New website and we have moved!

Our new website is a work in progress but all new blog posts and information will be posted at http://www.coderdojogorey.com/ from now on. Thanks for your interest in our dojo.

Coderdojo Gorey back in action

We took a long recess over the summer but our dojo is back in almost full swing. Well done to all 80 children who came today to Coderdojo Gorey to learn HTML or Scratch today. Thanks to all our volunteers mentors and parents.
HTML and Scratch groups are up and running. We have mixed all the age groups together our thinking is it will build collaboration and add to our ninja coders experience, bringing a mix of different ideas and skills in the room. Scratch has two classes, starters and every other level. Unfortunately we have not been able to offer Python at the moment but we hope to see Dave back mentoring again soon. We are looking for more python mentors, if you know someone send them our way.
We started a new four week course 'introduction to dojo' for those on our waiting list. Today we looked at Scratch. It was very busy but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to our young mentors who came from Scratch and helped out.
There is no dojo next week as its the bank holiday weekend.
But were are back on the 2nd of November with a special dojo and a BIG announcement.

Hardware Autopsy

We offered a hardware autopsy class yesterday for any of our regular ninjas who wished to learn about the components of a PC and how to take it apart and put back together. We had a generous donation of 5 old computers, mouses, keyboards and monitors.

There was huge interest but as we had five computers we limited it to ten kids for each session. We had two sessions one immediately after the other so twenty kids attended altogether.






Chris demonstrated taking apart a computer and explained the function of each component. Then the ninjas paired up and started to take apart the computers. There was amazingly different reactions to the task, some kids used military precision, taking note of exactly what they were doing so they could put the parts back again correctly. Some were almost scared to start unscrewing things, and others just dived in and worried about how they were going to put it back together again later. Some of the kids told me of their plans to build their own pcs and others are hoping to troubleshoot their own computers at home. Chris, Ray and I helped out if they needed advice, but the ninjas were quite capable. All the computers worked again when they were put back together. For the second demonstration, Aran and Seán who attended the first session, stayed back to mentor the second group.

All in all it was a great success, the kids seemed to enjoy it and feedback was good afterward. We will be running it again next week as there were ninjas who wanted to do it but didn't get a chance yet.

Here is a link to the hardware autopsy handout. 

Laura Kenny

Dojocon 2013

Arriving at Slane Castle

The sun shone on Slane Castle, Co. Meath for Dojocon 2013, the 2nd annual Coder Dojo conference,  on Saturday 13th April. After an early start I arrived unsure what to expect. Fellow mentor Dave, administrator and parent Susie and coordinator Roisín also attended.

James Whelton

From start to finish it was an extremely well organised event. Each session was split into three streams 'education', 'tech' and 'creating a dojo' and there were some very interesting keynote speakers also. Slane castle was a wonderful venue and added to the fun of the day. The most overheard comment was 'oh, i know your face from twitter', or 'Hi, I'm x, I know you from twitter'. There was a very jovial atmosphere and everyone was both helpful and willing to learn from each other. I guess that's what happens when you get a bunch of volunteers all together.

I made lots of contacts, so many nice genuine people,  I know who to talk to about how to make our own badges, I got ideas for how to encourage kids and some tips on how to get kids to start showcasing their work and mentoring themselves. I got a lot of ideas from talking to people in between the talks and at lunchtime. If that was all that happened I still would have come away with a wealth of information to improve our own dojo.  Add to that the talks I attended and my brain was spilling over by the time we left around 7pm.

I went to mostly technical stream talks, everything from the future coderdojo rockstars to github to scratching with Leap and Kinect. I went to a talk on child centred learning, very positive and useful in my roles as parent, educator and mentor. I really enjoyed the talk about creating an online learning environment for coderdojo and all the different issues around that. At many of the talks the short 30 minute time frame left me wanting more, the talks were so interesting.

Coderdojo's Future Rockstars

I learnt to solder and to pick locks at lunch time. I was very excited to hear R.E.M. playing at Slane again - 'Stand' was on the music mix playing between talks.

Kimberley Bryant founder of Black Girls Code gave the last talk of the day, and although people were getting tired by this stage her talk was so moving and inspiring that she reawakened everyone. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I look forward to next year's conference.

Laura Kenny 

13 April no regular reason

We know our ninja coders might be disappointed to hear that there is no regular coderdojo in Gorey this Saturday, 13 April. But does no club mean no coding? really?   you guys can still work on your own projects. Seriously the club is for mentor and support - no dojo meeting does not mean no coding! Parents you can do a lot to encourage your kids and screenagers to keep on coding.

We'd love to see you take initiative, then you can share your projects with each other when the club gets back to normal sessions on the 20th of April.

