Coding (Code.org learning game)

1a: How can I set professional learning goals to explore and apply teaching strategies for integrating CT practices into learning activities in ways that enhance student learning of both the academic discipline and CS concepts.

The specific coding term I explored and learned about was: 

EVENTS. 

Events are sprites in action. In different words, events are when something happens to trigger the code to run. Examples will be further down below.

The Event activity I played on code.org was the:

Virtual Pet with Sprite Lab.

This game had me create sprites and give them behaviors at certain times. There were many different behaviors and options, but in the end, you were asked to follow what the lab was trying to teach you. Once you completed what the lab was showing you, you were able to experiment and explore different options and things within the lab. This was a great way to start learning a little bit about coding.
Each event game had different events to choose from. The game I participated in had 4 that were all incorporated within the lab.

With each event, I was able to alter them how I wanted to fit my specific lab:
- Like how many seconds in the first,
- The direction in the second,
-As well as the different sprites in the last two.
It is better shown in the explained video of my experience with the game further down below.

Within the game, I followed the directions and menuvered through the lab to learn how to set up the events. For example, in the lab I made three events:
- I made the cow grow when it touched the food as if it was eating it,
- I made the cow flutter in excitement when he touched his toy,
-And I also had the cow wander the screen when it was clicked on.

Here is my screencasted video of which better shows and explaind these events.

With this game, and the help of my teammates who played other games involving events, I learned a lot. Before this experience with code.org, I didn't have clue about anything regarding coding. I didn't even know what a sprite was. With going into this game a few steps in was kind of mind blowing. However, not only did I learn what an event was and how to put it together, I learned about everything you need to know and have on the board to even begin the event. That being said, this activity was a great way to learn the basics of coding. I think if I were to keep going forward through the labs on this website, I would become faster and mre familiar with how it all works. Which then this could lead me to the knowledge it takes to make my own little computer game!

1a: How can I set professional learning goals to explore and apply teaching strategies for integrating CT practices into learning activities in ways that enhance student learning of both the academic discipline and CS concepts.

Learning to set professional goals is something that helps motivate teachers to always do their best for themselves and, more importantly, the students. In order to make these goals, there are a few things you need to know about each lesson you are coming up with. You need to know exactly what the activity, lesson, or worksheet is asking of the students. You need to be aware of what your student already know about that particular topic, and with their knowledge, if it's even possible for them to figure it out. You need to be able to challenge the students, but not in a way where they become dicouraged becuase it's too difficult to do on their own. This webside (code.org) is a great lesson for learning coding. It teaches everything you need to know about coding and sets challenges to get through the lab. This was a great first activity for coding because the students were garunteed to know anything about coding yet. It would be insane to go ahead and ask the students to make their own computer game. It could be thought of in the same way for elementary students.