Superior North Catholic District School Board educators, Lena Stahl and Sarah Clowes were recipients of a Coding Connections Grant from Ontario Teachers Federation. The grant funds are being used to support educators implement coding into their classrooms. The project goals include exploring the new Ontario 1-8 mathematics curriculum expectations - emphasizing the Coding Skills. The project will enhance student understanding of mathematical ideas through coding in Lynx and see cross-strand curriculum connections, as well as connections to the mathematical processes and social-emotional learning strand.

Students at St. Hilary Catholic School learning Lynx coding primitives and exploring the coding platform.

The project includes 13 educators, 10 classrooms and 1 expert - Lisa Ann Floyd is the expert coding educator facilitating and supporting SNCDSB educators and students through four virtual learning sessions. Lisa Ann Floyd is an advocate for introducing students and teachers to the world of coding. She loves to share her passion for creative coding and digital making tools with students and teachers at school districts and educational conferences. She is a Ph.D. student at Western University, focusing on K-12 Teacher Education and professional learning related to Computational Thinking, Mathematics Education and Coding. She has a Masters in Professional Education (MPEd) in the field of Mathematics Education. She also holds an Honours Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree from Western as well as a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree from the University of Toronto. She has taught Computational Thinking in Mathematics and Science Education in Western's Bachelor of Education program for four years, receiving the 2016 and 2019 Award for Excellence in Teaching in an undergraduate program.

The first virtual learning experience will be on November 19, the second December 10 and two sessions in the new year. Canada Learning Code Week is December 1 - 11th, 2020. Students will celebrate the event through the Lynx coding project. Not only does coding support students' perseverance, problem-solving and critical thinking skills as well as debugging skills, it can help enhance understanding of mathematics ideas. Students will have the opportunity to create a program, art piece or game. Coding empowers students to be creators rather than consumers of technology content.