There are two specific reasons why there is no dojo this weekend. I thought it would be good to share them because they are positive.

1. The Irish Science Teachers’ Association (ISTA) Annual Conference will take place on 12th-14th April in Gorey, Co Wexford at the Gorey Community School. So the school where we normally meet will be off limits but is being taken over by some of the best brains in the country. I have been working with Mary Mullaghy to showcase coderdojo at the conference. A mini dojo has been put together and will run at the conference. Only 12 children could attend, the opportunity was offered to coders who have been to seven sessions. Mentors and parents will be there also. I believe the python group might get a chance to see the game they all worked on compiled. I know some of you are really excited about that. Hope you get a chance to share with some curious teachers.

2. DojoCon 2013, global mentors conference is on this Saturday in Slane Castle. Four of us, Dave, Laura, Susie and myself are attending, fact finding how to make our dojo more mega for our kids and teenagers. I know some of the other mentors wanted to go to but tickets sold out fast. I'll be strongly encouraging everyone to blog about what was what at the conference from their perspective.
There will be a live tweet stream on the day and I'll be tweeting via our @Coderdojo_Gorey account. 

The exciting thing is that both of these conferences will be connecting via Gorey mini dojo over skype around lunchtime. 

NEXT dojo meeting in Gorey is 20th of April. 

If your children or teenagers are interested in attending please read FAQ's frequently asked questions. 

If you are interested in volunteer mentoring great! we are currently looking for Scratch, HTML, Python and Javascript please see mentors.

Remember Lets get Gorey coding!
Roisin Markham

CoderDojo Gorey is a volunteer led open learning initiative.

How to upload Scratch projects to scratch.mit.edu site.

Some wonderful scratch projects were created at the Spring Challenge day on Saturday last. It would be great to see some of these uploaded to scratch.ie and any other of your Scratch projects you'd like to upload. Here are the steps to upload them:

1) Create an account on Scratch here.

2) In Scratch, click on Share button.

3) Fill in your login details and tags. Please add tag 'coderdojo Gorey'. Click OK when done. 

4) Log in to the Scratch website and check out your project!

5) You can also download other projects that you like and view the code. 

Spring Challenge HTML 12+ Group

March 23rd is our Spring Challenge Coder Dojo Day. Each group is to be set a challenge and to showcase their work.

The challenge for the HTML 12+ Group is to design a Spring or Easter themed website. Get started before Saturday if you can.

It's as simple as that. Get creative and have fun!

HTML & Python Resources

For the enthusiastic coders who want to keep working at home.

HTML

HTML Lessons for the Under 12 group

HTML lessons for the 12+ group:
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5


Python

Follow the lessons on Learn Python the Hard Way

Downloads

Text Editors
Notepad++
Sublime Text

New Location & meeting time

Saturday 23rd February sees the dojo in Gorey meeting at our new base in the Gorey Community School.
Our meeting time has changed to 1.30pm.

Opportunities for our kids & teens to code:
Scratch introduction 8-12 years              >> 20 tickets

Scratch 8+ years                                    >> 20 tickets

Introduction to HTML 8-12 years          >> 20 tickets

HTML & Python 12+ years                    >> 15 tickets

We are missing 4 of our regular mentors this weekend as they have other commitments. As you can see we are still managing to offer 75 tickets. Our mentor group is growing with a commitment from some parents to upskill in Scratch and become mentors - you're fab thanks! All our mentors are amazing to volunteer their time.
Our aim is to build a panel of local mentors so not everyone has to be there every week. Are you a potential mentor? Find out more here. Perhaps you know someone who can code & would be willing to mentor occasionally or every week?

We would also like to say a big thank you to the amazing group of volunteer Mums - Susie, +Karen Draper  and +MaryClaire Culliton who are running the behind the scenes and supporting ticketing, queries, FB page, etc.
Thanks to support in the last 2 weeks from Aidan, Susie and +Dave Bolger for phone calls, form filling & meetings to sort out school access and insurance.

Next steps:

• putting the children and teens learning at the centre of the club with dojo badges and achievements
• review 1.30 starting time
• co-ordinating mentors, garda vetting and building our mentor panel
• finding sponsors

So lets get Gorey coding!
+Roisin 

No meeting on the 16th + important information

Thank you to all the kids, teens and parents for being so patient while we sourced our larger venue.  

As I am sure you are aware there is no CoderDojo this weekend (16th February), thereafter it will be held at Gorey Community School.

Due to insurance restrictions from 23rd February we can only take children over 8 years of age.  If you have children younger than 8 and you want them to attend please contact Roisin & volunteer to provide that opportunity.

