Who Says You Have To Be Exactly Right When You Write: Try Coding!

C.S. Lewis states that "You can make anything by writing" and that is what every student should know as they begin to write. Ideas and thoughts are not easy to "come by", and when my kiddos write; they take me to another place. I always tell them that, "I'm traveling for Free", when I read their writing, I'm traveling for FREE!!

I had the opportunity to attend several professional learning seminars in November at GAETC (Georgia Educational Technology Conference) in Atlanta. I learned so many new ideas that I can share with other professionals, as well as incorporating it into my classroom. One activity that I would like to discuss is allowing students to code and write. I feel that writing can be a difficult skill for students, and one way to gain their interest level is to allow them to code first; and write about what their coding.  Students are more immersed in their writing when they have the freedom and flexibility to control their topics; also when they have a visual. Why not use the visual that they create, which is coding! 

Two websites that you can try in your classrooms are (see below). They are both interactive websites that allow your kiddos to code, and then they can write about the image they coded! This is a very tech savvy activity, that will allow your students to immerse themselves in writing! If you have difficulty with coding, ask your ITSS to set aside some time to help you, or send out a Google Invite and see if there are teachers in the building that can assist! Honestly, kids are very creative and many of my kiddos have learned coding on their own! Give it a try and you will see just how much your students will love writing!!! 

• Scratch

• Code.org