Tag Archives: coding

Our Enhanced Technology Program

Leave a reply

This August our technology program at Hamlin has expanded. In previous years girls in grades 7 and 8 could only take technology classes as electives. In 2019-2020 students in both grades 7 and 8 will partake in a required yearlong tech exploration. This recommendation for a change emerged from the diligent work of Hamlin’s Technology Advisory Committee. Middle school girls will now have the opportunity to continue their studies in areas like coding, robotics, and the engineering design process.

Jim Lengel (Director of Technology) states:

“Our comprehensive tech program now spans from grades 2 through 8. Girls will walk out of Hamlin knowing how to make a website from scratch.”

Hamlin Students Design Dynamic Apps

Leave a reply

On Thursday, Grade 7 App Design and Development students showcased their culminating work to members of Hamlin’s Board of Trustees and various faculty. The semester long course started with identifying real world problems and researching existing options for solving those problems. Students then came up with their own solutions focusing on a minimum viable product (MVP). They created a digital prototype of their app using Balsamiq Mockups and Code.org’s App Lab to design and code their apps in JavaScript.

The following apps were shared and demonstrated:

Mayn Task: Allows users to pair timed tasks with music from a playlist.

Seen: Allows users to set up reminders for when to change their contact lenses.

Movie Meter: Allows users to select movies tailored to fit their mood.

Anchor: Allows users to de-stress by selecting from a menu of healthy options.

Lemon: Allows users to hire chefs to prepare meals for them.

Below is a video clip of Mayn Task showing their demo:

Coding (Social Studies+Spanish) = Amazing Learning for ALL!

Leave a reply

As part of the third grade social studies curriculum, the girls learn about Central and South America and the people and animals that live in those countries. This year, the Third Grade Teachers worked with Spanish Teacher Kate McGinnis and STEM Teacher Caroline Windell as they combined their social studies, Spanish, and coding knowledge into one amazing online project.

They girls researched a specific rainforest animal and then wrote an interview between their animal and another character using common Spanish phrases such as ¿Dónde vives? and ¿Qué comes? They then used the block-based coding language in Scratch to animate their interviews, record their animations, and then save their animations as a stand-alone videos.

Here is a sample by Sophia:

As more projects like this one are successfully completed (and shared) – we look forward to seeing the robust learning and iterative design processes inherent in coding instruction – reaching students and faculty in a variety of subject areas.

From the Mouths of 4th Graders …

Leave a reply

Fourth grade students have been expanding their exploration of coding by following the Google CS First Curriculum; specifically the one focused on Game Design.  The girls meet with Lower School Tech Integration Specialist & STEM Teacher Caroline Windell twice a week and each  day they learn a new type of game.  The culminating activity will have students select one of the game types and more fully develop their game idea.

Some 4th grade student reflections after using the CS-First computer science curriculum:

There’s a new student at your school. What would you say to her to get her interested in computer science?

  • something I like about programming is that you tell it to do something and it does it.
  • Computer science is very fun and there is a lot to learn at the same time. With computer science, you can make your own games with your own rules!
  • It’s SO fun!!! You get to learn stuff about technology, and have a fun time.
  • did you know all the computer games you play are programed by other people? … and you can program a game too!
  • it is really fun it’s learning and having fun and every time you make a game or some other thing work it is so rewarding and it feels so good like you can just do anything. i love this club and you should come and code with us. even if you can’t code you will learn and it won’t feel like learning it will feel like playing on the computer.
  • Coding is really really really really really fun. We get to make our own really fun games. It’s awesome.
  • I would say that this is the best club ever and you should try it and if you don’t like it then you don’t have to do it.
  • It’s super fun to learn and even if you think you know a lot abut it you learn a lot of new things. I would recommend CS first as a REALLY fun coding experience. I always look forward to coding class and I bet you will to.

We are definitely looking forward to playing your creations girls!