Our Calendar for the next few weeks is as follows:
February 23rd – CoderDojo
March 2nd – CoderDojo
March 9th – CoderDojo
March 16th – No CoderDojo
March 23rd – CoderDojo Fun Day
March 30th & April 6th – No CoderDojo (Easter)
April 13th – CoderDojo

Again, we are offering Scratch (an easily accessible introduction to programming language and concepts) and HTML (basic programming language used to develop websites) as well as Python (another programming language) broken down as follows:
Introduction to scratch 8+
Scratch 8+
Introduction to HTML 8-12
HTML 12+
Python 13+

As you are aware CoderDojo is run on a free / voluntary basis.  Please contact us if you know anyone / company who would like to sponsor us for items such as achievement badges / certificates / t-shirts for the kids.

Invitations for the next session (23rd February) will be issued at 6pm on Tuesday 19th February.
How do you get an invitation see FAQ's.

Even if your child attended previously you must accept the Eventbrite invitation by;

a) Pressing the green “attend event” button.
b) Choosing quantity of tickets and pressing register
c) Completing all required details and pressing register again

Once you see “order complete” you know you have been issued a ticket by email. This ticket can then be presented in the form of a printout or on the Eventbrite Smartphone app.

If you get an error processing your order, please wait 5 minutes and try again.

If you have not already done so, please complete and print out the attached Parental Consent / Registration form and bring it with you.

If all tickets have been allocated you will have the option to be waitlisted. The waitlist is the only way to qualify for any tickets that may become available.  Consequently, we would appreciate if you would please let us know as soon as possible by email if you have accept a ticket and cannot attend.

We hope you enjoy your mid-term.

Regards,
CoderDojo Gorey Team 

Scratch learning materials

Some parents and children were asking for Scratch learning materials in the Scratch group on Saturday. Here is some online that you can work away with at home.

Scratch.ie - lesson plans

learnscratch.org - Learn Scratch, the graphic programming language for everyone. View the video tutorials; then create and share your own multimedia creations: art, music etc.

Scratch games - video tutorials to make racing cars, asteroids, pong, space invaders etc.

GREAT news! New location secured.

We are delighted that the Board of Management at Gorey Community School has approved our request for use of the schools facilities. Many thanks to Fintan Kemple one of the dads at the Dojo whom helped us with that. I wrote to the GSC board of management outlining CoderDojo Gorey's request for use of the school, they discussed it at their BOM meeting on 29th of January and Yes our ability to have more space and offer more tickets is solved!
However using the school is subject to two conditions:

• having insurance in place 
• staff being Garda vetted

One of the rules in the club is everything is free and open.

So our second piece of more amazing news...Aidan Clince another of the Dads has organised sponsorship for the insurance (yay for Dads at the dojo) . 

The sponsor a local business man, wants to remain anonymous. I want to publicly thank his philanthropic gesture as our children, teens and plenty of families in Gorey and North Wexford will benefit from his generosity. Lets play that one forward. Aidan and I will work on getting all the documentation required and having that in place as soon as possible.

So the second issue of Garda vetting technically we are all volunteers - mentors and background support for organisation, administration and communication. But to use the school facilities it is a criteria and having discussed it mentors and parents agree it is best practices and protects our child centered approach. That will be work in process lets see how to handle costs on that. 

So it looks like we can banish 'no ticket and waiting list' blues. 

What is being taught at the club?

Coderdojo Gorey currently offers 3 classes:

Introduction to HTML for ages 8 - 12 years

Introduction to HTML for 13+ years

Introduction to Scratch 8+

Laptops are required.

Links to the lessons here: 

Scratch.ie the first three lessons are available and the is a lot of information to get you going.

HTML will add shortly

CoderDojo Gorey up and coding

The club held its second meeting last Saturday and it went really well. It required a lot of administration and communication - the response has been overwhelming. A great group of volunteer parents has come together  to build the background organisation so the mentors can concentrate on their piece and the kids can just get on with coding!

We are releasing tickets today at 6pm for the 3rd session. 

If we don't have your email address and your children or teens are interested email us coderdojogorey [at] gmail [dot] com. Mention age groups. Right now your child, off spring or teen needs to bring a laptop to attend.

Lets get Gorey coding!

lets get Gorey coding!

CoderDojo Gorey First meeting 2013.
Photo credit Mark McGrath, Pixl9

Do you live in and around Gorey? do you have a kid, several of them or teenagers interested in learning how to code? make websites, games or apps? well you are in the right place, welcome!

Click HERE and fill out the 1 minute survey, which is a prerequisite for further information on our next meeting, 26th of January 2013.

Thanks!