Code Like a Girl

Over the past few years I have been troubled that most of the students attending my technology camps have been boys.  I have varied the topics and altered the advertising, and still more boys than girls.  During camp the girls are quieter and less likely to take over as the boys are.   This year I decided to create a club just for girls focused on coding.   I recruited the help of my campus librarian to help with this group.   Our skills compliment each other well and she knows some of the girls from other clubs and activities.

Out first meeting we had about 21 girls come and they were excited to get started.   We used materials from Made With Code.    We had them draw out an avatar on paper and then recreate it using the Avatar program.

The second meeting we had a few less girl's but, we also had to postpone it a week due to my getting sick.   We created a beat using the Beats program on Made with Code.  They then downloaded the music and used it in scratch to make their own musical animation.

This last meeting we had about 10 girls come.   December is a hard month with all the extras going on adn ti was also the week of Hour of Code.   I showed them how to code a Christmas Tree on made with code and then we made a Holiday Card with Scratch.


Beginning in January we are going to start working on creating apps and also have a  field trip planned to the Microsoft Store in Austin.   I am looking forward to these!

Kodu Camp - Day 5

The final day of Kodu & MakeyMakey Camp consisted of getting students to turn in their games and breaking out the MakeyMakey kits to make controllers for their games.  I brought foam board, foil, paper clips and play dough for them to use in making controllers. We did not get very far in this portion of the camp.    In hindsight I think this camp could be a week longer with the extra time focused on developing the game controllers.  I am also thinking about engaging the help of the Computer and Technology Teachers in designing controllers next time.

We were able to finish most of the games and get them exported to a common folder so I can access them later for playing in the library.  That part was a success.  They created some amazing games with which I am very impressed.

I also asked them to evaluate a few of their camp mates games using this form.  The form was developed based on the input given yesterday.    In reality, very few of the students completed the evaluation portion of the camp.   They just wanted to play and I can not blame them!

The final few minutes I had them fill in  a reflection form to let me know what they thought and what camps they would like to see in the future.  These were interesting.  Last camp they told me they wanted to make their own games and less instruction.  This time 2 of them said they wanted more structure and lessons.   Not sure what how to find that happy balance to please middle schoolers.  Not even sure that is possible!   :)  Overall they were happy with how things went and would recommend this camp to their friends.

Take-aways from this Tech Camp:

• Work on balancing free choice with the building of skills. - changing levels and other advanced tips.
• More time needed to develop controllers and to learn about design principles.
• Middle Schoolers can learn amazing things on their own!
• Make the evaluation sheets more attractive to complete - earn something when they are done.

The top voted topics for future camp include:

• Scratch & MakeyMakey
• NXT Robotics - Sumobots
• Mobile App creation

December's Tech Camp was already decided to be Minecraft and it should be interesting to see how that goes!

Kodu Camp: Day 3 & 4

Day 3:  I pulled the group together and we went over the goal of having a game completed by Friday.  They were all pretty confident that it would happen.   Today I got to walk the room and talk with different students about their game and ask how it was going.   The biggest problems were:

1. No instructions had been included
2. No clear way to win the game

These were quickly remedied with some attention.

Day 4:  we broke out the MakeyMakey kits and only 4 students were far enough along to work with them.   The one problem  I noticed was the lack of materials to make controllers with.  If we had more time I would love to work with the Career and Technology Teacher and have them design and cut out their own controllers out of wood and use screws as the buttons.  I am thinking I am bringing poster board and brads or paperclips tomorrow to let them experiment.

We also spent some time talking about what we need to make sure is in the game so it can pass the test to be played in the library next week.   Their list included:

1. Characters move appropriately
2. Computer turns on
3. IS there some difficulty but not too much
4. A storyline
5. Instructions
6. Levels ??
7. Antagonists/ villains
8. It works
9. Something to do to win the game

From this I created a rubric we are going to use to evaluate games tomorrow.

