Any time a child follows a step-by-step process to accomplish a task, they are working with algorithms.Ī common example of an algorithm kids learn at a young age is over, under, around, and through. AlgorithmsĬhildren already use algorithms, often without knowing what algorithms are or even having the word in their vocabulary. Whatever path your student takes in learning to code, these are 7 of the most important coding concepts that they should be picking up along the way. Beyond the benefits of coding to math education, these coding basics are also crucial to problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Since these coding concepts are also used in math and logic, mastering them through coding is incredibly beneficial to a child’s broader education.Ĭoding offers visual and real-time feedback as a child experiments, and can be an easier way to pick up what might otherwise seem to be purely abstract ideas.
Once you’ve decided that kids should learn how to code, an important question still remains: what specifically should they be learning?Īll coding languages, including the best programming languages for kids, rely on the same fundamentals. And watching officialdom running around, trying to catch the guilty parties, will stay with me forever.One of the most important aspects of being an educator is establishing learning goals. It might not have been the most sophisticated of practical jokes, but it did take a lot of preparation and some precision setting up. But of course there was never anyone there. So you would see the heavy figures hurtling across the court at random every time a new firework went off. They were convinced there was someone out there lighting these things.
And then it began.įrom the safety of a friend's bedroom (I didn't have a room overlooking the court) we watched as the display began.
Once everyone was clear, a madman among us ran around the staircases, flinging bangers in to ensure we had a reasonable audience. (The fuses were the rigid kind of firework lighter things that glow for ages - the scientists amongst us had had great fun experimenting with these to get the timings right.) We set up the fireworks all around the court, with fuses timed from 5 minutes to 15. The other had a bottle of water to douse any accidental pre-lighting. One of the pair had a bag of fireworks, each fitted with a timed fuse.
At 1 in the morning on 5 November, a series of dark clothed pairs of individuals snuck out into the Old Court of Selwyn College (pictured). The firework stunt was like a military operation. Not the 'silly prank that irritates a person' kind, but entertaining ones that ranged from the simplicity of placing a rubber pigeon (we couldn't get a seagull) in the chapel stalls above the Master's seat on Sea Sunday to the amazing pageantry of the fake Immersion of the High Professor ritual I have blogged about previously. When I was at university I was involved in a whole string of practical jokes. As fireworks bubble and squeak around us, and some really dodgy shops selling fireworks appear on the backstreets like fungus sprouting on a rotting tree, I am reminded of the most entertaining firework display I was ever involved in arranging.