Girls Coding Club part 3.

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This is the 3rd post in a series on coding with girls. See Part 1 and Part 2 if you would like some background.

 Over the last few weeks I have had consistent numbers with about 15 students showing up each time.

 I have launched a website for the students so my resources are in the same place and easily accessed. kodeklubbers.weebly.com. I have now added and will continue to build the teaching resources and some information on our makerspace facilitated by Matt Richards, teaching resources and apps. These are all works in progress so check back regularly for new resources.

 Observations
The main programs the girls like are scratch and kodu. Both visual programming tools. Some of the girls are enjoying working through the learn.code.org tutorials and blockly, both scratch style programs.

 I had some boys ask to attend the club last week and not wanting to discourage them I allowed them to get a computer and sit in a separate area. It was interesting that 2 girls came to code club and then left again "because there was boys there". I have the same arrangement on Tuesdays when I run the "boys" club, girls can sit in a different area and work on their own projects as I don't want to discourage the enthusiasm they are developing.

 I would welcome any feedback on the psychology of this. Ultimately I want to merge the clubs and change them to beginners and an advanced club. The purpose of have a gender divide in my clubs was to initially provide a safe place for the girls to experiment without feeling intimidated by more experienced coders.

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