Week 1 — Skills Survey¶
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Friday Coding — Tell Me About You¶
Name (optional): Grade:
1. Circle the one that sounds most like you:
🐣 I'm brand new to this
🙂 I've done some coding and it went OK
😎 I'm comfortable — give me hard stuff
2. Have you ever used any of these? Circle all that apply.
Scratch · code.org · Minecraft · Roblox Studio
Python · JavaScript · HTML · None of these
3. If you could build ONE thing this year, what would it be?
4. When you get stuck, what do you usually do?
Keep trying · Ask someone · Look it up · Give up · Depends
5. Do you prefer working…
Alone · With a partner · Either is fine
6. One thing you're curious about — about computers, AI, games, anything:
How to use the results¶
Print 2-up or 4-up on a page and cut, or just have students write answers on an index card. Two minutes, no more. Names are optional — but tell them a name helps you pair them with someone good next week.
Sort the cards into three piles the same evening. It takes ten minutes and sets up the whole first quarter.
| What you're looking for | What to do with it |
|---|---|
| 😎 self-rated, older | Your Week 2 peer helpers. Pair each with a 🐣, not with each other. |
| 🐣 self-rated, younger | Pair with a patient 😎 — not necessarily the most skilled one. Patience beats skill in a cross-age pair. |
| "Give up" on Q4 | Check in with these students personally in Weeks 2–3. This is the single most useful answer on the card. |
| "Alone" on Q5 | Don't force a pair immediately. Give them a solo Week 2, then pair in Week 3 once they're comfortable. |
| Q3 build ideas | Goldmine. Reference these by name in later weeks: "Marcus, this is the loop you'd need for that racing game." Nothing builds buy-in faster. |
| Q6 curiosities | Use these to pick which optional AI topics to emphasize in Unit 2. |
Keep these cards
Put a rubber band around them and keep them in your bag all year. In February, when a student says "I've never been good at this," you can pull out their August card and show them what they wrote. That moment is worth the ten minutes of sorting.