Tag Archives: hour of code

2019 Hour of Code @Hamlin

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December brings a weeklong celebration of coding and STEM. Students in all grades Kindergarten through Grade 8 are participating in various activities centered on a dynamic exploration of technology and related fields. Our students join kids from around the globe in this engaging endeavor.

Throughout the week students have been practicing their coding skills using the following:

Lightbot, Cargo-bot, Playgrounds, 7 Billion Humans, Human Resource Machine, Kodable, App Lab, Dance Party, Blockly, Classic Maze, and Compute it.

On Wednesday morning we welcomed guest speaker Melinda Lu (Director of Engineering) from VSCO (a creative channel). Ms. Lu spoke about the culture of VSCO and her early interest in science and technology. She also answered specific student questions related to her workday and daily activities at VSCO.

This STEM focused week has been a wonderful and profound learning experience for our entire school.

Salesforce Women Speak at Hamlin for Hour of Code

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As part of our Hour of Code Week, we were visited this morning by two dynamic female engineers from Salesforce, Armita Peymandoust (Hamlin parent) and Ayori Selassie. They spoke about the mission of Salesforce, data science, artificial intelligence, developing apps, and what it takes to be a product manager. They also both shared their personal journeys from Iran (Ms. Peymandoust) and West Oakland (Ms. Selassie) to Salesforce, and how math and working with BASIC computer programming language provided them with initial guidance for their career trajectories.

They made the following points (among others):

-Salesforce believes in “doing good as you are doing well,” and demonstrates this by investing in San Francisco public schools and supporting the local community in multiple other ways.

-“Women make the best product managers because of their higher emotional intelligence.”

-“With code you can create anything, you can solve any problem that you think is important.”

-Coding can change the world for women by creating financial independence and allowing them to step out of traditional roles.

-A software engineer’s life is wonderful because you get to: build something and see results immediately, focus on the problem at hand, be a logical thinker, decompose life challenges into blocks, travel and work remotely.

Hour of Code @Hamlin

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During the week of December 4-8, 2017, The Hamlin School will be participating in the 5th annual Hour of Code, a global movement introducing computer programming to tens of millions of students in 180+ countries around the world, encouraging them to learn how to code. The initiative aims to demystify coding and show that anybody can learn the basics. Hamlin is both proud and excited to use this week, once again, to highlight our coding and robotics curriculum by having every student and faculty member code for at least one hour.

Hour of Code Events

In the Lower School, every class has been scheduled for at least an hour’s worth of coding instruction with Ms. Windell. Girls will use a variety of coding apps that have been selected to be developmentally appropriate for their age/skill level. These apps include Kodable, LightBot, Blockly Games: Maze, Human Resource Machine, as well as resources from the code.org website.

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Hour of Code … Day 2

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@Hamlin girls are working their way through the Hour of Code this week.  Our before school sessions have been packed with eager middle schoolers working to complete their hour while they discover new talents.

Lower school sessions are scheduled and continue to be a hit with not only the girls but teachers too –  we encourage our entire faculty & staff to join the students and try an hour of coding this week.

link for internal users looking to find a coding session to join

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Hour of Code Recap – Middle School Edition

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MS girls coding before school

An interview with Middle School Technology Integration Specialist, Jim Lengel and Rachel Davis, Middle School Science Teacher and Integration Specialist:

Q: What were your goals going into Hour of Code?
A: (Rachel) – I wanted the girls to get more comfortable with coding and feel like it’s something they can tackle or try in the future.
(Jim) – I wanted to show the girls that coding can be fun! Like Rachel, I think if the students have a chance to experience coding they find find out that they love it.

Q: How did you think you were successful in meeting these goals?
A: (Rachel) – I’m so glad that most of the Middle School students attempted coding. Some students even told Jim and I that after their Hour of Code activities at school, they went home and coded that night!

(Jim) – It was amazing to look over and find a sea of girls in 5th and 6th Grades coding. We really had an enormous amount of Hamlin girls coding.

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light bot; one of many coding apps used

Q: If you could do it again, how would you change the Hour of Code week at Hamlin?
A: (Rachel) – I think an hour dedicated for each grade to code during the week would be great so that even those who felt like they were not good at coding would at least give it a try.
(Jim) – I’d like to develop an integrated project that would then be taught via scheduled classes during the week.  I’d also like to have more time to teach girls coding in general.

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Leah Busque from Task Rabbit encourages the girls to build their dreams

Q:  How did you celebrate the Hour of Code in your life?
A: (Rachel) – I really enjoyed watching the girls code and was impressed with their critical thinking skills.  I Wish I had had the same opportunity when I was in Middle School.  I was really inspired hearing Leah Busque from Task Rabbit speak on Tuesday, I thought she was incredibly inspiring.
(Jim) – I took a coding course “code school“, it will allow the technology team explore any only courses until the spring.  I’m excited to integrate the lessons I am learning into my classes at Hamlin.

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T-shirts to award successful completion of an hour of code!

Q:  Can you share two highlights that particularly stick out in your mind?
A: (Rachel) – Wow, there are so many – picking two is a challenge.  Watching Ms. Helm code with the girls was a real highlight for me.  Seeing the excitement in a student who was able to light up a tree in Alaska, and how proud the 7’s and 8’s were when they received their hour of coding certificates.
(Jim) – One morning I walked around the corner to virtually the entire 6th grade class coding together.  They were excited and really into it – I felt like I had reached the masses!  When we gave the girls their T-shirts as a reward for completing the hour of code it was a fantastic wrap up to the project.

Hour of Code

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HoC

The ‘Hour of Code‘ is a nationwide initiative, introducing computer programming to 10 million students and encouraging them to learn how to code. Hamlin is both proud and excited to use this week, once again, to highlight the incredible coding that is already happening on our campus. We believe that coding continues to be essential for our girls to meet the challenges of their times.

Hour of Code Events: Monday, December 8 – Friday, December 12, 2014

In the Lower School, every class has been scheduled for at least an hour worth of coding instruction with Ms. Windell. Girls will use a variety of coding apps that have been selected to be developmentally appropriate for their age/skill level. These apps include Kodable, Scratch Jr., LightBot, HopScotch, Blockly Maze, as well as resources from the Code.org website.

In the Middle School, we are excited to offer the girls the opportunity to come in before school and code together. It is our goal that the girls’ interest in coding will be sparked and they will complete at least an hour of code between home and school during the week. From 7:50-8:25 am, Grades 5 and 6 will code under the guidance of Mr. Lengel on the first floor of Stanwood, while Grades 7 and 8 will code with Ms. Davis in the Great Hall.  Special alumni guests will be popping by during these morning coding sessions and on Thursday, December 11, Middle School parents are encouraged to join the girls to see what they have learned and how exciting coding can be.  The girls will explore a combination of Scratch, Lightbot, RoboLogic, CargoBot, CodeAcademy, and Code.org.

Girls in Grades 4 through 8 are encouraged to join us in the East Dining Room on Tuesday, December 9 at 7:50 am to hear from the founder of Task Rabbit, Leah Busque, an entrepreneur, innovator, and coder. Leah will talk about coding and its effect on her learning, as well as how coding has shaped her career.  

Administrators and all staff members are being encouraged to join in the fun! Join us and make the commitment to try something new – and to learn to code throughout the week! 

Please click through the Scratch created invite (by Ellie in 5th grade) for a calendar of what is happening when:

created by Ellie, 5th Grade.