Coding beyond codeweek

European Code Week has just been running for two weeks and it ends today. It is of essence that we come aware of coding and the benefits of working with code through concepts like Code Week I think. Code Week makes us teachers loosen up around coding, takes the edge of it, makes it easier for us to see how we can fit coding in our daily work in different subjects. To me coding is important to all students most of all a because there is a democratic aspect to it. Coding teaches students that you can create yourself on the internet and not only be a consumer of what others created. This is a way of making yourself heard and understood. Coding is also important when it comes to understand that what happens on the internet is not magic but it is all man made and that someone could actually control me through the internet - like Facebook.

Now that CodeWeek is over I think that it is important to continue working with coding but maybe it is not all that easy to figure out what to do next. Therefor I want to give you a few websites to choose from and keep for future use. It is important that we have clear goals when we are working with code, that we use coding in our cross-curricular work to tie it all together and also tie the informal learning that our students experience every day with our formal learning.

First of all; do you know that Scratch is working on Scratch 3.0 which will suceed Scratch 2.0? It wll be released in the first few months of 2018 - keep your eyes open for it! Did you also know that in the first prototype Scratch 3.0 worked with LEGO WeDo? Did you think this was all? No, it isn't. At the same time Scratch will also make Scratch Junior available on the web - meaning we can all use it on our laptops, Macs and Chromebooks! Yeah!!

You can read more about it here:

Scratch Wiki

Are you working with LEGO Mindstorms in your school but finding it hard to find the time to build the robots? Here is a webpage that gives you easy to build robots instructions ,but also instructions in how to program them. I qoute the boy showing me the webpage: "THey say it will take five minutes to build them, but it doesn't!" Although he said it was much faster than building the original robots. Also they got to work in groups of three and they told me that it was hard deciding what robot toSt Brigids National School for showing me your work. Are you curious you can go to their webpage and browse through their material. They are a Digital School of Distinction and they are working a lot with coding in all ages.
build. As you can see in the picture the girls thought it was important to decorate the robot a little (that is the wheels on the side). Thank you to 

Here is the webpage to the LEGOsite:

EasyToBuildLegoRobots

Scratch

Scratch is a fun way to start making your own stories, music bands, math games or other games. You code in blocks and you learn in a community. The best thing is that if you like something that someone else has made you can remix it, that means you make a copy of it and then you can change it or keep it as you like. The web site ackknowledges the creater of the game. 

Here you can get some ideas and help of what to do:

ScratchfromScratch

CodeCombat

Could be that this webpage is better suited for little older students but try it out. You get to code your avatar to move through the game. It is not as easy as it may sound but is sure is challenging and interactive! There are free games but you could also pay and get more.  

Code.org

this website is a nonprofit one and you can start using it at a very young age. It offers, instructional video clips, teacher material and a wide range of challenging coding and appeals to both boys and girls (and teachers). 

Code Avengers

A few classes are free and they you need to pay if you want to continue. Here you learn the most common code languages we have. You learn how to build web pages, games and apps. 

Stencyl

Stencyl needs to be downloaded which means you cannot use it on all devices. Although if you have the possibility it is free t ostart with and you build apps with coding blocks. Similar to Scratch. 

Code Monster

This is a very easy way to get to know Python. The monster is giving the instructions and you have a lot of lessons to choos from (see down in the bottom, choose lesson sections.)you learn the commands very quickly. 

Code Academy

Here you can learn basic code in a fun way. It is easy to use. 

Khan Academy

This free website may be mostly known for its extensive math tutorials and fun way to learn. They have built computing into the learning as well now. Create a class with your students and get to work. Why not try it out yourself? It is fun! 

Tech Rocket

This webpage offers a few free Hour of Code classes but you can also subscribe if you want to learn more and advance. It is instructional and well worth it to try out. 

I have not mentioned coding on the ipad at all but there are a lot of appealing apps that teaches you how to code as well. Daisy the dinosaur, Hopscotch, Kodable, Lightbot, A.L.E.X are just a few of them. Try them out as well.


https://sites.google.com/site/scratchprogrammering/vad-aer-scratch-1

Last but not least I would like to remind you of all the coding you can do without any digital devices; have a look under "programming" here in the blog and browse through the material. Also Code.org has a lot of this exercises as well.

So keep up the good work out there and consider this:

If you can code, you can change the world ...

Du gör skillnad varje dag - bli stark i det du gör tillsammans med andra!

Här kommer ett underbart, gyllene tillfälle för dig som är nyexad eller som har arbetat som lärare i max två år (denna tid gäller från april i år).

INDUCAS är ett pilotprojekt sponsrat av den Europeiska unionen och kommer främst att handla om följande två frågor:

• Hur kan nyexaminerade lärare få bättre support i sitt yrke genom en riktad grupp där alla är i samma situation och där de uppmuntras att dela med sig och diskutera i dialog med de andra?

• Hur skulle ett liknande nätverk för mentorer kunna se ut där de kan utveckla sin praktik genom att dela med sig av och lära av varandra till förmån för de nyexaminerade lärare som de ska handleda?

I denna fas av pilot projektet INDUCAS (2017-2018), kommer nyexaminerade lärare och mentorer från Italien, Frankrike, Sverige och Rumänien att uppmuntras till att delta i ett av de fyra nätverken (ett för varje land på det landets språk).

Under vår tid tillsammans kommer vi att föra diskussioner kring stora och små ämnen som vi beslutar tillsammans, du kommer att få delta i webinarier och ta del av nyttiga verktyg att använda dig av i din undervisning. Du kommer också att få diskutera metoder i klassrummet och även dela med dig av egna tips och exempel på undervisning som du är nöjd med. Se det som fortbildning under gemytliga former där du har stort inflytande och medbestämmande kring innehållet!

Om du är intresserad av att gå med i ett av de fyra nätverken för nyexaminerade lärare så fyll i formuläret här nedan:

Länk till anmälan

Var vänlig och notera att för att du ska kunna gå med i någon av nätverken för nyexaminerade lärare så behöver du arbeta i ett av de fyra länderna (Italien, Frankrike, Sverige eller Rumänien).

Aktiviteterna startar i slutet av maj/mitten av juni och varar till april 2018.

Vill du registrera dig hos eTwinning så kan du göra det och så kan vi arbeta med hur du kan använda dig av eTwinning i ditt dagliga arbete på vår plattform.

Jag förstår att du kan känna det som att du inte har tid att gå med men som jag ser det så har du inte  tid att låta bli att gå med...

Jag hoppas att du ser vinsterna med att få inleda din karriär som lärare på det här viset, ser det som en skjuts in ett fantastiskt yrkesval som kan vara enormt krävande men som samtidigt är det mest stimulerande och utmanande yrket som finns. När du arbetar som lärare så gör du skillnad varje dag, det är inte alltid lätt. Genom det här projektet får du stöd i hur andra gör, stöd av andra i det du gör och nya idéer när du tror att du har kört fast. I denna digitaliserade värld är vi aldrig ensamma, räck ut din hand - det finna alltid någon där som tar emot den. Ta språnget idag!