Hour of Code

Middle School Greek Day: Bring on the (Coding) Games!

Last spring, during the annual Greek Day in the Middle School, students incorporated algorithmic thinking and coding exercises as part of a day filled with fun. They developed a competitive game using  Code Academy to generate as many lines of code as possible, the grade that completed the most lines of code were awarded points for Greek Day. Students also engaged in modified Simon Says by acting out lines of code.

Building A Maze for Coding Bee-Bot in Tinker Lab

Amanda Elefante of AWeber Shares Inspire Tech with Faculty

Bee Bot and Coding in the Lower School

"Coding is the language of computer science that enables our digital world to exist and can make our lives more efficient, creative, and connected.  As the coding initiative in the Lower School begins to take shape, we continue to find a balance between screen and unplugged activities. One tool in the unplugged teaching of computer science is the Bee-Bot.  Bee-Bot is a programmable robot that can be used for teaching sequencing, problem solving, estimation, and fun.  The students in 2F recently used Bee-Bot to complete algorithms to help guide Bee-Bot through mazes. In programing, an algorithm is a list of steps that you can follow to finish a task. It is also the basis for all computer programming. The second graders laid out Bee-Bot command cards in order to form their algorithms and then inputted the commands into Bee-Bot. Often, the commands were incorrect and the students had to “debug” their program, much to their joy! 

I was amazed to see the level of engagement from the students during the lesson. Each student was able to contribute and all were excited to try a new challenge. I have to applaud the second graders for their problem solving determination and creativity! Often, they were able to find multiple ways to work together and solve the mazes." Dan Stahl, Lower School Teacher

4th Grade Coding Project

Using specially designed Learning Carpets fourth grade students use the grid to understand and manipulate basic coding sequence.  Lower School teacher Sue McHugh created lines of code that students had to read and replicate by placing colored balls in the correct spots on gridded carpets.  One child was the “navigator” who read the code aloud to the “driver” who followed the code and placed the colored balls in the correct spots.  After they were finished, they could check their work against the answer key.  As a next step, students placed the balls on the carpet and wrote their own code to get the driver from ball to ball."  As a special challenge, McHugh showed the children that they could create barriers to block certain pathways and make their friends create alternate routes for arriving at the correct ball.  Amanda Mitchel, GA's new Early Childhood Education specialist reported, "I thought this was a fantastic example of engaged learning."

Stephens-Petrochko Geography App

When Tyler Pterochko GA class of 2014 was a freshman, he had a conversation with middle school history teach Mark Stephens that became the focus of his Academy Scholars Project developed over the last three years.  What began as frustration over finding good software to support middle school geography became Stephens-Petrochko An open-source project, designed to provide user-friendly and dynamic software for geography curricula.  Designed "to allow developers to create their own map packs without needing to know programming.  The software also allows teachers to customize their own quizzes, in support of a more collaborative, technology-empowered teaching community."  Petrochko is a self taught programmer and game designer who plans on pursuing a career in computer science.  He las already prototyped a Binary Array Linked - Data structure, and and an External Server Verification Method to Prevent Against SSL-Stripping.  And he reports that he regularly uses Design Thinking as his idea generation and development process.  As a Challenge GA Trainer in the Upper School, he became aware that the process he followed had a name in the design and engineering worlds.  To hear him tell it, "I was using Design Thinking the whole time I was developing the software even though I didn't know it.  I began this project because I empathized with Stephen's need for a better teaching tool.  Once I understood that need, I defined, ideated, prototyped, and tested. "