At our first after-school coding class, I gave Wesley a bag that included rods and some flats so he could create a maze for his “coding critter.” The 2nd grader then coded his dinosaur, Rumble, to follow the path by using the arrows that were on its top. When Rumble went straight and did not follow all the maze’s turns, Wesley and his peers went back to the drawing board, eager to determine how many times they needed to press the arrows for the correct number of turns. In my class, where I teach my students, that coding is part of many aspects of life, Wesley and his peers know that it’s okay to make mistakes because they are part of the learning process. Wesley said it best: “You have to think about what you are doing before you even start. When you get used to coding, you can make your own codes. I like coming up with my own ideas.”
As an educator, I believe that early elementary school grades are exactly the right time to introduce children to problem-solving and critical thinking, through a variety of content areas, including science. The more exposure my students have to these processes and in subjects beyond reading and math, the more comfortable they will be when they learn complex, new subjects and skills later on. My students are expected to know how to read and understand word problems in the primary grades and must know when to add or subtract based on the words they read or hear. Access to coding exposes them to thinking and conversations about why things may not go as planned and what they can do to fix them, setting them up to embrace new learning and problem-solving. There are several ways we can ensure young learners like Wesley have exposure to coding.
To start, teachers like me must feel comfortable teaching coding. Already, there are public resources educators can tap, some of which I have explored. Code.org provides free training with engaging videos and self-paced tutorials. Another great resource is CodeHS.com, offering free virtual and in-person training for all ability levels, composed of interactive workshops and webinars routinely posted on its website. Beyond this, schools and districts like mine should offer professional development in coding on a regular basis.
Once we understand the building blocks of coding, the next step is for our students to have more opportunities to collaborate with their peers. Wesley is a perfect example; he and his friends love coding because they like the challenge of creating their own codes and listening to each other’s ideas to help them problem-solve, just like they did with the maze. When students are given the opportunity to speak to each other, they are more likely to feel safe sharing and end up learning from each other. Together, Wesley and his teammates decided which approach to make Rumble turn that they liked best and then tried it.
To extend learning, schools should offer coding clubs for all levels, including our youngest learners in preschool and early elementary grades, because they open up hands-on learning and build children’s imaginations, all the while connecting to their own lives. In my classroom, we talked about how someone coded the video games that they like to play, Roblox. We also talk about the apps my students use in school on their Chromebooks and how they rely on coding. For example, one such app, Legends of Learning, helps my students work on their math skills while winning pets and battling other students.
Exposing Wesley to coding excited him about trying a variety of coding apps. I saw him using coding to create dance moves for a cat, called dance party on code.org. He was able to navigate through the different levels and code the cat so it clapped, bent, or flossed while dancing to a song called “As It Was” by Harry Styles. Wesley told me he thinks it’s a cool song and that is why he chose it. Seeing my student’s coding confidence and enthusiasm shows that every student deserves to be an explorer when it comes to problem-solving and thinking critically. Let’s expand coding opportunities to open doors to students’ full potential.
Dawn Bates is a 2nd grade teacher leader at Woodland Elementary School in Joliet and a 2024-2025 Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellow.
