Another year has come and passed. 2013 was full of awesome experiences and challenges for myself. I finished my first year of teaching, got engaged, bought a house, and landed my dream job at my alma mater. It was a lot of steps in one year but steps that have made me into a better, more well rounded person.
As a new year approaches, I always try and reflect on what do I want to accomplish/get better at? My goal for 2014 is to challenge myself to go where I have never gone before. To be bold, daring, and willing to challenge my mind and body in ways they have never been. We has humans have an innate ability to want to stay the same. We are creatures of habit. 2014 for me is all about breaking the habit and challenging myself to be my best. We never get time back in life. Make the most of today so you have no regrets tomorrow!
My challenge to myself is in three core areas: fitness & health, relationship, and education. I can't prevent death, but I can sure as heck lower its odds! With getting married this summer, it is important to work on the most important relationship I have in life, my wife. Lastly, wisdom in life only comes from experience and learning. I look to enrich my mind with classes and experiences that will make me a stronger and wiser person in the mind.
What are you doing to challenge yourself in 2014? Did you make a plan? Goals? Remember, we either get better or worse each day, the choice is yours! To a happy and healthy 2014!
-Rob D
December 9-15 marks computer science education week in our
nation. Computer Science Education Week.org has partnered with Code.org,
Scratch, Tynker, LightBot, and other successful programming and coding wizards
such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and others alike to create fun, engaging,
and interactive web based tutorials that teach students the basics of
programming and coding. Their mission is for ALL teachers during the week to
take ONE HOUR of CODE time out of their usual lessons to let students walk
through the tutorials and learn how to program a game, app, holiday card, and
much more! At the end of the hour, students can print a certificate that states
they completed one hour of code. To learn more visit http://csedweek.org/learn OR http://code.org
As a business & computer science teacher, I felt I had
to jump on this great learning opportunity for my students for several reasons.
One, programming and coding is where the jobs are in the future. Two, being
able to program is an extremely valuable skill in the workforce. Three,
students are very interested in their technology, yet many do not know how it
works. “Every person in this country should learn how to program a computer
because it teaches you how to think.” –Steve Jobs
For these reasons, I decided to take a day out of my classes
to let the students explore and walk through the tutorials. If you are
interested in what I am doing with my lessons, please click the links below. I
recommend the first one if you only want to do a day or two, because it touches on
the basics of programming. If you want to take more time, let the students pick
an option of which tutorial they want to complete.
Many schools DO NOT teach these skills yet programmers and
coders are the ROCKSTAR's of our society. They are the ones that make all of the
awesome technology work. These are skills that can’t be ignored. Who
knows…maybe after an hour of code, your students will want to finish the
tutorials and find a passion and career path in life!
Check out some of the following lessons:
