Quoted from http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001188.html:
Coding Horror: We Are Typists First, Programmers Second
Coding is just typing.
He’s right. First, at one point in my life, I typed over 150 words a minute and was even faster at 10 key. Why? Because I wanted to know what my program was going to do. I’ve have lovely ideas, but I couldn’t see them come to fruitation until I got them entered. I was also extremely accurate because we were doing punch cards.
Worse, yet, I’ve often described my programming classes as a really bizarre typing class. It takes a LONG time for students to get programming and start writing their own programs. Its’ more than just typing though, they have to read and follow the directions and let me tell you 9th graders are horrible at it.
By the way, I just got a lovely email telling me my passing rate is over 20% and I have to fill out a ton of paperwork. Sadly, I let a lot of kids get by because a) they were trying things, and b) it cuts down the paperwork.