coding to elementary students...um what????? Then she showed us a website where we do coding to create games! I had no idea that such a thing existed. I am so glad I got the opportunity to try it out. I definitely think this is a great skill to obtain and that all students and teachers should know/learn about it. I will most definitely try to incorporate coding into my classrooms. It will be wonderful skill for them to learn and they will be having fun at the same time.
     I am hoping to teach fourth graders. So for coding, they would really need to pay attention to the directions. I got confused a few times about the directions and what each of the blocks meant. It took much concentration and trial and error. The students may have to just have a few trail and error moments, which is okay. I do like that it goes through the important blocks first in the first nine levels before creating your own game. I think all of that instruction will be beneficial for fourth graders. I love that at the end, when you make your own game you have tons of options (blocks). I like that allows creativity and self expression. As you can see from my beautiful game above, you can make and incorporate just about anything! There aren't too many difficult things that go into this particular game. I would say out of everything, just figuring out which each of the blocks do would be the most difficult thing for them to do. Overall I think students should get the opportunity to code. They are so many benefits to it and is a fun thing for them to do. If you are unsure about it, try it out yourself! I will most definitely use coding in my classrooms when I have a chance. I will try to incorporate it during either free time for the students or possibly during art time. This is a great way for students to be able to express their creativity and I am all about that.

 ISTE Standard: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.
 ISTE Standard: Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.