Every year, we have a Christmas tree in the Library and Learning Commons. In honor of our Maker Lab, we decided to offer students the opportunity to make ornaments. The selling point was that right before Christmas break, students could then take the ornaments home to keep.
Mrs. Stanton teaching students.
Mrs. Stanton offered to teach students how to crochet star ornaments and make chains. Students then hung them up on the tree. It proved to be very popular, with students coming at lunch and after school to work on the chain or make ornaments.
Due to finals coming up and the requirement that students actually design their own ornaments, there weren't as many 3D printed ornaments.
On Friday, we celebrated Computer Science Education Week by undertaking an Hour of Code in the Library and Learning Commons. The purpose of an Hour of Code is to demystify computer science and help students experience the fun, challenge, and satisfaction that comes with learning how to code. Anyone can learn how to code and as of this blog post, 75,920,797 people have done the Hour of Code according to code.org!
Many different programs offer an Hour of Code including but not limited to code.org, Kahn Academy, Tynker, and Scratch. These programs teach coding by playing; participants use logic to solve puzzles and/or make interactive games run. The games and puzzles students program to run look similar to the apps you play on your phone.
As you solve the puzzles, you are writing lines of code. The games and puzzles keep you so engaged that you forget you are learning a really important skill while playing. You might write 90 lines of code in one hour! Some of the Hour of Code programs give you a certificate after completing an Hour of Code.
To introduce the Hour of Code at MCHS, Christopher Hitchcock ‘16 and Michelle Vasquez-Aleman ‘15 spoke about why coding is important to them. Christopher mentioned how it is a skill used in so many different fields and Michelle shared how coding can be used to create art and she gave the example of Pixar Studios.
Participating students then immediately got to work with the Hour of Code, first by selecting an Hour of Code program on the MCHS Maker Lab website.
There are 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, 672 hours in a month, 8,064 hours in a year. Why not use one of these hours to learn a skill that will set you apart in the years to come? Start with an Hour of Code! Visit the MCHS Maker Lab’s Hour of Code page to learn more.
