Teaching computer programming to children: could this really work?

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz around the education and tech communities regarding a recent video released by code.org.  In the video, various people ranging from Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates to NBA star Chris Bosh and pop star Will.I.Am all promote the idea of teaching computer programming to everyone. And I dont mean people interested in computers.

Everyone.

This includes young children and there may be a number of useful nuggets that come out of it in regards to education. However, the one essential nugget that everyone should understand is this:
we should not teach our children how to code for coding's sake. We shouldn't teach our children how to code because computer programming is the most demanded profession in the country. We should teach our children how to code for the cognitive development of their minds. We don't teach children math or how to read just so that they know how to crunch numbers; we teach them these skills with the end result of creating better thinkers in mind. Computer programming can do just that. It can help develop computational skills in young children. It can teach the basics of logic and algorithms. It can develop better problem solving skills. The list goes on and on.

In addition to developing their minds, teaching code will force children to learn how much of the amazing technology of our day truly works. Many of our children can pick up how to use the Internet, video conference with friends, and operate an iPhone fairly quickly (for example, before my daughter turned 3, she knew how to unlock my iPhone, find the games folder, choose a game and play it. If I moved the game, she would still find it and play it). However, many of our children do not understand how this technology actually works, and this is entirely more important than knowing how to use it itself. It's akin to not only knowing how to use a toilet, but fixing one (this skill in itself can save a person a world of trouble).

Teaching children to learn how to code has the potential to create an army of powerful and efficient thinkers in our society. However, lets be careful to not make the end result of this initiative simply more programmers or more code. Lets make the end result more efficient problem solvers.

Chatting with a resident.

Every now and again, the Neighborhood Advocates speak with the residents of the MPN to not only meet new people, but to get a sense of what’s going on in the neighborhood. Many times the conversations are short and sweet. However, more often than not, some can shed light on what its like to live in the Promise Neighborhood. Take a recent chat that one of our Neighborhood Advocates had with a resident in the MPN.

One of the residents, who we will call “Shannon”, is a 28 year old who lives with her husband and two children in the Houston Ave. area of the MPN. She works as a caregiver at Headstart while her husband is a driver for a pizza chain. What started out as a light chat about the weather turned into a discussion on living in general. Here is a portion of our chat:

MPN: So what is the biggest concern that you have as far living? What makes you lose sleep at night?


Shannon: Trying to pay bills and make ends meet; it's from paycheck to paycheck.


MPN: Are you on any government assistance or anything like that?


Shannon: Yea, food stamps and Medicaid


MPN: Do the food stamps help much?


Shannon: No its not very many, but it helps a little bit.


MPN: So are food stamps essential to living? Would it hurt that much if you didn’t have them?


Shannon: Well not really, I [didn't have them] before and treated it as another bill but after I had my second child, they gave them back to me.


MPN: What makes it so hard to make ends meet, then? What are some of the barriers that keep you from doing that?


Shannon: Well sometimes I have to put off paying one bill to pay another


MPN: Both of you work full time, but you still have to put off some bills to pay others. You ever thought about going into another field or back to school....


Shannon: Well I'm going back to Central Ga Tech this summer for early childhood education.


MPN: What do you plan on doing afterwards?


Shannon: I want to be a teacher.


MPN: So what exactly caused you to stop going in the past?


Shannon: I had to put it off for my family. Its kind of hectic to go back to school with them. I’m trying to work it out with their schedule, my work schedule, and my husbands schedule.


MPN: Yea I can imagine. Did you have transportation then?


Shannon: No.


MPN: How’d you get around?


Shannon: At the time I was staying with my Grandmother and she would take me back and forth to school. But we have one car so that will help a lot.

Mpn: No bus?

Shannon: *Laughing* I'd take it if it ain't take so long to get to campus.
Shannon is typical of many of the residents in the MPN. She is a hard-working, married, mother of two. She cooks meals for her family, helps her daughter with her homework, and tries to help others in her neighborhood in anyway she can. The work in the MPN can have a huge impact on the lives of residents like Shannon and that’s why the work continues.

Look out for more interviews with residents in the coming weeks.

Infographic: Poverty by the Numbers

As the economy continues to try to pick up some steam, there are still those who will never come out of it. Below is poverty by the numbers taken from NPR's series on poverty in America (click the NPR link for a larger image).

What our partners are up to

Yesterday evening, we had a great and informative Partners Council meeting. The meeting cleared up some of the confusion surrounding Macon Promise Neighborhood recently, but more importantly featured the impact that a few of our pilot solutions have experienced. Two of the partners gave their experiences along with one of our neighborhood advocates explaining what the neighborhood advocates have been up to.

Katherine McCleod, executive director of First Choice Primary Care, a health care center in downtown Macon, described how the $500,000 received for the construction of a school based health center will be used. "There is a pediatrician on staff but they don't see a lot of action because not many children use our facility." Part of this is due to children and their families not being able to come downtown due to lack of adequate transportation. Unfortunately, this is a reality for many families across the nation. A school based health center at Ingram-Pye Elementary School will make healthcare more accessible to the residents of the MPN due to it being located within the MPN. In turn, this will help make the neighborhood a much healthier place.

