A little over a year ago I was chatting with a technology professor at the “Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos” Institute in Leganés (Madrid). This teacher told me that he had two students, the typical rolling stones. You know, bad students, repeaters, cannon fodder for school failure.

Until something happened.

And that something was the technology classes.

These two guys fit in with their teacher and their teacher with them and began working together at recesses with programming projects and Arduino. They even ordered their own pieces from China. Little by little they began to do things that were very cool.
They improved their self-esteem.

They learned that even though they weren’t as good at school as others, there were other things they were good at.
They learned to overcome the frustration that something did not come out the first time and learned the value of perseverance to get results.

They trained the logical mind and learned to plan their work.

They learned to work as a team.

They enjoyed the illusion.

They discovered what it’s like to be proud of your accomplishments. And they learned that the greater the challenge, the greater the pride.

And, it is not clear how, his grades began to improve. A matter of self-esteem? Discipline? Impossible to know.

They also discovered that they wanted to continue studying. They both wanted to be engineers. And they succeeded.

One of them must have already finished Electronic Engineering at the Juan Carlos I University of Leganés. I remember that detail because it is just the same career and the same university where my son is studying.

Without a doubt, studying programming changed their lives for those two boys.

How many children who are not good students could also change their lives by teaching them programming? What do you think?

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