In July of 2014, I was training to be a building level trainer for Project Lead the Way along with my friend, Cori Wolff. As we were going through the training, I was all about the STEAM/STEM aspect of PLTW. I was totally invested...until we got to coding.
Coding. Something that seemed foreign. Something that seemed above and beyond my capabilities. Something I quickly turned away from.
Flash forward a few months later when Twitter was buzzing about the Hour of Code! As I was watching my Twitter PLN posting their Hour of Code Certificate, I found myself wondering if this was something I should give another shot. I asked my friend, John Martin, to direct me to the best place to start and he directed me to a few sites like Code.org.
That weekend, I took the time to do the Hour of Code on Code.org and quickly realized how valuable this was for students. I was hooked and convinced that these were the puzzles of the 21st Century. I quickly learned that my students felt the same way!
A year after I attended the PLTW training, I found myself training to be a Code.org affiliate. What a difference a year makes...
I tell you all of this because I was once the non-believer. I was once the teacher who turned away from coding thinking it was just for certain people.
I also tell you this because I've also learned that the Hour of Code isn't just about coding. The Hour of Code is a movement to push educators to think outside the box and think about how computer science is in every aspect of our students' futures. It is the gateway to all things computer science. And computer science is the gateway to endless possibilities in the STEAM driven classroom.
And let's face it, a STEAM driven classroom is exactly what the CCSS is about.
What do you wish every classroom had in your building?----
While talking the with my Principals In Action Voxer group, I posed the question above. I had been brainstorming on my 40 minute drive home on how I could get all the things I wanted for my building while also providing all the professional development for my teachers. I was overwhelmed with all that I wanted to do and wasn't sure where to begin. I realized that I needed to figure out what was the first priority for the building and what was the bare minimum that we needed to launch the kind of thinking I wanted to see for our students.
So...I asked my fellow principals what they wished for their schools and this kicked off a great discussion. Everything from technology to air conditioning was mentioned. However, there were two things that we all mentioned…a school that was welcoming and as staff that was passionate and eager to always be better.
Making our schools comfortable for students to learn and work in was one of the areas we all agreed on. We don't want to be just another institution pushing out students like a factory. We wanted our learning spaces to be welcoming and feel like a second home. We wanted our classrooms to be filled with areas for kids to explore learning through technology and hands on materials. We also believed that there should be enough reading materials to appeal to all students. We wanted them to feel welcome to explore, learn, and create.
The second (and most important thing we wanted) was to have a school full of people who are passionate about kids and education. We want them to be eager to learn alongside students. We also hope that they are doing as much listening as they are talking. We want them to teach the students and not just the curriculum. In others words, we are wishing for everyone in our schools to be innovative, student centered, and risk takers!
I believe that this all starts with me. I must encourage risk taking and thinking outside the box. I must be willing to take those same risks. It starts with me and I plan on rising to the challenge.