Taryn Collinsword, the executive director of Communities in Schools of Middle Ga, spoke about the work done inside of the target schools by Communities in Schools. Last year, 70 Mercer students worked in after-school programs in the target schools of the MPN. All but one student that received this tutoring were promoted to the next grade. Also, site coordinators have been placed at Ingram-Pye Elementary and Ballard Hudson Middle to provide services to about 350 children that have been determined to be in the most need.

Lastly, Joel Chambliss, a neighborhood advocate, described the impact that the neighborhood advocates have had so far on the neighborhood. Because the people in the neighborhood don't have clear connections with each other, neighborhood advocates often hold living room chats inside of resident's homes. The purpose of these chats aren't only to keep an ear to the neighborhood but also to develop and facilitate relationships between neighbors. This has allowed the dynamic of the neighborhood to begin to change and many relationships in the neighborhood are being cultivated and made stronger.

The above examples are only a tip of the iceberg of the work that has MPN has been doing inside of the neighborhood. The work is gaining momentum and with continued support from the community, partners, and Macon, tangible progress in the neighborhood and target schools will be seen.

*picture courtesy of 13 WMAZ

MPN Pilot Solutions

During the previous planning period, Macon Promise Neighborhood and its partners piloted several new strategies in the zone that not only continues the mission of supporting the children of the Unionville and Tindal Heights communities, but also integrate services and share accountability for results. The strategies include the following:

• Big Brothers Big sisters of the Heart of Georgia is utilizing Mercer's Office of Leadership and Volunteerism to train and place 60 Mercer students as mentors for neighborhood children.
• Mercer University has partnered with Communities in Schools to provide 78 tutors in reading and math and Ingram-Pye Elementary School, Monday-Friday. Last school year, 96% of the students were promoted to the next grade.
• Communities in Schools has placed site coordinators at two of the four MPN schools (Ingram-Pye and Ballard Hudson Middle School) to coordinate intensive support services for the 10% of students identified by the schools as the highest need population
• The BCSD Gear Up program has partnered with Mercer professors to train and engage 106 Mercer students as tutors in AVID programs at 4 middle schools, including Ballard Hudson and Bloomfield.
• In partnership with the Workforce Investment Board, Southwest High School counselors, and the local business community, MPN partners have implemented a year-long internship and mentor program for 21 11th grade students at Southwest High School.
• Central Georgia Technical College has partnered with Communities in Schools to offer adult learning opportunities to the parents or older siblings of at-risk children identified and served by Communities in Schools site coordinators in elementary and middle schools.
• The Macon-Bibb County Economic Opportunity Council and Tift College of Education are working together to organize and resource a neighborhood childcare network focused on early learning.
• Tift College of Education and Ingram-Pye teachers are beginning the first steps towards developing the MPN target schools as Professional Development sites.

These pilot programs are only the first steps in improving children's achievement in school and ending generational poverty in the Macon Promise Neighborhood.  

A Fresh Start (Juvenile Justice pt 2)

It is the beginning of a new year. Most of us have spent the holidays with loved ones, got some much needed rest, and have reflected on the past year. Many of us have come into the new year with a sense of renewal and new purpose. We make resolutions such as spending more time with our families, starting a business, becoming healthier, or becoming more spiritual. We do this because we understand the value of second chances and being able to change. Our children who are involved in the justice system need to feel this same sense of change.

In the summer of last year, the Supreme Court barred mandatory life sentences for minors.  In the same vein of this decision, it is important to remember that there are children in our community who have been involved in the justice system and they need to be afforded second chances not only by the state, but also in terms of how we as citizens interact with them. It is a disservice to those children to deny them the chance to become productive members of society when they have reached adulthood because of the mistakes they have made in their childhood and it is important that they understand that the mistakes they made as children may not determine where they end up in life. 

How can we help them get back on the right track? Here are some ideas:

• Help them get extra help in terms of education
• Help them find a mentor
• Hold a professional dress seminar or take them to a store and show them how to dress professionally
• Get them involved in sports or other extracurricular activities
• Help them find a productive way to relieve stress and manage anger (exercise, martial arts/boxing, writing poetry, etc)
• If need be, help them enroll in a drug/alcohol rehabilitation program.

We cannot simply expect the juvenile justice system to effectively give these children a sense of hope. The families and communities of these children can make a bigger difference in their lives. The ideas above are just a few ways to help the kids. What they really need is love, someone to tell them that they are important, and ways to start becoming more productive. All in all, they are the future and we must invest in them.

*picture courtesy of the Nature Conservancy*

Juvenile Justice part 1

Juvenile crime is at its lowest since 1987. Part of this success is due to the deterrence of tough on crime laws that were put into effect during the crack epidemic of the late 80s and early 90s. Drug and gang prevention and education programs were implemented inside of the schools. After school specials helped with deterrence also. Much of this success, however, is due to the decline of actual detention rates with states having lower rates having much lower crime than those that didn't. And while this is good news, there is another aspect of juvenile justice that we cannot lose sight of because it answers the question, "What goes on on the inside?"

The photo blog Juvenile in Justice gives us a peek at what many detention centers across the country look like. Some pictures show promise. Others display what unfolds to be a very traumatic and hopeless experience. Here are only a few of the more popular pictures (taken from various centers across the country).

Return for part 2: "Why the reentry program is vital for juvenile offenders"