2016 Hour of Code

2016 Hour of Code
Posted on 02/01/2017
By: David Albert, Instructional Technology Specialist

Hour of CodeThe Hour of Code is an international endeavor to encourage computer programming among students and adults of all ages. Annually in December, the organization provides hundreds of activities suitable for introducing computer coding in a variety of settings in just one hour. This year in the Amigos Upper School, David Albert, our Instructional Technology Specialist, worked with 6th and 8th grade students on Hour of Code activities with the support of the math teachers, Ms. Hayes, Mr. Boyd, and Ms. Sawady.

Sixth-grade students were introduced to a hybrid coding environment that began with a drag-and-drop programing language called Blockly, and then moved quickly into Javascript, one of the languages most frequently used by computer programmers. After completing an initial set of challenges, students were shown how the Blockly language can be translated into Javascript, and were able to write Javascript programs that maneuvered a robot around a screen and responded to keyboard controls. By the end of the hour, students had completed coding a video game.

Hour of CodeEighth-grade students worked with Javascript or RoboBlockly to tie computer coding directly into lessons in functional notation and algebra. In one math class, students used the website to learn Javascript commands for designing drawings executed in code. In the other class, students used RoboBlockly to help solve algebraic problems involving linear equations, and to test their solutions with a robot that they programmed to draw lines on a coordinate plane. Although Hour of Code takes place for just one week in December, we continue to look for additional ways to incorporate computer programming into the math curriculum this year. Stay tuned!
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