I have enough problems with math, now coding, too? But, coding is exploding! It’s the “in” thing to teach right now. But, isn’t coding math?
Okay, so, I’m a teacher. Well, I was a teacher. I’m retired now.
I never would have believed this when I was in high school, but I ended up teaching computer science for almost 30 years. Computer science?
Isn’t that math?
Well, that’s not true. I was pretty good at it in high school – until I had a bad math teacher in grade 12.
We’ve all had one of those. The scary part was, this guy was the math coordinator for the board! I have no clue how he got the job.
He certainly couldn’t teach.
His idea of making us learn was to humiliate us in front of the class. If you couldn’t solve the problem on the blackboard, he called you “stupid” and told you to sit down. Great role model!!
So, that year pretty well ruined math for my entire grade 12 class. Thanks to him, many kids had to rethink their career paths.
I had to take one more math class in grade 13, and I picked calculus. It was supposed to be the easiest math course back then. I’m proud to say I passed with 63%. Not bad for someone whose term 1 and 2 marks were in the 50s!
I never thought I’d have to “do math” ever again.
** WRONG **
Isn’t coding math?
** WRONG AGAIN **
Coding doesn’t have to centre around math!
I studied music for years. Music is very logical. It has rules, and it makes sense to me.
So does coding!
Now, you can teach coding from a purely mathematical perspective, but you don’t have to.
Coding is more about logic and problem-solving. How to break things down into teeny tiny steps so the computer understands what to do isn’t really math per se.
If you can organize a lesson, a unit, a classroom, a class – you can teach coding.
Coding is, after all, a language – just like English.
English has rules. Coding has rules.
English has syntax. Coding has syntax.
English has punctuation. Coding has punctuation… get the idea?
And, Coding IS Exploding!
So, forget about the math part.
You can still teach coding in your class.
If you love learning new things, your kids will love it, too.
Best of all, those kids who do have a math phobia will probably understand coding cause it makes sense.
And you don’t have to call it “math” at all!
