Valerie Sousa is a Kindergarten Teacher from Western Massachusetts. She has been teaching for 12 years and loves to incorporate new and innovative ideas into her classroom. She is the author of the book “Coding to Kindness” through EduMatch Publishing. This book was inspired by her students and her journey as she began coding in the classroom.

 

In today’s episode, Valerie teaches us that teaching students to code young can also help them build community and SEL skills. She shows us how to start kids off with the “building blocks” of coding, and explains how teaching the logic of coding early can help with foundational skills. 

 

Time Stamps

1:59 How Valerie’s coding and kinder journey began

4:35 Basic building blocks for coding

6:57 Coding is a collaborative task! 

8:50 Benefits of learning to code young

10:01 The SEL side of coding

10:28 What makes a community? 

13:44 How do SEL and coding come together in the classroom? 

14:30 What inspired Valerie to write Coding for Kindness

14:50 Teaching kids to be part of a community

16:13 Women in STEM! 

17:37 An interactive book

20:46 Guided questions and background history! 

22:07 What thing would Valerie give to every teacher in the U.S.?

23:22 Remembering the things that you’ve done over the year 

 

Resources

• Valerie’s Website
• Brian Aspinall
• Robot mouse activity set
• Botley the coding robot