Hour of Code 2015

This week (Dec. 7-11), Shelby County again celebrated the #HourOfCode!  In my entry last year,  I went into detail what the Hour of Code is.   In short, students are encouraged to try programming and coding for at least one hour.

Teachers and librarians across the district have been facilitating student coding all this week.  Here are some highlights!

Beth Jones (LMS at Collins High School) was ready to receive Mrs. Terhune's students:

Collins is getting ready. Hour of Code with Mrs. Terhune's 1st Period tomorrow. #HourOfCode @watsonedtech pic.twitter.com/5GauKxjQGC

— Beth Jones (@mlchslibrary) December 9, 2015

Vicki Stoltz (LMS at Clear Creek Elementary, who made a Symbaloo last year listing some great coding resources) captured some fifth grade students Minecrafting via the Code.org website.  She particularly praised how these students, like many, worked collaboratively side by side to problem solve their way through the modules:

When I emailed out to the district to talk up the Hour of Code, several other teachers replied with their own pledge to give students this learning opportunity: Tina Eden (East Middle), Teresa Walther (Talented and Gifted), Tyler Harris (SCHS), Julie Webb (LMS at SCHS), Sarah Smith and Meredith Morrison (both from Southside Elementary).

One particular partnership, between Wright Elementary's LMS Sarah Price and our Area Technology Center (ATC) teacher Valerie Ricchio, really caught my attention.  Every day this week, Ms. Price took on a huge challenge of making sure that all of Wright's K-5 students got an hour of code -- as far as I know, the first time in Shelby County that one of our schools got 100% student participation in coding.  In addition, Ms. Ricchio arranged for students in her technical computer program (from Collins and Shelby County High School) to come over to Wright as mentor-helpers.  Using iPads, the Wright students interacted with both Code.org (besides Minecraft, the Star Wars modules were particularly popular!) and the app Lightbot.

Here with @shelbycountysch 1st graders in @wrightjetsread library. With ATC student help, doing #hourofcode! pic.twitter.com/iYLYiCYVUe

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) December 7, 2015

.@wrightjetsread K Ss using @lightbotcom.Thank you Ms. Ricchio for bringing SCHS & MLC Ss over to help! #HourOfCode pic.twitter.com/qtWbHYJRcC

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) December 7, 2015

And others in our state noticed!

More Shelby Co students -- @shelbycountysch #HourOfCode #Minecraft @MS_ITAcademy @megahoch pic.twitter.com/YPHtJrNIcH

— Ky IT Academy (@KYITAcademy) December 8, 2015

It was wonderful to see our younger and older students have such meaningful interaction (as well as such valuable teamwork between a librarian and a teacher from two different schools).  But cross-collaboration and compassion are not limited to technical assistance in Shelby County.  It's part of our mission statement to "embrace social responsibility."  It's part of our Strategic Leadership strands: globally effective, healthy and responsible students.   So whether it is intermediate elementary students being readers for primary students....or high school students purchasing holiday gifts for elementary students who are less fortunate, or helping them code....or our plans for student-run help desks as our 1:1 initiative simply becomes another part of our daily learning culture....helping is just another day in the district.

What have you done for Hour of Code this year?  Please tell us in the Comments below.

TUIT: Zachary Ramsey, SC Area Technology Center

Zachary Ramsey is an English teacher at Shelby County's Area Technology Center, or ATC.  He has been on my radar for a #ShelbyTUITshoutout for quite some time.

I first was impressed by Mr. Ramsey in the middle of the school year, when he came over from the ATC to attend one of my after-school PD's at East Middle School.  His enthusiasm and willingness to learn was extremely evident.  I next began noticing his online presence.  Zachary has grown his digital PLN on Twitter by regularly engaging in multiple edchats, even making a guest blog appearance about Twitter on Coaching Corner Collaborative (run by Jennifer Cox and Tracy Huelsman).  Mr. Ramsey has also began blogging on his new website (PBL Place) about his classroom's Project Based Learning.

The latest nudge that lead to this entry came from a visit I made to the ATC a few weeks ago:

Had a wonderful time visiting @EducatorRamsey & his students at the @shelbycountysch ATC today! pic.twitter.com/rUg6PJJih5

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) May 13, 2015

It was awesome to see students take a classic piece of literature and make it relevant -- in this case, using health sciences as a way of analyzing the charged emotional choices of the characters from Romeo and Juliet.

In addition, one of his students made an aura using Aurasma, an augmented reality (AR) tool that Zachary learned from an AR PD that I had presented in February.  Interested in learning more? Here's a short video that showcases how Aurasma can work in an elementary school setting. (While it's three years old, I like how it demonstrates the use of Aurasma by students.)

Congrats to Mr. Ramsey for his well-deserved and delayed #ShelbyTUITshoutout!