During our class last Tuesday evening I had a flashback to last school year during the Scratch demonstration… some students I was working with had gone through multiple simple coding exercises to get to the point where they were able to use Scratch on their own.

Floating around the classroom, I returned to one student’s work station and I think there may have been 14 dragons of all different colours plastered on the screen!

(Believe me when I say this a minor representation of what the student’s screen showed!!) There should also be a warning that pops up before adding the “meow”…….

I decided to check out the Hour of Code options since I had never heard of it before. What a cool website! I love that there are so many different options for ability levels. With technology being introduced and used at younger and younger ages, it is beneficial to have learning options available to those in the pre-reader age range. I also think this is beneficial to those that may be learning a new language as to not feel overwhelmed with a task such as this. The article I’ve linked even suggests that games can be a helpful way to learn a new language, in this case, English.

This is where I need to shoutout . As soon as I saw the T-Rex option, there  was no changing my mind as to which game I was going to code! As it it turns out, it was super fun and super easy. I definitely found Scratch harder to navigate when we used it in the classroom. That being said, I chose the beginner level because that is where my brain is able to process these new and challenging technological pieces!

Fun fact: one of my kids (no one will admit to who actually did the deed) created a YouTube channel in my name back in 2018. They really liked Brawl Stars so that eliminates one of the three… anyway… My “original” YouTube channel is now strictly dedicated to streaming my kids’ sporting events. Between volleyball and basketball, one would have an entire weekend of entertainment lined up!

Instead, I went out on a limb and created a new YouTube channel so that I could share some of the videos that I recorded of my progress in creating this little T-Rex game! I probably shouldn’t pat myself on the back to quickly, but I navigated the YouTube app like a pro <insert pat on the back here>

Please enjoy this short video clip of one of the final stages of my coded T-Rex game!

I feel like incorporating tech into the classroom and introducing coding to our students is nearing a must. Technology is where it’s at, and has been for a number of years. I acknowledge that I am a much older learner, but I am coming around to these new apps and technologies that so many of you are already familiar with. I might actually be proof of “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”! But, please don’t refer to me as an old dog because that would make me grumpy!!