This post is part of a two-part mini series. First, there is so much to tell about our school's first Hour of Code event. Second, I have several letters of the alphabet to fill in my Blogs A-Z! Don't forget to check out my original post (Letter "H") for your planning needs as you prepare for your next coding event. This Blog Is Why you can get organized NOW for your next Hour of Code event.
First, you must start planning early. For a successful event, there will be many details that you can easily overlook. So, give yourself enough time to work out the kinks and avoid too much stress. You want to secure a location for the event. Decide if you want to have a kickoff assembly or some other way to get students and staff excited about the coding activities. Finally, make it special and have fun!
Is that it? No! But those are the highlights. When I began planning our school's event, I knew that I wanted to have special events and media coverage (shout out to our principal for taking care of this). So, I used the templates provided by www.code.org to draft invitation letters. I emailed these (for quick, inexpensive communication to school and community leaders). The excitement of getting confirmation from leaders and community members fueled my passion for this cause/event. If you are not a planner or not that organized, no worries, just make sure you connect with code.org (website) early. They will supply you with all the materials you need: stickers, lesson plans, posters, certificates...YOU NAME IT! Our theme was Coding Cafe and teachers used a Sign up Genius (http://www.signupgenius.com/)to pair up with other classes to share what they learned about coding during the week. The comments from students and teachers during the week and seeing the reactions of our guests made all the work worthwhile.
Share some of your Hour of Code event ideas.