There is a chill in the air, lights are going up everywhere, it is like the whole world is prepping for the hour of code! While I might have enough excitement about the season to carry my whole school site, I know that other people can't believe we are talking about the Hour of Code already. They ask me "Wasn't it just connected educator month?" Some of my favorite teachers anguish over the time needed for the hour of code and how fast the short period between turkey day and winter break rushes by. They aren't sure they can find a spare hour to "do coding."
I am putting together some of the best resources I know to help them find meaningful ways to help their students learn through code.
As I have been learning about programming and teaching kids to code, music is a theme that keeps emerging. Vikas from WonderWorkshop first got me thinking about you music could help teach programming last year when I heard him speak about why Dash, one of their robots, plays the xylophone. He spoke about the power of music to help kids understand sequence. Whether a scale or Mary had a Little Lamb, we can hear the difference between wrong and right in a musical sequence. When we can take something like music and use programming to interact with it we can teach programming basics at the same time as sequence, rhythm and even some basic music theory.
Thinking about how to make Hour of Code accessible to my music teacher I was playing around with Trinket.io and their Music trinket.
this is a neat interface and it plays the music you program into it. The window has a "cheat sheet" available and allows you to program but the bass and treble parts. Trinket.io is one of the companies in the Imagine K12 startup incubator this year. Their Philosophy:
Trinket
From Eliot at Trinket.io
Does this have you thinking about the relationship between programming and music? Well here is some reading to support your curiosity.
Cal Arts Programming of Musicians
Musicians written about by a coder
Music Programming intro essay
I am putting together some of the best resources I know to help them find meaningful ways to help their students learn through code.
As I have been learning about programming and teaching kids to code, music is a theme that keeps emerging. Vikas from WonderWorkshop first got me thinking about you music could help teach programming last year when I heard him speak about why Dash, one of their robots, plays the xylophone. He spoke about the power of music to help kids understand sequence. Whether a scale or Mary had a Little Lamb, we can hear the difference between wrong and right in a musical sequence. When we can take something like music and use programming to interact with it we can teach programming basics at the same time as sequence, rhythm and even some basic music theory.
Thinking about how to make Hour of Code accessible to my music teacher I was playing around with Trinket.io and their Music trinket.
this is a neat interface and it plays the music you program into it. The window has a "cheat sheet" available and allows you to program but the bass and treble parts. Trinket.io is one of the companies in the Imagine K12 startup incubator this year. Their Philosophy:
trinket knows that educators belong at the center of open education. That’s why we believe that Teachers won’t be Replaced by Software and that there’s a Middle Path for Education Technology that can disrupt an industry without disrupting teachers’ connections to their students. The trinket team has been working towards this vision since 2013. Together we’re building the tools that you need to make a difference in your classroom, whatever and whoever you teach. We hope you’ll join us.Below you will find 2 music trinkets, see what you can come up with. Could these help you support a meaningful hour of code in a music class? I was really happy to discover that they work in the Safari Browser on my iPad
Trinket
From Eliot at Trinket.io
We describe the music trinket as everything you need to teach and learn music theory/composition and nothing you don't. We use a lightweight music markup language in the trinket to help show that code can enhance other disciplines without being about computer science. Like all trinkets, music trinkets are free to use, easily remixable and shareable.
Does this have you thinking about the relationship between programming and music? Well here is some reading to support your curiosity.
Cal Arts Programming of Musicians
Musicians written about by a coder
Music Programming intro essay
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