November | 2015 | #LufkinLearns

I was a senior in high school when I wrote my first computer program. It was a computer based cash register that calculated total cost, including discounts, special sales and tax. I remember being so excited when my program finally worked that I jumped up and down and screamed in class.

I was placed in Computer Science because I ran out of electives that did not involve cooking. Had I not been placed in that class, I would have never taken an interest in it. I may have never experienced the exhilaration of a first program working or found connections to mathematical algorithms and logic.

It was computer science that made me find deeper appreciations for math and music as computational thinking had definite applications in both areas.

It was my computer science class that embedded this “wild idea” that I would one day teach people how to use computers. I even wrote my scholarship essays about doing it.

Computer science taught me that if I dreamed it, I could make it. It also taught me how to think critically, even in the face of failure. Trust me, my little program failed a lot!!!

Hour of code isn’t just about getting kids on a computer to “play” a coding game. It’s about opening doors to curiosity, creativity and opportunity.

…not just opportunities for the gifted, but opportunities for ALL.

It is about kids understanding that they have within them the power to think beyond worksheets and chart a path for themselves that they can choose to create.

We’ve never done hour of code in Lufkin but we plan to do it on all 15 campuses, in some way, shape or form. We believe in creating exceptional learning opportunities for all students and removing the barriers that prohibit such growth.

We cannot wait to see where this leap of faith takes our students and how they will continue to be empowered to code their world beyond the hour!

Check out the links below about #HourofCode

Getting Started: Sign up! Every teacher who plans to code with their class must complete this step! https://hourofcode.com/us#

Or, sign up to attend Lufkin ISD’s Hour of Code training with a code.org trainer this Saturday and get 1:1 help to set up your class! https://code.org/professional-development-workshops/5126015

Brainpop Videos and Games: Computer Programming https://www.brainpop.com/math/dataanalysis/computerprogramming/

Code Monkey https://www.brainpop.com/games/codemonkeyrealcoding/

Puppy Adventure https://www.brainpop.com/games/tynkerpuppyadventure/

Blockly Maze https://www.brainpop.com/games/blocklymaze/

Other platforms offering free hour of code activities

https://www.tynker.com/hour-of-code/

https://www.codecademy.com/courses/hour-of-code-en/0/1

https://www.madewithcode.com/projects/

http://codecombat.com/hoc

http://hoc.codehs.com/

http://www.thefoos.com/hourofcode/

https://scratch.mit.edu/hoc/