Ysabella Puts Her Heart Into Everything She Does!

Ten-year-old Ysabella has only been using Tynker for two months, but she has already created fantastic projects! She’s in 4th grade and enjoys playing piano and flute, especially classical and Christmas songs. She writes and sings her own compositions, and even sent us an amazing video of one of her original songs!

According to her teacher Ms. Sizemore, Ysabella is a truly unique student who “learns quickly, is an excellent analytical and critical thinker, picks up things very quickly, and isn’t afraid to try a new challenge!” Our favorite quote about Ysabella from Ms. Sizemore? “She’s not afraid to fail – but she doesn’t fail often.” What a fantastic character trait! Read on to learn more about Ysabella and her incredible projects.

What do you want to be when you grow up? My teacher told me that a lot of girls are needed in the technological world, so I think I’d like to do something like that.

What’s your favorite subject in school? I don’t have a favorite! I love science and reading, but also math.

How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? Well, it was late at night during Thanksgiving break. It just popped up, and I thought “Hmm, I should read this!” I was so excited – Mom was there sitting on my bed, and we screamed because we were so excited!

How did you get introduced to Tynker? I had just gotten moved to advanced math, and the teacher told us that after we finished we could do Tynker. I raised my hand and asked, “What is Tynker?” Now, I’ve been using it for 2 months, since the fall.

How did you learn how to use Tynker? By dragging the blocks to the help to see what they do. I’m a person who likes to figure out how to do things; I’m self-taught. I did do a couple tutorials though – one of my projects is based on one!

How do creativity and coding fit together for you? I think you need imagination to know what your program will turn out to become. Creativity is important in coding because plans for the project are needed.

Why do you like to code? I think coding is fun because of the endless possibilities. You can make something totally random into a programmed masterpiece! Turning nothing into a unique and special idea is spectacular, and coding applies to this.

How do you get inspiration for your projects? I like to look at the community and see what they are making! Sometimes I see projects that are really buggy, so I like to try to remake them – but make them better. For the project that was featured, I was inspired by my Corgi, so I basically made it like him but changed the color!

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? The one that was featured!

My Pet Puppy – see more of Ysabella’s projects here

What are you planning to make next? I’m in the middle of a project right now that’s a basketball game! I saw one on the Tynker community but it was really glitchy, so I want to make it better.

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I publish it! First I run it a couple times, especially if the code is really complicated. Then I debug along the way!

What’s your favorite feature in Tynker? I really like the artistic freedom. You don’t have to do a set activity and you can make whatever you want!

Do you ever Tynker with your friends? Yes, in fact I have a friend who asked to make a project together! I told people that I was being featured and everyone freaked out!

Create-a-cupcake!

Do you think other kids should try coding? Yes! With the way the future is headed, with mobile technology and computers, it would really help them to know how it all works.

What advice would you give for kids starting out with Tynker? Explore all the blocks and figure out what they do! Try some tutorials and just teach yourself. I was once a beginner too! (By once, I mean two months ago.)

Dinah, Ysabella’s mom, is “so, so happy and very proud,” that Ysabella is learning to code! She doesn’t have any computer science experience herself, but is thrilled that Ysabella is excelling with Tynker and learning to code. “I know nothing about coding,” she said. “She has been teaching me!”

Just because Dinah doesn’t know how to code doesn’t mean she doesn’t recognize all the benefits of coding. According to Dinah, “It’s very important! She will be ahead for the future!” She went on, saying, “Ysabella taught me that coding is full of advanced math, which I didn’t know at all! So, it helps her with her math skills.”

We also spoke with Ms. Sizemore, Ysabella’s math teacher and an incredible educator. She not only teaches a 4th and 5th grade combined math class in which she teaches two math curriculum in one year, but she also squeezes in coding in between worksheets and lessons.

When we asked how she’s been using Tynker in her classroom, she told us, “I’ve been assigning them lessons to do on the side. I’m still figuring out how to make it work and the kids are still figuring out how to make it work, but they love it! They absolutely adore it.”

Her students (Ysabella included, of course!) are “getting more able to identify step one, step two, step three, to move forward in making whatever their animated piece is. They’re developing a stronger sense of what it means to have set steps for an algorithm, so that they can apply that as we talk in mathematical terms.”

Ms. Sizemore showed her students block-based coding in Tynker and encouraged them to try shifting to JavaScript if they’d like, although it wasn’t required. “Of course Ysabella took on the challenge – which I’m not surprised by. Ysabella is the only one who’s attempted to do anything with JavaScript. Ysabella is just one of those unique, outstanding, gifted individuals, so she’s going to do everything 10x above what it should be. She’s just that sort of person.”

She then told us about Ysabella’s outstanding talent, saying, “She is just one of those kids that, if you give her a challenge, she’s going to take anything that you give her and soak it in.” We weren’t surprised to hear that Ysabella is extremely resilient! “She’s also very willing to, if she makes a mistake, go back and say, ‘Whoops, I made a mistake. What did I learn?’ She’s got a very growth-mindset sort of attitude, so that’s really beneficial to her.”

Thank you for your insights, Dinah, Ysabella, and Ms. Sizemore! We loved getting to know you a bit, Ysabella, and can’t wait to see what else you come up with in Tynker. Happy coding!