15:20. Ten minutes until the end of school and the beginning of our first code club. I sit anxiously in the school’s reception area. Am I sure that I can do this? What if turn out is poor?
15:30. The school bell rings. I hear the excitement and chatter of children arriving for Code Club. They sound really excited; what if I turn coding into something boring by mistake?
By 15.35 we had begun and all my worries had washed away. The first after school code club was a full house (20 pupils) and interest/buzz in the school meant that it also has a waiting list. The pupils that managed to get a place are of different ages, year groups and have differing levels of computer abilities but all seemed really eager to learn.
Hands raising in the air to ask questions, quickly resolving issues with netbook logins and Wi-Fi connections and assisting with using mouse touch pads – I felt the skills I had learned as IT support coming into their own.
The hour flew by. We had made a big start on the “Rock Band” project. Watching them change sprites and code a drum to make a sound when pressed may not sound like much but it is a great step in the direction of exploring coding and it is so much fun (for both learner and educator). Everyone seemed happy as they left and I can’t wait for lesson 2.
The “Rock Band” project can be found at: https://codeclubprojects.org/en-GB/scratch/rock-band/?redirect=false
GeekTechStuff 