BallardTech: Thein

ITEC Technology Fair

On April 25th, five 8th grade students Lara Jones, Emily Rochleau, Gracie Ross, Ava Gibson, Kathryn Wilken, and Mr. Thein, attended the ITEC Technology Fair held at ISU in Ames. This fair provides PK-12 students the opportunity to showcase their technology skills and projects. Based on rubric scores, students are awarded ribbons for their quality of the project and presentation to judges. Exemplary entries are invited to present their projects a the ITEC Fall Conference in Des Moines. There are three levels of ribbons at the ITEC Fair, Purple (Exemplary), Blue (Awesome! Or Thumbs Up) and Red (Getting There).

The two Ballard middle school groups presented their projects entitled Animation Commercial and Animation Storytelling. Both groups were very excited to receive a blue ribbon for their hard work. This was the first time Ballard Middle School students attended the ITEC Fair and hope to have more entries in the future.

Hour of Code

One of my all-time favorite weeks of the school year is quickly approaching, the celebration of Computer Science Education Week also known as, The Hour of Code. We live in a world surrounded by technology. And we know that whatever field our children choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly hinge on understanding how the world of technology works. But only a tiny fraction of us are learning computer science, and fewer students are studying it than a decade ago.

During Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 8th -14th), some of the Ballard students will be amongst over 2 million worldwide spending one-hour learning the basics. It will be similar to what some of the Ballard students have done in the past along with a few new coding games. Please keep in mind that Dec. 8th - 14th is not the only time one is able to celebrate Computer Science Education Week with the Hour of Code. You can celebrate each and every day or when it fits into your schedule either at school, at your public library, on-the-go or even at home. Below you will find a few links to help you and your child get started:

Coding Video Clips:

2014 Message from the President - http://safeshare.tv/w/GQJpuhlVtK (1:10)

Change The World - http://viewpure.com/mFPg96gdPkc (2:30)

BrainPop on Computer Programming - https://www.brainpop.com/technology/computerscience/computerprogramming/ (10:00)

Coding Games:

Mrs. Kelley's "Coding Links" Symbaloo - http://edhesion.ballard.k12.ia.us/Public/BlogPage.aspx?PageID=3099&UserName=jkelley

New Star Wars (All Ages) - https://studio.code.org/s/starwars/stage/1/puzzle/1

New Minecraft (All Ages) - https://studio.code.org/s/mc/stage/1/puzzle/1

New Code Breakers (All Ages) - http://pbskids.org/oddsquad/games/codebreaker/

Frozen Anna & Elsa ( 3rd on up) - https://learn.code.org/s/frozen/stage/1/puzzle/1

Angry Birds (All Ages) - http://learn.code.org/hoc/1

Scratch (3rd on up) - https://scratch.mit.edu/

Code Academy (HS) - https://www.codecademy.com/

Mrs. Kelley's "Coding Links" Symbaloo - http://edhesion.ballard.k12.ia.us/Public/BlogPage.aspx?PageID=3099&UserName=jkelley