National Computer Science Week - Code.org Part III

by Guest Blogger, Amanda Werner 

Madison Elementary 5th Grade Challenge Program Teacher and Code.org Affiliate

Opening Doors of Opportunity Part III of a 3-part series

Code.org in Partnership with SDJ

We are proud to announce that the School District of Janesville is now an official partner of Code.org. We are the smallest district among approximately 75 districts across the nation affiliated with Code.org and the only district in the state of Wisconsin. As progressive as this alliance may be, administration recognizes how foreign this concept is to most K through 8 teachers. Our administration is committed to implementing the full Code.org curriculum in a way that is comfortable for all. 

Computer Science Education Week (Dec 7 - Dec 13)

To kick-off the partnership between SDJ and Code.org, every elementary and middle school student in the district are participating in the largest educational event in history: An Hour of Code. This week, during Computer Science Education Week (December 7 - December 13), our children will be among nearly 200 million worldwide spending one hour learning the basics. An Hour of Code is Code.org’s one-hour computer programming event simply designed to build excitement and show both teachers and students that anyone can code. Neither training nor teacher or student accounts are necessary to participate in this 1-hour event.


To further celebrate our commitment to exposing students to computer science, Craig and Parker Robotics and AP Computer Science students are visiting many classrooms to promote and help with An Hour of Code. Be on the lookout for Board members, Cabinet members and ESC Coordinators in your buildings taking part in Hour of Code week. For more information, view this 2 minute Hour of Code promotional video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DxWIxec6yo

The second stage of the eventual roll-out process will be to provide training to all K-8 classroom teachers. As the district’s official Code.org Affiliate, I will offer professional development courses throughout the year. Classes are available for sign-up on My Learning Plan. The next workshop will be offered on Saturday, January 16. Please join me and be among the first in our district to see why this workshop has an average 4.92 / 5 rating among the 14,000 teachers that have already been trained by Code.org affiliates throughout the country. You do not need to be a digital native or computer science graduate to successfully implement the Code.org curriculum in your K-8 classroom.