When school began this year, our principal shared a new initiative. We would lead student clubs, during the instructional day, for 90 minutes every other month. Being that this is only my second year as a Technology Integration Specialist in an elementary school, the idea of leading a computer based club was a little intimidating, but I knew I wanted to do just that. Fortunately our school is 1:1 with Chromebooks in grades 2-5, so access to technology is not a problem.
The idea of coding had crossed my mind. I promoted the Hour of Code last year and I knew that my students love to code. But, my bigger concern was that way to many students were going to want to join this club. Plus, I still don’t know that much about coding. So, in my typical “it’s time to learn something new” fashion, I went to Twitter and did a search for #codingclub, #code, #EdTech to get some ideas. Almost immediately, I came across a tweet that included #girlswhocode. Reading over the information about the lack of women in computer programming, I was motivated so I kept reading and searching. I wanted this to be the club I would lead, despite my lack of knowledge about coding. My own experiences of not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up and feeling I had limited choices because I was a female added to my interest and desire - which might be a future blog. I have applied to host a #girlswhocode club, but the criteria specifies that it is only for grades 6+. But why? Why can’t we have a club of younger students who want to learn coding? So, whether I am approved or not by the #girlswhocode, I am going for it and starting one that is for 4th and 5th graders.
The boys are jealous and the girls are excited. Our first meeting is tomorrow, and I am in the midst of planning it. I have a ton of ideas for our club and am trying to wrap my head around all of them, while trying to learn a little about coding myself! I have found a ton of resources and curriculum for getting started at the ScratchEDU page. I haven’t printed and created a binder in well over two years, but today I did just that with curriculum I found from Creative Computing and BootUp.
My plan, at this point is, is to begin with an awesome video from the Girls Who Code Youtube Channel. I really think this video will help generate some motivation and creativity as we discuss our goals for our club. We will also be speaking with Dr. Katrina Keene, via Google Hangout, about the importance of coding and how technology has impacted her life and career. From there, the girls will join my classroom in Scratch.com and have time to just explore all of the ins and outs of this coding platform. Also, I created a Google Form to accept suggestions for the name of our club. Once I have a few, I will have the girls anonymously vote and we will be official!! As recommended by the folks at Creating Computing, I want to establish a culture of fearlessness, collaboration, and exploration immediately. Then, to wrap it all up, I have created a FlipGrid for the girls to tell me what they want to learn in our coding club. I am sending home permission forms to use pics and videos on Twitter, so hopefully I can tweet it out once we are finished!
I am trying to reach out to some successful females who will Skype or do a #GoogleHangout with our group at an upcoming meeting. Emily Calendrelli @TheSpaceGal is a graduate of North Elementary. I am hoping she will accept our invitation to speak with our club of her Alma Mater if she is not too busy with her TV show and flying in space and stuff. Also, I reached out to Reshma Saujani, founder of #GirlsWhoCode. I know she is a long shot, but I am hopeful, and more importantly, I am not afraid to ask!
I want to teach females how to code, in hopes that they will pursue a career in computer science, or at least not feel limited as a girl, like I did and still do sometimes. I want these girls to understand the importance of coding in today’s society. I want them to feel ownership in the club, and realize they have a voice. And as a member of this club, I want to learn how to code!
If you are interested in doing a video chat with our Girls Coding Club please contact me @ReadingCindy
This is awesome Cindy! So proud of you! I think this is a start of some amazing relationships with those girls.
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