Its Logical

So we are wrapping up conditionals in the CS Principles course. We have come so far this year, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Part of me cant believe how much we have covered, and part of me wishes there was more time. I suppose something always gets cut.

Anyway, my goal this unit is to teach simple if thens, throw in some Boolean conditionals and relate all this to digital circuitry ala logic gates. Our final project for the unit will connect this to the Simulation part of the Abstraction Big Idea.

No small task.

For now I am stuck with C++, we have an existing curriculum I am doing the pilot in this class, so I have to get the students through arrays in C++. No wiggle room there. I am ambivalent about C++, it is a great language and I love working in it, but it is not the best vehicle for teaching good programming. It is fiddly to say the least.

On the other hand- BYOB Scratch is a great teaching tool. My original approach this year was to do Scratch first, then transition to C++. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

About two weeks back we were having a hard time getting though the classic leap year problem. I have taught this for years, and typically some kids get it right away, and some kids never fully get it. I had one of those "well, duh" moments, and we switched over to scratch. Within 10 minutes every student had a working leap year tester, could explain why it worked, and could explain how to choose good test data for this problem. We then went back to C++ and used the Scratch visual to build our C++ solution. Amazing!

So this will be my approach next year. Scratch as a prototyping language for C++ rather than two distinct topics. This will let us hit the coding about 6 weeks earlier next year, and if the last two weeks give any indication they should grasp the C++, and the underlying concepts, much faster.

Read More..

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?

Read More..

And the Pig Had My Clothes In Its Mouth

Things overheard in the lab today - all good stories should end this way.

1) You know you teach at a rural school when...I also get offered live chickens and produce, so it is pretty good overall.
2) I both do and dont want to know the rest of this story. And no, I didnt ask. I used my super power, the teacher glare, we were all left hanging.
3) For the love of all that is holy this year needs to end.

Yup, we are still in school. It seems like every other teacher I know is out for summer break now. Pictures on Facebook of fabulous travels. And of course all the best people are at the APCS Reading this week.

And here I am trying to make teenagers learn, which according to all the people I spend my day with - specifically those between 14 and 18 - is completely unreasonable. Their brains are full, and it is sunny, so really I am mean. And nasty.

The funny part in between all of the grumbling they are actually working pretty hard. Except maybe the pig kid.

My intro classes are doing Codeacademy for their final project - make a web page about anything you want. Except pigs.

The AP kids are finishing up their final projects - thus the inside out computer project. The APCS Principles kids are finishing up the programming portfolio, so all in all some good stuff is happening.

And this is why I teach. Most days are pretty good, if not downright hilarious, and sometimes despite ourselves some information gets planted in their heads.

Nine days left people. Not that I am counting.

Read More..