Why not try a little coding this week?

The Hour of Code is upon us, so I thought that I would give it a try...and it was fun! Who knew that the coding that I learned in elementary school on a large cumbersome box of a computer is still applicable today.  I remember using 1s and 0s to get that little turtle to get to the other side of the screen, and that feeling of success is what the Hour of Code is all about.  Next week is Computer Science Education Week, and the reality is that we need to teach kids to code, so that they can learn to think.  Computers are so easy today, that no one thinks when they use them.  If we don't teach students to code, they will never understand how those apps are working, and therefore, they will never wonder about how to make a better app.    I don't have to know how a combustion engine works to drive a car, but I do need to understand it in order to develop a better, more efficient engine.  We inspire creativity by teaching how something works.