I’ve been wanting to explain this to parents…but I don’t always have the right words.

As the lab approaches its twelfth year this week, I’ve been trying to decide how to make an enormous shift this coming Summer. You see, we have never been “achievement-based.” In fact, you could almost say our programs were built to be “anti-achievement.” I wanted outside-of-school programs that had little pressure, measurement, or competition built into them. I wanted kids learning but only “for fun” inside our lab.

I’m shifting that model now, though. At the same time, whereas we’ve always mixed campers aged four to fourteen, we have now split into “big kids” and “little kids” for the bulk of the camp day. I did this now that we are truly operating as a Fab Lab. My experience over the last two Summers is that children under eight years old are simply too young for a Fab Lab setting. Not wanting to lose the opportunity to gain little kid interest early (and spend time with the littles), we created a “Primer Lab” in the front of our space for them.

This is the first Summer since 2010 where we will be issuing achievements, too, in the form of digital badges to the “big kid” learners. I want to outline my reasons in some bullet points that give reasons digital badges are beneficial, and in fact: imperative right now. I hope you all reading this either see the benefits of what we’re doing, and if not, I hope you feel okay to challenge me with a quickness. For the record: I do not plan to make this coercive. If a child doesn’t wish to take a test or produce the evidence/artifact necessary to earn a badge, we will be happy to let them continue hands-on learning in our space without those requirements.

If you have questions or comments, you can reach me at mess@workchops.org

Why Issue Badges to Children:

• Badges are the future of credentialing
• Badges acknowledge skills and knowledge gained, as they are gained
• The badges are “sprints” and not “marathons” in learning
• Micro skills and learning can be “stacked” for a more macro education
• Open Badges are digital and “portable” and belong to the learner, not the issuer
• A child earning badges early will learn to leverage them early for educational/job opportunities
• Badges foster a sense of “lifelong learning”

February is a great month to head to Downtown Dallas and explore two opportunities to code amongst friends! 

For Teachers: SCRATCH EDUCATOR MEETUPS

Scratch Educator meetups are participatory professional learning experiences for teachers who want to learn more about teaching with Scratch. 

The first Meetup is taking place at The Grove, Dallas coworking on Saturday, February 11, 9:00am - Noon. We are happy to welcome educators with any level of experience in Scratch; the aim of the meetups is to build a community that shares resources and ideas and supports each other in bringing Scratch to students all over DFW.

Please join the Meetup group to RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/ScratchEd-Dallas/events/236818732/

 For Students and Adult Mentors: CODE DAY DALLAS

The Grove will be hosting Code Day Dallas again Saturday, February 18 - Sunday, February 19! From the Student RND website:

WHAT IS CODEDAY?

CodeDay is a nationwide event where student programmers, artists, musicians, actors, and everyone else can get together and build apps & games for 24 hours. Students of all skill levels are welcome?—?we have workshops and mentors who can help if you're new!

At the beginning of CodeDay, everyone with an idea comes up and pitches it to the group. If you're on your own, or just without an idea, this is the time for you to build whatever you want.

Tickets are now available. This is a great Intro to coding for your middle or high schoolers as they do not need any experience in coding. I'll be there for all the opening stuff and the judging. Can you tell someone you know? And hit me up if you want any info about The Grove, Student RND, or the technology/code camps I'll be running this Summer.

Visit the official Code Day Dallas site for more info and to purchase tickets: https://codeday.org/dallas

~Mess

This team of girls won the last Dallas Code Day with their Video Game about dodging distractions during school test time!

It was a great Fall & Winter full of technology camps and maker days. Check out the photos and videos from those on our Renegades of Code Facebook page. Spring Events are all live, and registration is now open. We should have a Summer schedule published by February 10.

Until then, check out our Spring programs: 

Saturday Pilot Program - "Animation Lab"

Saturday, January 28, 10am - 3pm

This Saturday Camp will be a sort of "crash course/experiment" in stop motion animation concepts. It's a great intro for kids who haven't attended a camp yet, but I welcome kids who have been to many of my past programs, too. (You can learn more and sign up here.)

Spring Break Invention Week - "Fun with Makey Makey"

Monday, March 13 - Friday, March 17, 9am - 2pm

This time it's fun with hardware and software!

First, we'll create projects using Scratch coding language. Then, we'll use the popular Makey Makey invention kit to make a custom MIDI controller (for musical creations) and/or a video game controller (for games). (You can learn more and sign up here.)

Upcoming Weekend Crash Courses

"Maker Days: Sewing Soft Circuits"

Saturday, February 25 & Sunday, February 26, 10am - 3pm

This weekend Maker Camp is perfect for children who want to learn to hand sew and incorporate circuits to light up their stuffies and/or clothing creations. (You can learn more and sign up here.)

"Tech Days: Animation Lab"

Saturday, April 22 & Sunday, April 23, 10am - 3pm

This weekend Crash Course is perfect for beginners who want to learn to create short stop motion animation and gifs on their own mobile devices or tablets.

Students will be offered three different toy sets, then taught to use the toys' corresponding apps. They'll also be exposed to other apps where they can create animated shorts to build up their Studio of creations. (You can learn more and sign up here.)

View all present and past events on our Eventbrite page.

After the great experiences we had with Winter code and creation programs, we're offering some weekend crash courses to Dallas children between New Year's and Summer.

These Crash Courses are great if you can't make our week-long camps, or if your child needs some exposure to coding, but you aren't certain where to start. Click on the camp title for more details or to sign up today.

Scratch Challenge

Saturday, January 21 & Sunday, January 22

10:00am - 3:00pm   $150.00

This weekend Crash Course is perfect for both for beginners who want to learn to create in Scratch programming language and more experienced users who want to make more complicated games or tell stories with Scratch. Students will be assessed on their current knowledge in their first hour, then issued new challenges every hour to build up their Studio of creations.

Beginning Minecraft

Saturday, February 25 & Sunday, February 26

10:00am - 3:00pm   $150.00

This weekend Crash Course is perfect for beginners who want to learn to create in Minecraft but who haven't had the time or guidance to do so. Students will be assessed on their current knowledge in their first hour, then issued new challenges every hour to build up their worlds and their skills. (This course requires an active Mojang/Minecraft account, or you can pay $30, and we will set one up for your child)

Animation Lab

Saturday, April 22 & Sunday, April 23

10:00am - 3:00pm $180.00

This weekend Crash Course is perfect for beginners who want to learn to create short animation and gifs on their own mobile devices or tablets. Students will be offered three different toy sets, then taught to use the toys' corresponding apps. They'll also be exposed to other apps where they can create animated shorts to build up their Studio of creations.

Other Details:

These crash courses are best for children aged six to twelve

Pizza or sandwiches and chips are provided, as well as snacks and water (or you may opt to send a bag lunch)

Computers are furnished, but students may opt to bring their own devices

Parents may drop children without parking, as we offer curbside service

Some courses include a take-home item like books, action figures, or project card sets

Location:

The Grove, Dallas Coworking

501 Elm Street, #450

Dallas, Tx 75202

For more information about Renegades of Code, visit our website: RenegadesOfCode.org