Well that's exciting! I recently entered some of my classroom coding work into the Interface Magazine Excellence in Teaching Awards. 

I was delighted to find out that I am one of three finalists. You can see my entry and the details of my project below...

Describe the coding activity that you want to be considered for the award?

In this learning activity, year 7 and 8 students use code to explore geometry. Using Tynker (www.tynker.com/) students enter a teacher designed code, which although meaningless on its own, will build endless variations of geometric patterns when students enter their own values.
Students explore geometric principles using the prescribed code as a base for developing geometric patterns. In doing so, they learn a lot about shapes and angles. They solve problems and learn through trial and error. They collaborate and share and they also create a beautiful piece of virtual art. You can see my instructions here:

Why did you choose to use this activity?

I had only recently introduced my class to coding and although they were enjoying some simple activities, I wanted to integrate coding into my classroom learning and teaching programmes. I also wanted to move away from prescriptive coding activities and help the students to use code as a way of exploring and embedding their learning. Our current maths topic – ‘Measurement and Geometry’ enabled this perfectly.

How did you implement and use it?

I shared this document with my students and left them to explore.

They were totally engaged. Although I did not really consider it to be a collaborative activity, I soon noticed that the children were sharing, discussing, helping each other and problem solving together. I found that my maths lessons had to be extended as students were reluctant to stop coding.

What outcomes has it achieved for you and your class?
The students were very motivated by this activity, engagement levels were high. Students have been able to create some beautiful pieces of virtual art. Many of them are very proud of their work. In producing their art, they learnt a lot about code and about geometry. You can see some examples of the learning and my own effort by clicking the links below:
Aimee's Geometric Shapes
Jacob's 'IDK' Coding
Cool Shapes by Nia
My Geometric Design

Please take a few minutes to take a look at the rest of the competition and all the catagories. You can see the details here. 

First Attempt in Code

Some of my students and I were lucky enough to attend a code club workshop recently.

When I've tried coding activities before, I've never got far before deciding "too hard," or "too boring," so I wasn't particularly optimistic that it would be a great day of learning for me.

I was wrong. I'd heard about Scratch and I knew that students sometimes played about with it. I even knew that it was something to do with putting blocks together to create code. However I'd never seen any really good quality learning presentations produced with it. It wasn't until I started using some of the prescribed learning materials to build a little presentation and then a game myself,  that I began to see the benefits and possibilities.

Scratch is commonly used as an introduction to coding, it uses blocks of code which are snapped together to create an effect. Although the characters, (sprites) backgrounds and effects are all provided, the possibilities are endless.

I think the best way to start is to follow some of the instructions in the 'starter projects'  to make a something and then use the skills learnt to adapt and create on your own. That's what I did to create the little 'Gone Fishing'  game which you can see in the post below.  Please have a go and let me know your high score in the comments. I'd love some feedback.

Code Club provides support for teachers and lots of additional activities for running a code club yourself. No experience necessary just a positive mindset for lots of hands on problem solving and learning. I'm looking forward to getting started.

If you'd like to explore further options for learning how to code, I put together some link on my class google site which you can view here.  Enjoy.