Coding

This week I started to learn how to code, which was one of the things that I was scared of at the beginning of this class. I chose to learn through Hour of Code playing the Dance Party game. Dance party is a coding game for grades 2-5 that has the user manipulate a mascot to do popular dance moves. Students learn to create a code through block coding meaning the person takes one block from the block station and moves it into the corresponding work station to make the mascot move.  Within this example I was learning how to make a second dancer, which is really easy. All that was needed is another starting block but as you can see I some messed it up. My mess-up was simple, as I just needed to move one robot to the side, but it made me think how easily one line of code could change the entire goal.

Near the beginning I realized that only one block within the pattern matters and the rest can come in any order after. Within this one, the green block saying the amount of time before changing dance moves needs to go first because there is no indent on the top just the attachment on the bottom. These patterns are really good for students to find because it helps practice their problem solving skills.

As I was coding I realized that the website itself has a particular code that it needs to follow. For example, I tried to have my mascot move along to the treble of the music but that did not match the code that the website had which was the mascot first had to react to the bass of the music.

I was on level 5 was when I began to have problems. The point was to use the “every 2 measures” block but when I did the website must not have liked it because it would not let me move to the next station. I was able to move past it but I still do not know what happened.

A few years back the library that I worked at introduced coding for kids between the ages of 5-8. I was impressed with the outcome, there were at least 8 in each class. Students are able to be creative in new ways through coding and it helps strengthen their brains to look at situations in multiple ways. This article explains why every child should learn how to code, it even explains that coding does not need to be online but can be through paper and a pen as well.