Finishing what I started

I'm not one for resolutions, but the new year is a great reminder of fresh starts and new achievements. With that in mind, I read an article shared by +Kelly Kermode about the 16 goals you should set for yourself in 2016. Many rang true for me, but there was one I felt inspired to complete: finish what you've started. Finish all of the art projects, the books, the recipes, etc. that you've started.

I'm taking this same idea to the classroom and to my personal life. In the classroom, I plan on finishing and following through on all (okay - realistically, some) of the ideas that inspired me.

In my personal life, I'm starting by putting life into my art business. It's been a long dream of mine to do art on the side, but I never put the effort into it to make it a reality.

So, today, I'm launching the beginnings of Fenneworks, my recycled art business, with custom children's shoes.

Check it out and share it with any interested! And, make 2016 year of completion!

Learn to code all year!

Like others in my circle, I promote learning to code heavily. However, I don't always practice what I preach. So, I'm devoting 2016 to the year of maker and the year of code. I'm going to pick a language and complete at least one course from Codeacademy. 

In the meantime, I've organized some of my favorite resources to engage students in computer science. 

Today's new addition is the Chrome App, Koding. Check it out! It has a very clean interface and is geared toward developers and advanced users. 

Check out fennovation.org for more STEAM resources! 

Learn to Problem Solve with Code

Resources by Christy Fennewald

Applications, Games & Products

Learning & Teaching (How Tos and more)

Outreach

Articles

Applications, Games & Products

All Ages

• SXSWedu Gaming Activities
• Globaloria
• Programming Apps
• Zondle
• AppShed
• SparkFun
• Lure of the Labyrinth
• Playful Learning
• Chrome Cube Lab
• Girl Scouts Game Maker (for Girls)

Elementary

• Tynker
• Scratch
• Blender
• Play From Scratch
• Lightbot
• Bitsbox

Middle School

• Tynker
• Scratch
• Blender
• Extensionizr (code platform for extensions)
• Grok Learning
• Bitsbox

High School and beyond

• Cube20
• GameSalad
• Sublime Text
• Google Dev Art
• Mozilla App Maker
• Mozilla Web Maker
• Koding Chrome App

Learning & Teaching (How Tos and more)

All Ages

• Globaloria
• LevelUp! Scholastic
• Gamestar Mechanic
• Codeacademy
• Instructables
• Code.org
• Venture Lab
• Edutopia Game-based Ideas
• Minecraft Recipes
• Google Made with Code (for girls)
• Google CS First
• Computer Clubhouse
• Grok Learning
• Thinkersmith
• Microsoft Research

Elementary

• Scratch Games
• Scratch Cards
• Scratch Day
• BBC Coding Television Shows
• CodeSpark
• Kodable
• Hopscotch
• Bitsbox
• The Foos
• CargoBot
• Run Marco (Google Play, iTunes, Chrome Web Store)

Middle School

• Scratch Games
• Scratch Day
• Bitsbox
• Code Combat (MS & HS)
• Doctor Who (MS & HS) Free in iTunes

High School

• Code School
• Google’s Python Class
• Apps for Aptitude (Fight coding illiteracy)
• Udacity (from Stanford)
• Stack Overflow
• Code Wars
• Coding Bat
• W3Schools
• Mozilla Developer Network
• Team Treehouse
• Code HS
• Khan Academy
• Code Avengers
• Robomind Academy
• Quorum
• Code Fights
• Udacity
• General Assembly
• Dash for HTML

Outreach

All Ages

• Engineer Your World
• The Hour of Code
• Code Day
• UTeach Outreach
• National Robotics Week
• Google’s Maker Camp
• Google Made with Code (for girls)
• Coder Dojo Club
• Google Code-In (event)
• Code Club World
• Tynker After-school Coding Club

Elementary

• MakerKids
• Thinkery Programs and Camps

Middle School

• MakerKids

High School

• Google DevArt
• Google Computer Science Course for HS
• Apps for Apptitude
• Make School

Girls-only

• Girls Who Code Clubs
• Black Girls Code
• Girl Develop It
• Texas Girls Collaborative Project
• So She Did
• UT - WEP
• Girl Start (Austin, TX - based)
• Made With Code
• SciGirls (younger girls)
• Dot Diva
• Engineer Your Life (Engineering for HS Girls)
• Project Girls Competition
• Tech Girls
• She ++
• Roominate
• Girls Pushing Girls to Code

Articles

• Hacking School
• St. Hacktrick’s Day
• Google Entangles Minecraft and Quantum Physics
• Turning your school into a Maker Haven

Google Apps Hacked - creating documents from your bookmarks

It's a new year and time for new hacks to keep you up on your Google game. Whether your new or old to the game, I hope you will find some hacks that will improve your Googleness.

Today's featured "hack" is using bookmarks to easily create new Google Docs, Drawings, Sheets, and more. This is perfect for those in your life who want fewer clicks!

Check out fennovation.org for more Google goodness and the Google Apps Hacked presentation! Enjoy!