To Code or Not to Code: That is the Question

 I registered for this class at the last minute upon the advice of Dr. Dondlinger.  I had some prior knowledge of Makerspaces, an interest in STEAM, but absolutely no idea what I was getting into. 

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive when I learned we needed to purchase an Arduino kit, but I was up for the challenge, or at least I hoped I was.  When I began the first week's Maker Challenge, I would be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated.  When I look back over that post, I "see" a girl who wanted to succeed, not disappoint.  The first week, I felt like I failed, and I didn't like that feeling.  

The class and Dr. B were so understanding and encouraging, that I quickly got over it.  I was impressed with how quickly we built a community of learners.  This was definitely the type of classroom community I would like the students at Royse City High School to be in. From the beginning of class, I knew I didn't know how to code, and the little html experience I had wasn't serving me well.

After a few weeks of tinkering, making, and learning from peers and co-workers, I had learned to code, a little.  Each week, I learned a little bit more, but I also realized the more I learned, the more I didn't know.  I wanted to understand how it all worked together.  If I read my blogs from the perspective of a teacher to student, I hear a student who is getting more comfortable with learning through failure and not being perfect.  

Through this class, I did learn some coding.  I am more confident in the general idea of the void set-up and the void loop, and I made some lights dance to Christmas music.  Who would have thought?!  The dancing lights to Christmas music is the project I am most proud of - even if it didn't do all that I wanted it to do.  It gave me confidence that I could do something unexpected, and that I could persevere.

Throughout the class, I continued to struggle with the coding, but I impressed myself with how I learned to follow the schematics and troubleshoot when a borrowed code didn't work for me.  I learned more about circuitry than I knew before the class.  

I would love for students to have these same opportunities.  I really would like to see a Makerspace at our campus.  Currently, a small percentage of our student population are enrolled in classes where they get to create.  The creating and challenges I had this session have made me a stronger student and I've learned that "old dogs can learn new tricks."   Moving forward, I will look for ways to encourage Making at our school.