So I have tried and tried to get my head around Scratch and I have come to the conclusion that it is just not for me. That’s not to say it isn’t a great resource to use in the classroom, I know that many children use it with ease. I’m afraid that my 27 year old brain is simply stuck in the days of Windows 97, paint and MSN messenger – safe to say that for now, I have put Scratch to one side. SO I had a go at a different coding tool called Daisy the Dinosaur. This is kind of embarrassing…I think it’s geared towards KS1 but nevertheless I got the hang of it and am now an official coder! This program really is so simple to use. I began using ‘free mode’ where you are able to just have a play around with the different commands and explore the site. Once I felt confident I moved up a gear and took on the ‘challenge mode’. This involved helping Daisy overcome challenges such as moving around obstacles. I would definitely use this with a KS1 class and who knows…maybe the Ks2’ers can teach me a thing or two using Scratch one day.
