One of my goals for this course was to create projects that I could genuinely see myself using in my own classroom. Rather than viewing creative computing as a separate subject, I wanted to find meaningful ways to integrate it into the content I already teach. Soundtrack My Story became an example of that thinking.
In this lesson, students compose music to accompany a piece of their own writing using Sonic Pi. Rather than simply writing their story, students consider how the music can communicate various moods, emotions, alter the pacing, and capture the essence of important events. The soundtrack becomes another way for students to not only express meaning but enhance their writing through creative computing.
This project also reinforced one of the biggest ideas I took away from the course: technology is most powerful when students are creating rather than consuming. Students are not following a tutorial to reproduce the same product. Instead, they are making creative decisions, experimenting with code, revising their work, and producing something that is uniquely their own.
To support this lesson, I also created a companion resource using NotebookLM. The interactive slides help introduce the activity, organize student thinking, and provide guidance throughout the creative process. Using an AI-supported tool in this way helps reinforce my opinion that artificial intelligence can be used thoughtfully to support instruction without replacing student creativity.
Looking back, this lesson captures an important shift in my own thinking. Initially, I was learning how to use creative computing tools. Now, I am designing authentic learning experiences that connected coding with literacy, creativity, and student voice. It is a lesson I would be excited to continue refining and eventually implement with my own students.
Alexis Flandes 
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