Returning to Coding

After a hiatus from coding, due largely to my absence from the Numeracy classroom, our journey has begun again with a range of experiences on the code.org Hour of Code page.

The students were given the choice of exploring the Star Wars: Building a Galaxy with Code or completing the Classic Maze with Angry Birds.

Some worked on their iPad ....

... some worked on their computer ...

 ... all worked independently at their own pace

They were all focussed and each student achieved at least one of the tutorials. Not a bad effort for the last lesson on a Friday!

At least one student ventured beyond code.org and started to explore the Khan Academy Hour of Drawing with Code tutorial, which is considerably more of a challenge.

The students are excited to be coding again ... which is really pleasing. They want to explore the iPad App Floors by Pixel Press. They've had a bit of a play with it, whilst I was absent from teaching them, so I've agreed to look at developing a project for them to complete during Term 3.

In the meantime, we've got a few more tutorials on the code.org website that we can explore and a couple of interesting coding Apps I've found on the App Store:

Javvy: Learn how to code in Java

Swifty: Learn how to code in Swift

Spiraling Emoji in Hopscotch

This week, Nick shared with the class the Hopscotch tutorial he'd explored last week: Draw with Spiraling Emoji in Hopscotch. Everyone got right into following this simple, but effective tutorial and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The students largely kept up with the instructions and when they missed something, they were quick to ask Nick to stop the tutorial. Once again, they helped each other out when needed ... such a simple thing but nice to see.

There's not a lot of instructions in this tutorial. However, it introduces the concept of using a 'hack' to make something happen for which there isn't a built-in piece of code.

 

At the end of the tutorial, viewers are encouraged to change some of the settings they've added ... just to see what happens. Each student created something different and we had lots of funning checking out what everyone had done.

The coding for this project looks like this ... 

and here's the tutorial on You Tube.

Now, take a look at some student creations ...

At the end of the lesson, we unpacked the lines of code and talked about what each one means. The students remembered most commands and were able to articulate their understanding. I'm looking forward to seeing the next student-chosen tutorial next Friday ... I hope it's as much fun as this one was.

Welcome back to school - 2016

Friday was the last day of our first week of school for 2016. That week flew by at breakneck speed! So, what's in store for Numeracy this year?

The Year 10 Numeracy class is made up of the same group of fourteen students from the 2015 Year 9 Numeracy group, which is fantastic from my point. Why? Basically because they're great young people: ten boys and four girls. Our main goal this year is to develop their numeracy skills to a point that ensures they will pass the compulsory semester of maths required to achieve their Souths Australian Certificate of Education (SACE). Coding for Numeracy is our fun way of spending Lesson 6 on Fridays (last lesson of the week) using the skills we develop during our more structured lessons each week as well as meeting the requirements of a host of Australian Curriculum General Capabilities, which are also considered as 21st Century Skills required in the workplace.

On Friday afternoon, we all agreed that there was a need for some 'refresher' type sessions after the long Summer break. Students were asked to explore You Tube to find one short and interesting tutorial for the coding App, Hopscotch, that could be done by the group in a single lesson (50 minutes). They all got right into this (some working independently whilst other paired up with a friend) to view and then do a short tutorial. At the end of the lesson, each student ... or pair of students ... shared what they'd discovered. These included a simple program that allows the participant to draw pictures on the screen using a finger and drawing using Emoji symbols. Several students explored a tutorial that creates a light-sabre game but thought it too challenging. We'll explore this concept of trying something that seems difficult once we're back in the swing of creating.

Tutorials that got the thumbs up will be on the agenda for next Friday's lesson, with the students who discovered the tutorial taking the lead in teaching the class. This will be a new experience for them. However, I expect them as Year 10 students, to be able to step up and do this. More on this next week ...

2015 Hour of Code: Minecraft

Friday was our last lesson for the 2015 school year ... and what better way to spend it than completing the 2015 Hour of Code: Minecraft!

Sadly half of the class were absent from the lesson, for a range of reasons. Those present got right into it though. This is the first time they've worked independently. As our previous posts show, we've worked as a group through a number of tutorials using Hopscotch to create scenes and games. However, most of the group have used Minecraft, creating their own worlds or playing in worlds created by others ... so they were familiar with the environment and keen to have a go independently at the Hour of Code tutorial for Minecraft.

For a change, I got to spend my time behind the camera, capturing images and some video footage of them working their way through the task at hand. Enjoy!

 

Lots of persistence when things didn't go right

Totally focused on the challenge

 

    

This was a really great final session for the year. All of the students have gained a number of skills during our coding sessions, including numeracy skills (e.g. shape, space, direction, multiples), coding skills (e.g. abstraction, variables, conditionals and loops) and life skills (e.g. how to work together as a team, how to help each other).

In addition ... and probably the skills I was hoping they'd develop ... they learned how to problem-solve and how to persist when things didn't work the first time.

We will continue our exploration of coding when school starts back in February. In the meantime, I'm hoping these students continue to explore on their own, using the skills they've developed this year.

Hopscotch Hour of Code 2014: Make Challenge of the Fire Bunny

What a great time was had in the Numeracy class today. Students were offered the choice of working through one of two possible 2015 Hour of Code projects using Hopscotch. Links to both projects are provided here and readers are encouraged to take a look and try these projects for themselves.

Hopscotch Hour of Code 2014: Dodgeball Food Fight!

 

 Hopscotch Hour of Code 2014: Make Challenge of the Fire Bunny 

The group decided to do the "Make Challenge of the Fire Bunny option as the video length (11 min 34 sec) suggested it might be achievable in a single lesson. This was a good decision and everyone went home with a finished game ... which is always a great achievement and very rewarding for those involved.

It was really nice to watch students jumping up to help others who'd missed an instruction or got lost along the way.

Following the entry of a series of coding blocks, I was excited to hear one of the girls say, "we'll need to put this in a Repeat Forever if we want it to keep going." It's moments like this that make it all worthwhile!

Another precious moment is watching students testing their project and enjoying their success.

Next week is the last week of the 2015 school year. We're going to do the Minecraft Hour of Code project. Watch this space to find out how we got on with something new!

Conquering Angry Birds in Hopscotch - more challenging than expected

Well ... a few of us have managed to conquer this very challenging project. However, it dated more of the class than was expected. In retrospect, perhaps it was too early for us to try something as complicated.

It certainly sparked the students' interest ... but many of them struggled to keep track of the steps and lacked the persistence to problem-solve when their instruction (that is, their script) didn't work.

So, what's next? A colleague shared with me a link to an Hour of Code project using Minecraft. I think this might be an achievable project for the group. When I mentioned this project to the students, several heads jerked up and eyes went wide. They appeared to be quite excited. Follow the link above to the project ... it's worth exploring.

Speaking of the Hour of Code ... s simple search on YouTube reveals some great Hopscotch Hour of Code projects. Check these out too: Hour of Code projects using Hopscotch. Enjoy.

We're not there yet! Angry Birds continues to challenge us!

Boy, when we started this project, we really didn't have a clear understanding of how challenging it would be. Some of the group have really begun to struggle to keep up. Of course this is made worse by non-attendance.

Students have been asked to revisit the video and get themselves and their project up to the 22.29 min mark ... which is where we left it last Thursday. With only three weeks left of class time, I'd like us to complete this project and move on to exploring another App. Let's see if the students rise to the challenge I've set them this week ... and all come to class Friday, prepared to view the remaining 7 minutes of video and program the gravity control steps and the background for their game.

Only time will tell :))