The Hour of Code Is Over: Now What?

I discovered an interesting post by Greg Garner that is part of a series on coding for college and career readiness from Microsoft. The post caught my attention partly because we have just finished this year’s Hour of Code; however, it kept my attention because Garner asked a question that I have also asked myself countless times – now what?

Like Garner, I wonder “what the second hour will mean for [my] students, classrooms, and [the overall program].” While I truly believe the Hour of Code is a great way to spark the interest of students, I remain hopeful that coding can somehow find its way into the mainstream curriculum (supporting and enhancing the study of math, science, reading, and writing). Unlike Mr. Garner, I do believe “traditional classrooms are ready to explore and play using coding.” However, the addition of coding within the classroom will initially have to be done to meet the individual needs and resources of each school. In order to make coding a reality, schools will have to look closely at their structures to find natural places for coding to take place. For many schools, playing with coding may work best in the form of an enrichment activity or lunch club. Coding (in whatever form) is what we have to strive for as we work to appropriately infuse this new language into the classroom. tlb

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