Many Ways to Teach Kids to Code

   As the new school year approaches, I have an opportunity for the 3rd straight year to team up with our business partners at Telligen to help 30+ middle school students learn about technology and do some pretty fun and amazing things with technology through our Hyperstream club. This year, we will focus more on coding skills. So....what exactly does it mean to "code"? Coding is what makes it possible to create computer software, programs, apps, games, etc. Have you used your smart phone, tablet, or computer today? If so, it is because someone wrote code for you to do these things. And guess what? This technology and these skills are only becoming more and more in demand.

    Hmm....2020, that is when our current high school students will graduate college and when our current middle school students will graduate high school. Helping them learn the basics of coding and computer programming can set them up for success in an even larger digital world. But what if your school or your child doesn't have an opportunity to be in a technology group like Hyperstream? Well, there are great websites where they can learn to code for free. Below are a couple great resources, resources our Hyperstream club will be using this year. Have fun!

www.code.org    This site is AWESOME! Totally free, has some super-famous computer programmers supporting it, and is simple enough that my 9-year old son can work through it on his own, but difficult enough that I am challenged by it to. Basically, it is a step-by-step tutorial of what coding truly is at its most basic level and you get to complete challenges and earn trophies as you go. Here is a video explaining it better than I can.

Five IPad Apps that help learn coding skills. This blog post by Richard Byrne is a great description of some free resources that your children (and remember...even you!) can try to learn the basics of coding. I have not tested these yet, but plan to test them soon and have our students test them. Let me know what you think if you have tested them or when you test them. 

  Good luck!

Personality/Career Interest Inventory Surveys

Students, please click on the link below and take the survey after some instruction from Mr. Barry. When finished with the survey, please print your results page. DO NOT CLOSE OUT YOUR RESULTS PAGE AS WE NEED TO COMPARE PRINT OUTS TO YOUR PAGE TO VERIFY RESULTS!

Take Quiz by Clicking Here!

Once you have the printout, please do the following:

1.Write your name at the top of the page.

2. Click on your favorite job or job that interests you most of your possible careers and read about your career choice.

3. Write down the following items on the back of your sheet:

    a. Median Salary:

    b. Degree needed:

    c. What do they do (list a few items): 

   d. Job Growth %:

   e. 1 Similar Occupation that interests you:

YEAH!! You are done!! Congrats!  But remember, this is just ONE survey and you are still young. This survey is just meant to give you some guidance and some ideas. Some of you may truly end up doing the career you selected, others of you may go a completely different direction and that is okay. Good luck!

Interview Questions and Suggested Answers

For all of my 8th graders out there still looking for a summer job and for any high school students or adults looking for a job and interviewing soon. Here are the most common interview questions and suggested answers. Glad to see much of what I tell my 6th and 8th graders is in this list! Good list to copy and save for when you prepare to interview.

Job Fair and Interview Tips!

To go along with the previous post and/or just information to have if you are currently in the market for a new job or career, here are some links that have job fair, resume, application, and interview tips and support. Use what you can. I use some of these with my middle school students when we talk about employment skills or opportunities.

Job Fair Tips and Help click here!

Application tips click here!

44 Resume tips click here!

Interview tips click here!