Tag Archives: Hour of Code

Celebrate 12 Days of Code with a variety of coding exercises for every grade level

HISD invites all students, teachers, and administrators to celebrate Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 6-12) and the Hour of Code global movement by participating in HISD’s 12 Days of Code (Dec. 1-16).

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Microsoft partners with HISD on Coding Bash at HMW

Hundreds of HISD employees participated in a Coding Bash and Technology Showcase at Hattie Mae White Education Support Center on Friday, Dec. 8, in support of Computer Science Education Week.

Microsoft and HISD’s Advanced Academics Department partnered on the event, which demonstrated the importance of coding as a way to develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. The district is leading by example to show students, teachers, and staff members that coding impacts everyone.

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Celebrate the 12 Days of Code with a new coding experience every day  

HISD is inviting all students to celebrate the 12 Days of Code in December with interactive calendars that allow them to engage in a new coding experience every day.

Coding helps students solve problems, use logic, and think creatively, and it gives them a foundation for success in 21st century careers. The activities on these three calendars – for elementary, middle, and high school – include designing an iPhone game, tracking Santa, decoding messages with cryptography, animating text, and more. Students can even go beyond the 12 Days of Code and complete activities over the winter break.

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‘Crack the Code’ STEM event set for January 9

The Innovative Curriculum department will hold its first ever invitational coding event for its TIF 4 STEM grant schools on Saturday, January 9, 2016 from 9 a.m. to noon, called “Crack the Code.” Students, teachers, and chaperones from 18 of the grant’s middle schools and elementary schools will convene at Southmayd Elementary School, the host campus, for the day’s festivities.

Over 200 people are expected to participate in the day’s coding activities. A unique aspect of this event is that participants will learn, test, and refine their coding skills alongside each other, highlighting the ability of students and teachers to be co-constructors of STEM-based knowledge and skills.

The purpose of the invitational, is to serve as a “pilot” coding event for HISD. Any business entities, philanthropic organizations, or non-profits interested in helping to support the vision for a district-wide coding event in the future, should contact Annie Song in HISD’s Strategic Partnerships Office at 713-556-7218.

Current funding provided by the TIF 4 grant supports the TIF 4 STEM team, responsible for leading and preparing the day’s activities, busing to the event location, and recognitions for all participants.

Hour of Code keeps HISD students globally competitive

Hour of Code is a global initiative that calls for students to do at least one hour of coding during Computer Science Education Week, which runs from Dec. 7 to 13. Basically, coding is typing step-by-step commands into the computer that tell it what you want it to do. When coding, also known as programming, students will use language that computers understand to create computer games, applications, web content, and much more.

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Meet the new Board of Education president in HISD’s ‘Up Close’

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Rhonda Skillern-Jones was elected the HISD Board of Education’s new president for 2015, and outgoing president Juliet Stipeche used her farewell episode of HISD’s Up Close program to give viewers an introduction to the board’s new leader. Continue reading

Day 5: Sixth graders to teach kindergartners how to code

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Sixth graders from The Rusk School will use their newly acquired coding skills to show kindergartners how to code on Friday, Dec. 12. The sixth graders, who have been coding all week as part of the  Hour of Code global initiative, will work together on coding activities with the youngsters on iPads and laptops. Continue reading

Day 3: Middle school students connect creatively with Hour of Code

Eighth-graders at Fonville Middle School joined the districtwide coding challenge for the Hour of Code with a tutorial in programming. This is the second year that Fonville students have participated in the international initiative designed to generate awareness about computer programming. [su_vimeo url=”http://vimeo.com/114140296″ responsive=”no”]

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Day 2: Hour of Code teaches students new web programs

Hour of Code Kinder

Kindergartners work on coding problems at Briargrove Elementary School on Monday, Dec. 8.

Kindergartners at Briargrove Elementary School collaborated to create an interactive character, coordinating his movements, look and sound for their Hour of Code activity. On Monday, Dec. 8, Cleopatra Jones’ ESL kindergarten class used Scratch, a web programming language tool used to create interactive art, stories and simulations to create an interactive character and build its environment.

More than 100 HISD schools are participating in the Hour of Code as part of Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 8–14. The week-long global initiative encourages students of all ages to learn the basics of coding, engineering, computer programming, and gaming. Continue reading

HISD joins the Hour of Code global initiative

STEM Clifton

Approximately 107 HISD schools have registered to participate in the Hour of Code as part of Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 8–14. The week-long global initiative encourages students of all ages to learn the basics of coding, engineering, computer programming, and gaming.

It is estimated that by 2020, 1.4 million jobs will be created in the computing related fields, but U.S. graduates are only on track to filling 29 percent of them. Continue reading