Code.org will open your eyes to a whole new way of educating children
Community Review for Code.org
My Take
Code.org is thinking outside of the box and realizing that the students are applying all of the skills they have learned in every subject to this one application. I feel this program is so important it is now part of our curriculum. The students are able to take their knowledge from what they have learned on code.org and apply it to Scratch to design animations and games. Code.org will help get students ready for the jobs to come! They will be engaged, they will persevere, and they will collaborate right before your eyes.
How I Use It
Code.org has changed how I approach teaching technology drastically! First of all the website has tons of free training for teachers and I highly recommend taking one or going through the course yourself. I have used code.org with grades K-5. Yes, the first course Kindergarten students can do. The students are given a username and password. I talk with the students about what they are going on and how they can collaborate with each other to complete the tasks. When the students are working there is so much applied math skills and collaboration skills happening across the room. The students are problem solving and persevering when tasks become challenging. I have students who go home and work on completing the course. They are taking the initiative to continue working at home without it being assigned to them. I have many students who have completed a course and signed up for another course. Sometimes I will pause them and we will talk about a skill that many people are having trouble with. We will talk about how it connects to the real world and the program. They are then able to take it back to the application and continue working.