Coding!

On Tuesday afternoons, we code!  Each lesson begins with whole group instruction going over techniques and vocabulary.  The students are learning about programs, code, sequences, bugs and debugging.  Next there is an individual activity that each child completes.  The students work through each level, developing a code to help the Bot make it to his destination.  After we master these skills, we will be able to work with our classroom robots, Dot and Dash.

This is a great activity to teach problem solving.  The students do not get the correct code right away.  They fail.  They get frustrated.  Yet, they always figure it out.  Their first reaction is to come directly to me and say, "I can't do it."  YET.  You can do it YET!  They just have to keep trying, focus on the problem and boom! They write the code. 

It is mentally exhausting for some (he's teasing me).

But they are so happy when they write the code!