I was able to take some pictures today and put together a quick Animoto video of our work:

Looking forward to tomorrow and playing some games!

Kodu Camp: Day 2

Much smoother.  More kids came on time and got started working with the program.  They like the freedom to create whatever they want.  Several of them figured out how to create scores by going back to the tutorials. I also think reminding them that these games can be played in the library over the next few weeks is a great motivator.     It was a happy group overall.

I conferenced with all the students today about their game plans and was able to get a good picture of where they want to go.  I also have learned that their plans are WAY bigger than what we have time to do.

Tomorrow's plan is:

• Demonstrate that different items have to be programmed separately. - I am thinking about role playing a video game here to make this point.
• Talk about testing at little steps - change one thing and test it before changing or adding something else
• Demonstrate some code so they can see the logic needed.  
• More work time!

A little nervous about getting this done in time.  MakeyMakey kits may not be coming out until Friday at this point.

Kodu Camp: Day 1

One of the biggest problems is trying to get students to remember to come Monday morning.  It is so
important that they come at the beginning to get the introductory instructions.   Someone suggested today that I meet with them the Friday before to remind them to come.  I may try that next time.

We started with the presentation about what makes a good game and they nodded in agreement throughout.  I am not sure how much they internalized of it, but I will be referring back to it as I conference with the students about their games.  They did love the fact they were free to go create and not have to follow a certain set of instructions.

They set out to begin the tutorials and some followed directions better than others.  I could tell quickly those that did and those that did not by the questions I began to get.  

I am very curious to see what we can actually get accomplished by the end of the week!

Tomorrow's plan is to:

• Collect their video game plans
• walk around and conference with each student as they build their game

I should have a better idea tomorrow as to how this new plan is going.

MinecraftEdu

We got district approval to purchase MinecraftEdu for our campus and I cannot wait to try this out with students!   Several other campuses began this journey last year and their excitement and lessons have gotten me excited to start it on the campus I work at.  

So far we have purchased the program and installed it in the lab in which we will be using it.  I have been testing out the software and controls on my own children (ages 7 & 9) so I could learn the teacher side and see how the program works.   So much to learn and fortunately I have kids willing to play so I can learn.

I was fortunate enough to go visit another campus (read about Lioncrafting here) as they used this program with their students and was energized by the students and their excitement and engagement while using the program.  Things I liked:

• Students sat on the floor in front of the screen to review before beginning
• Rules were established by students and are reviewed each time.  These include no griefing, killing, etc.
• Resources like firs will only be turned on with a good reason from the students.  
• Students determined what the purpose of the team was - they decided to build a mideval village
• Students then went to their machines armed with a purpose of what they needed to do.

These were some great take-aways that I need to remember to implement when we get started.
The biggest problem I am having right now is waiting.  Waiting for the right time to start using this on campus.  December is our official launch date.  Right now I am running Kodu camp and Code like a Girl is next week along with 5 professional development sessions I am providing. So for now I wait.

Kodu Camp: The Night Before Gitters

Tomorrow morning starts the first day of Kodu & MakeyMakey Technology Camp.   It will run for about 50 minutes each morning before school for a week.  Students had to complete an application and return it with parent signature to be one of the 20 students accepted to attend this event.  Hall passes were handed out on Friday morning and now all that is left is to organize all the 

I've done Kodu before and students like the 3D graphics the program offers much more over the flat graphics of Scratch.  What is different about this time is that I am giving over control.   Instead of dictating what kind of game they are creating and walking them through the steps in creating the game, I am letting them design and create their own game and their own controllers with the help of MakeyMakey.   I've used the MakeyMakey kits with students once before with an enrichment activity over circuits (more on that later). 

I am starting with the slide show below to go over key parts of video game design.

I have also put together a graphic organizer for the students to plan out their games.   I am going to have them choose to complete 3 tutorials from either the Kodu YouTube Channel or ones that are built into the game.  

We shall see how that goes!