Seattle Tech Guru

Happy Friday! Hour of Code with Seattle Tech Guru at NHE went well today (even with some tech issues). For some inspiration and to get your kids interested in coding, be sure to check out King County Library System. They have amazing coding books for all ages!

Today marks halfway mark for my 8 week screen free pre-k coding class at Newport Children's School. Students seen here are engaged problem solving and coding Botley robot to move from start to finish. Thanks for the partnership NCS!

A lot is being talked about in the news lately about screen time and its impact on children. Happening tomorrow in South Bellevue/Newcastle area is this timely community event put on by Hazelwood Elementary School PTA. Join if you can! Details below.

Is your child screen ready? Hazelwood Elementary PTSA, in partnership with National PTA and AT&T, is hosting a FREE family workshop on screen time and digital safety. It's open to the entire community!

📅 Thursday, April 30th | 6:00 - 7:30 PM
📍 Hazelwood Elementary Commons

Dinner provided. Must register to attend.

✅ Learn more and register: https://www.hazelwoodptsa.org/event/ready-tech-go/

family engagement night! Thank you Bellevue School District for putting on this very information event for all families yesterday. Being a computer scientist, a mom of two young kids in BSD and a small business owner who teaches kids about coding, it was lovely to see all the wonderful classes offered to students in various grades at schools across the Bellevue School District. 

Interesting perspective on screens in schools that every parent should hear…

My son’s teacher shared a story that really stuck with me. Not anti-tech—but a reminder that how kids use screens matters.

There’s a big difference between consuming and creating.

As someone who teaches coding and AI, I believe we should be guiding kids to build, not just scroll.

What are you seeing in your child’s classroom?

The teachers pushing back on screens in schools It's not just phones anymore. More teachers and even entire U.S. school districts are cutting back the time students spend on laptops and other screens. How do students really learn -- and do screens help or hurt?

Big news for Seattle Tech Guru! 💙

I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be working with Newport Children’s School to teach Pre-K students about the amazing world of computers and coding! 🤖✨

The best part?
We’ll be learning with screen-free coding robots—so kids get to move, play, and explore while building real skills!

Even in the age of AI, what parents really want for their kids is:
💡 Strong thinking skills
🧠 Problem-solving confidence
🔍 Curiosity and creativity

And that’s exactly what we’re building—starting as early as Pre-K!

I absolutely love introducing young learners to technology in a fun, hands-on way. It’s never too early to start planting the seeds for future engineers (and especially future girls in tech 💪✨).

If you know a school or program that would love something like this, send them my way!

Love our Newcastle Library! Excited to be hosting a small group session created by my friends at Code.org. This class is free, perfect for K-5 students and repeats every month. Hope to see you there!! King County Library System Shivani Saini Caplan

Thank you to the Newport Heights PTA for hosting me at last night‘s science fair. Yesterday was my first event at NHE and today I am hosting my first “Hour of AI”. So pumped!

I love building relationships with local schools and getting kids excited about computer science via coding and robotics.

Teaching an Hour of AI lesson to Max on his day off from school (it’s professional development day). He is in 1st grade and just turned 7. So proud of him for earning his first Code.org Hour of Code certificate!

Do you have a student at home who would like to do an hour of AI with me?