Exploring Scratch: Coding for Future Classrooms

As a future educator, I am always looking for new and creative ways to excite my students in their learning. With technology playing a huge role in our daily lives (shocking, I know!!) , it makes sense to introduce students to basic coding concepts early on. Coding can be a fun way to push problem solving, creativity, and critical thinking.  That’s why I decided to explore Scratch, a (beginner friendly…thankfully…) coding program, to see how it could be used as a tool in the classroom.

What is Scratch?

Scratch is a tool that teaches coding in a “simpler” way. Instead of writing lines of code (which even I myself find challenging), users can drag and drop coding blocks to create stories, games, and animations. Scratch is  great for younger learners (and learners of all age) because it makes coding fun while teaching (some) code concepts. The program is free so it makes it easier for teachers and students to use! (In my internship I was actually a part of a club called “makers space” where student’s had time to play around with Scratch, they all loved this opportunity). 

My Experience with Scratch

To get started with Scratch, I watched YouTube videos and followed tutorials to understand how to move and animate my “sprites” (characters). At first, I struggled with understanding how the blocks worked together (and I mean I struggled a lot…lol), but after watching tutorials, I found it much easier to understand. Below, I will share a video that helped me understand Scratch better, and some screenshots of my animations. 

What I Learned

Through this experience, learned how to code using Scratch but also discovered some benefits of introducing coding to students. Coding help’s with many skills (as I talked about at the start of this post) but… it also definitely test your patience (trust me I’m speaking from experience here.)(Teach Your Kids Code) 

Conclusion

Playing around on Scratch has given me a view into the exciting world of coding, and I am wanting to use this program for my future students.

As the world becomes more “technology-driven”, learning how to code is a skill that can open many doors for students. According to Teach Your Kids Code, “If we want to set our children up for academic success, every child should learn to code. Coding for kids not only helps improve their mathematics and writing skills but also gives them valuable skills in life and eventually in the workforce.”

Scratch gives a fun and interactive way for students to be inspired. As noted by Teach Your Kids Code, “Coding also teaches logical thinking, problem-solving and creativity.”  I look forward to trying Scratch (and possibly other coding programs) in my teaching.