This post was written by Julia Vallera, an artist and educator working with Hive NYC on Tascasaurus and other youth-serving projects. Tascasaurus, a Hive NYC program in partnership with The After School Corporation (TASC) and MOUSE, is full steam ahead with its workshop series in New York City public schools. Newly trained after school coordinators are joining us in these workshops. Our first visits were to P.S. 89 in Brooklyn (March 30) and P.S. 206 in the Bronx (April 5). Each workshop had a slightly different set up and number of students. The variation is interesting and provides insight for future workshops. Here are some details:

To save time we did a few things before the workshop started that were very helpful:

1. Turn computers on
2. Test internet connection
3. Open Hackasaurus.org on all computers
4. Test Hackasaurus Goggles on all computers
5. Review various roles of workshop facilitators

With only one hour for each workshop we try to use time as efficiently as possible. We learn new things at every workshop and will continue to make improvements, but so far it has gone something like this:

hack : http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hacking

1. To cut or chop with repeated and irregular blows
2. To break up the surface of (soil)
3. To alter (a computer program): hacked her text editor to read HTML
4. To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization: hacked the firm’s personnel database