Congratulations to you and educators everywhere, and thank you for the difference you make in students’ lives each and every day. We wish you a summer full of much deserved relaxation, recharging and renewal!

Before you go…

Stay in the loop on a few spring and summer happenings from our Educators program:

• MNCodes Summit [Recap]
• Scratch Camp registration & other training opportunities
• 2019-20 MN Coding in the Classroom Leadership Cohort updates

Read on below for details…

MNCodes Summit [Recap]

Image credit: @WashingtonTech

We welcomed over 215 K-12 computer science educators for the 2019 MNCodes Summit in May. It was an inspiring and collaborative day of hands-on learning and networking, all planned and orchestrated by a team of 35 volunteers. Truly an event created by educators, for educators!

The Summit started with an energizing keynote by Joseph Adamji and Shiranthi Goonathilaka of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center. The day included over 30 interactive break-out sessions led by local educators, which focused on a variety of topics, ranging from equity in computer science to physical computing to connections with specific age levels and content areas. We sincerely appreciate the support from all of our partners and sponsors!

When asked about their top reasons for attending the MNCodes Summit, attendees cited the networking with other educators and gathering of new ideas and resources that they could take back and use right away. Others said:

• I just really thought this event was a highlight of all tech events I’ve gone to this year – so well organized, engaged, knowledgeable speakers, and just really awesome sessions/content. Well done!
• It was a great summit! Super food, great company, fun networking, lots of cool CS! Energized
• What a treat this day was! Thank you to every volunteer who made it such a wonderful day!

We are already looking forward to next year’s 5th Annual MNCodes Summit and are excited about the continued growth and interest in computer science education. It is our hope that by connecting with and training a growing network of Minnesota educators in computer science, we can help to expand computer science learning opportunities for all students in our state.

We were also honored to be a part of the CSforAll MN – May Convening event centered around creating and nurturing pathways and partnerships to drive state-level computer science (CS) education. We heard from Anne Leftwich, Associate Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University at Bloomington, and gained insight from her experience doing this work. We also heard from a variety of educators and CS industry leaders about what is currently happening with CS in Minnesota during lightning talks, and then met in smaller groups to plan for our future CSforAll MN vision. It was an energizing event that has helped to create further momentum toward expanding CS education in our state! To learn more, take a look at this blog post about the CSforAll MN May Convening.

Scratch Camp for Educators and other training opportunities

Registration is open for Scratch Camp for Educators on June 19th and 20th! We are sincerely looking forward to this day and a half long training opportunity designed for K-12 educators with a range of Scratch programming experience! We will focus on cross-curricular, creative project ideas through hands-on exploration and sharing and will also provide mentoring and opportunities to try out Scratch-compatible robots and physical computing equipment.

Day 2 of Scratch Camp will follow an unconference/EdCamp model, where participants get a chance to set the discussion topics and share ideas. The unconference format is intended to allow for differentiation as well as networking opportunities to ask questions and learn from one another. The goal is to provide a collaborative and conversational atmosphere to dive deeper into areas you are most interested in.

• Is your school or district interested in hosting customizable professional development opportunities around computer science education? Consider partnering with us to offer training on a range of computer science topics and platforms! Check out our Professional Trainers offerings for more information, or email educators@codesavvy.org to inquire about availability and details.

• Share your passion and expertise for computer science education: Consider submitting a session proposal for the Impact Education Conference (formerly TIES Conference)! The Impact Education Conference is sure to draw a large Midwest audience. The more we can get the word out about effective ways to engage all students in CS ed, the more likely schools and districts are to expand their computer science offerings!

Do you know of other upcoming conferences or opportunities to present or share? Tweet them out to #MNCodes or email us at educators@codesavvy.org and we will help share with the MNCodes network!

MN Coding in the Classroom Leadership Cohort Updates

May marked the completion of our 2018-19 Cohort year, and we could not be more grateful to this year’s participants for their consistent collaboration, sharing and enthusiasm for computer science education. We wish our 2018-19 Cohort members all the best and are excited to see and hear about the innovative ways that they continue to expand computer science learning opportunities for all students!

Want to access and use the curricular and professional development resources that our Cohort members have created? Check them out on our MNCodes website under the Resources tab (the latest 2018-19 resources will be uploaded this summer).

Please join the MNCodes network and let us know which CS ed resources are your favorites! Follow along or share via the #MNCodes hashtag on Twitter.

Image credit: @KristenSeeger

We are excited to welcome our new participants in the 2019-20 Cohort at our Kickoff event in August! These new Cohort members are bringing with them a range of expertise and experience from across the state. Here is a map of our 2019-20 Cohort participants:

We look forward to an exciting 19-20 Cohort year filled with learning and sharing about ways to expand computer science learning opportunities for all students! We hope to welcome back many Cohort alumni as mentors throughout the Cohort year!

Have a great summer… and stay cool!