I teach kids to code. Why? Because I did a good bit of soul searching and this is the best way I can give back to my community; as I’ve been a Systems Engineer for the last 26 years.

This is my legacy project.

 

Why Coding? Because coding is the new literacy. Coding gives our kids the necessary tools to thrive in the 21^st century. They have been called the 4 ‘C’s.

• Critical Thinking,
• Creativity,
• Collaboration and
• Communication.

 

4th and 5th graders at Moffett Elementary had lots of fun learning to Code games with MIT’s Scratch programming Language, Taught by Greg Beutler, BSEE.

Kids learned a variety of coding concepts and used their creativity and zest for learning to make 8 different games, each in an hour.

 

Learn to code; Code to Learn

 

 

 

What will your children grow up to be? Where is this country’s economy heading?

 

We all want our children to have good paying, stimulating jobs.

 

Do you know that in the last 10 years growth in STEM jobs (7.9 percent) was three times as fast as employment growth in non-STEM jobs (2.6 percent) in the United States?

 

TechsCool is dedicated to providing an interactive, hands-on experience for the kids to create awareness, excitement and understanding of ≈, science  engineering and mathematics otherwise abbreviated as ( S.T.E.M)

 

One of our primary tools in the after-school programs that we deliver is MIT’s Scratch Programming Language.

 

Scratch is an easy to use, drag an drop type of programming platform ideal for kids from 4th grade through 9th graders.

 

By using MIT’s Scratch language to build interactive games, kids learn important programming concepts and creative thinking.

 

The curriculum is project based and fun. Studies have shown that when kids are having fun, the engagement level is higher the retention of material is higher as well. This is known as Stealth Learning.

 

Many educators felt that games help meet different learning styles, teach critical thinking skills and increase student engagement.

 

Regardless of whether your child becomes an Engineer or not, these critical thinking and collaboration skills will serve them their whole lives.

 

I’m Gregory Beutler, Director of Techscool

 

Please join with me and many others across America to educate our youth in STEM fields. This will keep America’s Technology Prowess at the forefront

 

President Obama knows that we simply cannot, as a Nation, expect to maintain our run of ingenuity and innovation—we cannot maintain that stream of new and different ideas—if we do not broaden participation in STEM to all Americans.

 

STEM based education will enable our children to have good paying, stimulating jobs

 

Will you join me?

 

 

 

 search for us on  Facebook  at the top search bar ,

type in  ‘T-E-C-H-S-C-O-OL’Cool.org

http://day.scratch.mit.edu/

Attend an event

Scratch Day is a worldwide network of gatherings, where people come together to meet other Scratchers, share projects and experiences, and learn more about Scratch.

In 2013 there have been 188 events in 47 countries. Explore the map or check out the events list to learn more about Scratch Day events being planned around the world.

Here’s the Scratch Day 2013 welcome video from members of the Scratch Team to you and your Scratch Day participants.

Please share pictures, videos, and projects from your event!

You can also see the maps and events from 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009.

Organize an event

You can plan many different types of activities for Scratch Day. For example, you could organize:
hands-on workshops to introduce newcomers to Scratch
exhibitions to showcase projects by local Scratchers
sessions where educators share Scratch experiences
informal gatherings where Scratchers can share ideas
This site was created to support people in planning Scratch Day events – big or small. There are resources to help design activities, and forums to discuss and ask questions.
What will your Scratch Day look like?

OCC Class Teaches Youngsters to Write Computer Games
8-Week Series Begins February 11

Orange Coast College Community Education is offering an after-school S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program that will introduce youngsters, ages 9 to 15, to creative computing with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Scratch programming tool, using a design-based learning approach.

“Learn How to Write Computer Games” will be offered for eight weeks on Tuesdays, February 11 through April 1.

Sessions are one hour, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Computer Center 109.
Registration fee is $149.
Sign up online at orangecoastcollege.augusoft.net or call (714) 432-5154.
Registration can also be completed at the OCC Bursar’s Office at (714) 432-5880, x1.

Class presenter, Greg Beutler, was a systems engineer for 26 years and has a BS degree in electrical engineering. He is enthusiastic about kids and learning.

What: Learn How to Write Computer Games

When: Tuesdays, February 11-April 1, 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Where: Orange Coast College Computer Center 109
2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa

Registration: $149, register online at orangecoastcollege.augusoft.net
or by phone at (714) 432-5880

Contact: OCC Community Education
(714) 432-5154

 

In this session, students are introduced to computational creation with the Scratch programming environment by viewing a collection of sample projects and engaging in an exploratory, hands-on experience.

Objectives

The students will:

• understand the concept of computational creation, in the context of Scratch
• be able to imagine possibilities for their own Scratch-based computational creation
• become familiar with resources that support their computational creation
• Introduce the concept of computational creation and the Scratch environment
• Show sample Scratch projects
• Review design processes
• Explore the Scratch interface

Session activities summary

Session description

~Min.	Activities
15	Planning: What is creative computing? Ask students: What are the different ways you interact with computers? How many of those ways involve you creating with computers? Explain that over the next several sessions they will be creating their own interactive computational media with Scratch. A basic demo of Scratch, either through a live demo or through the Scratch overview video. You build projects by snapping blocks together, just as you can build things in the physical world by snapping LEGO bricks together. There are more than 100 blocks in 8 different categories. As a small example, let’s make the cat do a dance. Start by dragging out the “move 10 steps” block from the “Motion” blocks palette to the scripting area. Every time you click on the block the cat moves a distance of 10. You can change the number to make the cat move a greater or smaller distance. From the “Sound” palette, drag out the “play drum” block. Click on the block to hear its drum sound. Drag and snap the “play drum” block below the “move“ block. When you click on this stack of two blocks, the cat will move and then play the drum sound. Copy this stack of blocks (either using the Duplicate toolbar item or by right-clicking the stack and selecting “duplicate”) and snap the copy to the already-placed blocks. Change the second “move” block to -10 steps, so the cat moves backward. Every time the stack of four blocks is clicked, the cat does a little dance forward and back. Go to the “Control” blocks palette and grab the “repeat” block. Wrap the “repeat” block around the other blocks in the scripting area. Now when you click on the stack, the cat dances forward and back 10 times. Finally, drag the “when Sprite clicked” block and snap it to the top of the stack. Click on the cat (instead of the blocks stack) to make the cat dance. Show the range of projects they will be able to create, by sharing some sample projects that students will find engaging and inspiring. The Scratch website (http://scratch.mit.edu) has many interesting examples.
15	Planning: Defining the processes of computational design Introduce students to the other tools that they will have access to during their design activities: Design notebook, for recording their ideas and plans, as well as for responding to the per-session design notebook question Resource library, for accessing other forms of support, such as Scratch cards, or reminders of strategies for getting unstuck Scratch website, for storing their projects and finding inspiration and help
10	Exploring: Something surprising Give students 10 minutes to explore the Scratch interface in an open-ended way. One prompt is: “You have 10 minutes to make something surprising happen to a sprite.” Students are encouraged to work together, ask each other for help, and share what they are figuring out during the 10 minutes.
20	Reflecting: Our discoveries Ask for 3 or 4 volunteers to share with the entire group one thing that they discovered. Optionally, after the volunteers have shared, offer several challenges to the students: Did anyone figure out how to add sound? Did anyone figure out how to change the background? Did anyone figure out how to access the help screens for particular blocks?

 

 

 

 

http://embed.ted.com/talks/mitch_resnick_let_s_teach_kids_to_code.html