Kids Can Code Too!

Funded Nov 26, 2014

When I shared with my students the news that we had a new iPad to use in our class they cheered. They currently only visit the computer lab once a week, and had a chance to use our two classroom iPads maybe once every other week. With the addition of this iPad, they now are able to access technology based learning closer to once a week. I had children begging me to use the new iPad, even though the apps on it are exactly like the ones that were on the other two. When a child gets to use the new iPad, I usually get a "Yes!" response.

Many of my students are giving up their recess time for a chance to work on the iPads. For some of my struggling students I am letting them use the iPad during class to help them with a skill they need, while I teach the rest of the class the content that it is beyond them. Adding an iPad to the two I had now gives me more flexibility of who and when and what I can teach all of my students. I no longer feel like I am leaving some of my students behind simply because I couldn't be in two places at once.

Most of my students are still working through a number sense app that I found to help them build a solid understanding of numbers. For the students that have completed or nearly completed that course, they are able to continue their understanding of how to code and create technology. For those "advanced" students they are truly becoming producers of technology instead of consumers of it. I have loved watching them work through difficult coding puzzles and see their sense of accomplishment when they complete it correctly. I can't wait to see where learning this concept so early will take them in their adult lives.

Thank you so much for your support in my classroom. Sometimes it is easy to feel like the public doesn't care about how much work and energy goes into preparing these young students to enter the world. Your donation gave me a renewed sense of hope, that those outside of the education community understands and appreciates what I do each day.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Esplin