A Year of Coding Activities
How can it be December all ready! Where has the year gone?
Teachers are busy busy and December is always one of the busiest months. It’s hard to build in time to reflect as we’re always on to the next. As the end of 2021 approaches, I’m going to take a look back at my shares and model some of that reflecting - the good, the bad and the ugly!
Last year this time I shared a post about a dancing snowflake, with the goal of tying coding to the arts - specifically music and animations. A fun little coding activity that could be levelled up depending on the coders ability and interest. Lots of remixing opportunities!
When the United Nations launched the International Day of Friendship I had to respond with some leveling up ideas to add to the wonderful broadcasting activity hosted by the Micro:bit Foundation and the Send a Smile project.
Science Literacy Week and #TakeMeOutside had me diving head first into onboard sensors and peripherals to help students and teachers code their micro:bits enabling the study of the world around us - thermometers, humidity sensors, air pressure +++.
Playing with the Makey Makey Sampler App was exactly that - great play! What an excellent way for students to explore and create their own music!
Looking back, I can see that I broke out of my “mathy” mindset and dabbled in the arts and sciences. I love how coding can live in so many places in our curriculum and of course - there’s still math in these activities - it is coding after all!! I learned a few new things and revisited some old tricks in my toolbox. I wish I had a bit more feedback from students and teachers who’ve given these ideas a try. Maybe for 2022??
Like 2020, 2021 has once again been a bit of a longgg one. The pandemic is still reeking havoc with what we all call “normal”. So with that in mind, my last project of ‘21 is a count down timer so we can count down to the end of 2021! Well - that said, once you have a timer you could use it for a variety of things…
starting a game,
timer for brainstorming,
clean up timer,
exercise timer,
really the possibilities are endless…
Two possible codes - one with a graph instead of numbers!
And maybe - just maybe - you could reach out and let me know how it goes!!
Happy New Year!
About the Author:
Barb Seaton is brought to you by the letter M - Math, Micro:bit, Makey Makey and Minecraft! A professional learning associate with Fair Chance Learning, previous educator and Provincial Mathematics Professional Learning Facilitator, Barb offers a wealth of knowledge and expertise in integrating new technology with math curriculum. Barb works with District School Boards across Canada delivering professional learning on computational thinking, coding and integrating programmable devices. Catch Barb on twitter @barb_seaton