Hour of Code at Lincoln

For the past two days I've had the privilege of being in classrooms participating in the Hour of Code.  If you don't know what the Hour of Code is it's a nationwide initiative by code.org to introduce computer programming to 10 million students and encourage them to learn programming.  The excitement level is non-stop from the minute kids get their hands on their devices until they're pried away from them.

What I appreciate about kids coding is that learning a skill like coding is akin to learning another language.  When I was a kid writing code was one of my best computer memories and something I always remember doing.  Telling a computer to do something and having it react is a great feeling of accomplishment.  What the Hour of Code captures is that feeling, but with characters and activities such as Frozen, Angry Birds, and Flappy Bird that hook the kids and keep them entertained.  There's reading, math, and most importantly social collaboration.  Kids are constantly looking over their neighbor's shoulder to see what they're doing or showing off what they've accomplished.

"I just can't stop smiling!" was a quote I heard today from a student, leaning over her partner's Android tablet as they worked together on creating a Flappy Bird game.

"It's my life goal...to beat Mr. Birks  Even if it takes 10 years!" was another quote from a Isaias after he created and shared his Flappy Bird game with me.  You can play it here.