Vocab quiz 8 Word it puzzles

Today we are going to review for the vocab quiz (as normal) at the beginning of the hour.  I do have 2 more things I want to cover regarding the vocab list so Ill talk about those at the beginning of the hour.  When I am done youll then have time to look over the definitions.

Once you are done with the quiz you should complete any missing assignments that you have not yet turned in.  This is the second day in a row that you have had class time to complete missing assignments, which is really more than I should be giving you.  Please use this time appropriately.

If you are all caught up with assignments I have a handout of Word-it puzzles that you can work on (nothing for a grade - just for fun).

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Its the end of the year as we know it and I feel fine

Fourteen days left...not that anyone here is counting.
The end of the year is always bittersweet. Summer - positive. Goodbyes - negative.
I teach many of my computer science kids for all four years they are in high school. They are going on to great things, but I still miss them.

So this isnt exactly computer science, but it is definitely teaching. And I could use a dose of inspirational.
In the past month I have tried to explain the whole Dave - Eggers/education thing to at least five people. Heres a summary:

• Ted Talk - while I am not a writing teacher, per se, this is exactly what I am trying to create in the lab. I watch this several times a year, always good for inspiration.
•  Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of Americas Teachers - I have not (yet) read this. Seriously folks, it is the end of the school year. If I make it to the end of the day without getting caught in a food fight I am doing really good. It is on my summer catch up list, promise.
• The documentary - Heres an NPR story about the documentary AMERICAN TEACHER. As a computer science teacher one of my grumbles is, well, other teachers grumbles. When they complain about lack of planning time I try to remain calm - most other subjects have age-appropriate books with worksheets and practice problems. Over my 15 years of teaching computer science I have probably written five or six textbooks. Notes, worksheets, projects, the whole thing. These things are in short supply for computer science teachers.
  
  One of the main points of his work here is the amount of money spent on textbooks, $8 billion. Now I do not mind developing materials for my classes, curriculum work is actually part of what I enjoy most about teaching. It is just sad that out of that huge total the computer science teaching community is so under supplied.

So here it is - a little reminder of why we do what we do. Something to get you over the hump until summer. Just curious, where do you find inspiration?

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HTML is not programming so why teach it

So in talking to parents and guidance counselors I occasionally get asked if a kid can jump ahead and take one of our upper lever computer science classes. My first question is always "have they programmed?" Yes, I know, programming is not the end all and be all of computer science, but for a student that wants to take the current AP Computer Science course they need to be able to code.

Sadly the answer I most often get is "yes, they know HTML". Sigh.

For the CS Principles pilot this last year my second unit was The Internet Unplugged.  We covered both the hardware side along with how to actually make a web site. Yes, I taught HTML and CSS.

So the question is - why cover HTML at all?

One of the core themes of the CS Principles course is broadening participation. So many students have had exposure to HTML, and they all use web sites. This is the interface they use to get at the information on the web. It is an immediate way to show abstraction in action.

Plus, as we transitioned to coding students were already used to the idea that formatting and exact punctuation matters. This let us focus on the tools of programming, like ifs and loops.

And of course, CS Principles is not all about programming. The Internet is one of the seven core principles, equal to programming.

So this summer I am reviewing what we did in CS Principles last year. Honestly this was one of the better units we covered. It tied into all of the big ideas and was something we referred back to the rest of the year.

On the other hand I am not crazy about how I taught HTML. It was a bit dry - too much lecture and we got a bit bogged down. Id like to reduce this to just 4 days.

Next year I plan on trying Thimble. This is offered by Mozilla and lets you type in the HTML interactively and see what happens immediately. It also points out errors right away.

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What it Takes to Make a Computer Science Teacher

Ive had this conversation 5 or 6 times over the last few months. Always with teachers, always centered around respect.

And mostly about computer science education.

So Im going to go ahead and put this in writing. A good teacher can teach computer science. Not every computer scientist can teach.

Im not just pulling this from thin air. For the last 5 years Ive been deeply embedded in the process of training new computer science teachers. I ran a program of 30 new AP Computer Science programs across Virginia. Some teachers had programmed, some had not.

I also have a decade of experience running extracurricular programs in computer science. Weve had some wonderful and knowledgeable volunteers.

I trained math and history teachers, business teachers, turfgrass teachers. And yes, turfgrasses a real subject.

So what does it take to make a good computer science teacher?

First and foremost is command of the classroom. Someone who can get kids engaged in great learning activities. Teaching is an art, one that has to be developed just like any other skill set.

But we cant stop there. Too many teachers have been thrown into computer science class rooms without the base knowledge they need in order to teach the subject.

This sets the teacher and students up for frustration and ultimately, failure. Its not that experienced teacher cant do computer science, its that they dont know computer science.

Computer science is the only high school subject I know of where we take people who have never even taken a class in the subject and say to you gotta go teach this. Can you imagine a calculus or physics, or art teacher that had never taken the subject at college?

And in an era where are professional evaluations are very closely tied to student test scores, its a wonder anybody would take that risk.

So what does it take to be a good computer science teacher?

The bottom line is content. With a good classroom teacher and solid curriculum you create a situation where a teacher can succeed, which is the base of all student success.

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Vocab Quiz 8 finish missing work Word It puzzles

Youll be given a few minutes to review before we take the vocab quiz...use it wisely!

Once you complete the vocab quiz you have several options:

1. complete FA11 and send it to me via email
2. complete any missing work - if you need to go to Skyward to check to see whats missing thats fine, but do so quickly; I will be reading off everyone who has submitted old assignments (FA 9, 10 and 11) so you know if those have been received
3. if you dont have any missing work I have some Word It puzzles that you can do for fun; you may work on these with a partner if you wish, but there will only be groups of 2; Ill give you the answers after youve had time to work on them for a while
4. if youd rather go to the practice websites that is perfectly ok...but you must have your speed skin on your keyboard!

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