The goal for this newsletter is to keep everyone who has participated in CODERS involved in the continued goals of CODERS.

• Provide tools and training on computer science and literacy to rural schools and teachers.
• Disseminate and share widely what we have all learned since January 2021 in regard to the teaching of computer science in our disciplines and in our schools.
• One we have discussed less is sharing the new literacies, or multilteracies, we are teaching to our students.

Wow! What a year! My goal is to make sure that perfect is not the enemy of the good. I needed to get this newsletter off the ground, and it will be DONE. 😀🫠 Not perfect but done, and I look forward to getting this out to you two times a month. In this intro, I just wanted to share opportunities that I believe can support your professional innovation and hopefully connections with other teachers. I hope these opportunities serve to elevate your knowledge in your district, in the state, and more widely. You are the cutting edge of teaching. Don't forget. One goal of the grant is dissemination--how do you get the story out? Take a look at the list below and let me know where you see yourselves. CODERS needs your help and wants to support your goals as well.

In order to share more widely what we are doing and to continue the innovation and education that you have begun, here are upcoming opportunities below.

1. Present locally at your school.
2. Present at regional conferences like Interface and Write to Learn or regional professional development meetings.
3. Participate in the planning of the March 1 student-teacher inaugural Coding Olympiad.
4. Co-Facilitate the June 2024 Summer Teacher Launch
5. Recruit for the June 2024 Summer Teacher Launch
6. Submit your stories to the CODERS newsletter. You can write these stories or your students. I encourage student and teacher submissions!
7. Share the newsletters with administrators, your students (so they can see what others are doing), parents, and more.
8. Begin to think about what CODERS 2.0 looks like beginning in January 2026.

So where do you see yourself?

I am in Washington DC, and I am trying out a writing strategy to share the awesome things that we are doing in CODERS. Let me tell you story . . .

Brian was a 6th grader in my class at Rogersville that could be found in most rural schools in Southwest Missouri. He was a good old country boy that had absolutely no desire to come to school, and when he was at school he didn’t want to do the work.

Every day, he came to class and every day he caused trouble in all of his core classes. He spent most of his day in trouble with his teachers, and he was falling behind academically. One day, after participating in the CODERS project at Missouri State, I introduced him to Microbits and block coding. Because of that, he started to see how the codes that he manipulated in the computer could be transferred into the real world.

Seeing the work he created transfer from virtual to real-world had an effect on him and made him excited about learning. When he was invited to join a group of students to go to Missouri State to meet other students and schools who code, the good old country boy jumped up and down and said “This is more fun than deer hunting!”

As Brian’s enthusiasm grew in STEAM class, his interest in his science class was also notable. He had always liked science, however, his science teacher started to notice a difference in his engagement in the content and his grades improved because he was turning in his assignments. At the end of the year, Brian had passed all of his classes and had a new interest in science and coding. #msucoders #STEAMEDUCATION #codersprojectmsu

For 20 years, I have tried to spread a gospel of not wholly focusing on the five-paragraph essay. Yet, a template, a framework, whatever you would like to call it, can be SO helpful when you are busy. Jen and I discovered this in a workshop on marketing and sharing what we have learned. The U.S. Department of Education Education, Innovation & Research program want to innovate. In order to innovate, we have to share our stories. Please give yourself five minutes to try this out and send me your spotlight and have your students write ones as well.

DISTILL YOUR STORY – LIKE PIXAR

Once upon a time there was ___.

Every day, [the students, the teacher, whoever the story is about].

One day ___.

Because of that, ___.

Because of that, ___.

Until finally ___.

After you write your story, take a few minutes to edit. Jen and I used this template to write her spotlight. She told the story, I took dictation for her, and then edited out the "once upon a time."

This could be a partner exercise to begin or end a class. Tell the students they will be published! Send your stories by Friday, January 19.