When I started in my new position, I had read a bit about the advantages of teaching students how to code, though I never had the opportunity to implement programming in my classroom. I had to hit the ground running when I began teaching my Media Literacy course to 5th graders. There are a variety of coding applications out there, but Scratch, developed by MIT, came highly recommended. There are lots of resources available online that help teachers use the Scratch interface more effectively in their classrooms, and I began the year following one of these curriculum guides.
Initially, my pace was perfectly manageable for the students. We discussed the structure of the Scratch interface and began completing some basic challenges. Soon, though, I started hearing sound effects popping up from different parts of the room. Students were giggling, leaning over to each other, and I saw dozens of pairs of eyes darting across their keyboards and screens. When I began circulating, I saw how students had advanced quickly past my instructions and were experimenting on their own. I asked them what they were doing…
“Oh, we figured out how to record our voices to so that we could make our characters speak to each other.”
“I didn’t like the blank background, so I was looking in the gallery for a new one–look at that disco ball!”
Was I needed here? I started questioning myself immediately. Then…
“Mr. Moser, I can’t figure this out–how do you make the background move? I want my game to look like Minecraft.”
Reflecting on this, I wondered: Was I being proactive or reactive in this situation? Being proactive helped me to be prepared in the general sense when teaching coding. Accepting the fact that I needed to be reactive, though, enabled me to adjust quickly to the rapidity of my students’ exploration and growth. They were ready to experiment, and my role shifted instantaneously. I became a provider of a wide range of information, with just enough given to inspire my students to dig deeper. For instance, I quickly found a structure for coding a scrolling background for the student who wanted to make a Minecraft-type game. He had to take what I gave him and apply it to his own imaginative context. I had to get over quickly the notion that I had failed in some way because I did not plod through my curriculum guide. The dynamic nature of this instructional experience has definitely helped me.
But where does coding fit in? To me, it feels very much like a spoken or written language. In this realm, students are required to communicate in new ways. They are able to apply linguistic conventions to create new meaning. They can translate their knowledge to the real world. They can have meaningful discussions in the language’s context. All of these characteristics can describe a Spanish or French class as well.
When I began teaching computer programming, I certainly did not expect to become a modern language teacher as well. However, the engagement students show and the dialogue they are able to have with one another demonstrates how crucial this knowledge is for them as they move forward.
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