Have you ever created something that you felt proud of, especially something that required intense logical and critical thinking skills? Ever played a game and wondered if you could make something like that?
I work with students in both an elementary and middle school setting.
Students range from Pre-K-8th grade. As the technology integration specialist, I'm in and out of classrooms daily, assisting and teaching students new technology skills. My students in both schools come from a low SES environment, and many of them have not had opportunities to try new things outside of the classroom. Many students have not been outside of the county, or they have not traveled more than a couple hours from home. Because we live in a very rural area, students do not have access to many museums or places that offer low cost children's programs beyond sports. Students do not get the chance to explore other career fields in a hands-on environment.
My Project
At both schools, we are starting a before school coding class. We have the curriculum already for both the elementary and middle school classes. However, we are in need of ways to learn coding off-screen as well. That's where Robot Turtles and RoboRally come into play. Both of these games aim to teach logic, puzzle solving, troubleshooting, and more. They give students another way to program without using the computer, and allow them to have fun along the way. These games help form the basics of coding. The students will be able to transfer their experiences from the board game to what they do on the screen with their coding curriculum. Together, the board games and the curriculum will help teach the students the fundamental skills they need to code and explore the computer science field.
If you donate to our project, you will be helping my students to explore the field of computer science, an area that is growing in leaps and bounds, and has a high demand for skilled workers.
In a field that is male-dominated, funding this project will also give me another way to get girls into the field. Won't you give my students a chance to succeed?
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Moravec and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
