The next computer genius?

Remember that show “Are you Smarter than a Fifth-Grader?”
The author of this story certainly does, and he’s also quite happy that he was never on it because last week, he realized he’s not even smarter than a fourth-grader. Not. Even. Close.
His lesson came Wednesday when New Hampton Elementary School fourth-graders took part in a worldwide program called “The Hour of Code,” which was started several years ago as a way to give students a chance to explore computer science.
“It’s really fun,” said Brooklyn McShane, as she worked on writing computer code on her iPad. “You should try it. It’s really not that hard.”
She walked the reporter through her progress, confidently telling him what she was doing, and his one thought?
This is Greek.
As McShane worked in Kimberly Wedeking’s classroom, Weston Praska sat at a desk in Lynette Schwickerath’s room, pondering a problem with the code he was writing.
“It’s kind of a challenge,” he said, “but this is way cool, way better than some of the other stuff in school.”
So what happens if your code doesn’t work?
“You have to try again,” Praska said. “You just have to kind of think it through and you’ll get it.”
The good news for the reporter is that he wasn’t alone.

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“We’re learning right along with them,” Schwickerath said, “and the kids, sometimes, they become the teachers.”
 
For more of this article, see Friday's Tribune.