I did some things at CSTA2020. If you attended any of my sessions: thank youuuuuuuu!! and hope it was worthwhile. If you couldn't make it, but are a CSTA+ member, you can watch the sessions when they're released online. What follows below are some additional resources and shoutouts. Session: Git & GitHub in 3 Lessons... Continue Reading →
Translating An In-Class Activity to a Virtual Activity
I recently tried to translate an in-class worksheet-based activity to a virtual activity and I thought I'd share how that went. I'm currently participating in a CSAwesome Professional Development cohort and, as part of the PD, I worked with a few other teachers to teach a lesson to the other members of the cohort. I... Continue Reading →
End-Of-Year Retrospective
I just finished my third year of teaching AP CS Principles. Each year I give a survey at the end of the year asking lots of questions about how things went. The results are best summarized by the amazing Justin Aion on twitter: https://twitter.com/MrATeachesMath/status/1133728533245779968 I've taken a once-over look at the results. Now I want... Continue Reading →
Student-Centered Discussions in a CS Classroom
I've been iterating on a process to run student-centered discussions about code in my Computer Science classes. After a while I started recording them - you can listen to most of them here. I've gotten to the point where I like what's happening and want to write about it before I forget how I got... Continue Reading →
Shark Tank: An Explore PT Practice Task
For the third year in a row, I've done a Shark Tank project with my AP CS Principles classes as their Semester 1 final exam. After 3 years of messing around with it, it feels worthwhile enough to share out. The genesis for this project came from the AP CS Principles Explore Performance Task. When... Continue Reading →
Concept Map Gallery Walk – Internet Version
My AP Computer Science Principles class is finishing up our first unit on how the Internet works. For the last few years I've usually ended this unit with a homework assignment that helps them prepare for a test. But this year I've been trying to assign less homework and instead find ways to work those... Continue Reading →
New Teaching Strategies
I'm wrapping up a summer full of PD with lots of ideas in my head. Here's a list of new teaching strategies (in no particular order) I plan to implement this year based on what I've been looking into: Call & Response Source: AVID & Microsoft TEALSÂ at CSTA2018 As I've drifted between different pedagogy resources... Continue Reading →
Organizing Supplies in a Computer Lab
I teach in in a computer lab with some spacing issues - 32 computers organized into pretty close quarters. Here are a few pictures of my room both with and without students: (Side note: these are from very early in the school year - I've since decorated my walls with posters. Just wanted to throw... Continue Reading →
Logic Gates With Posters & Post-Its
One of the more isolated standards in the AP Computer Science Principles framework is 2.2.3F: A Logic Gate is a hardware abstraction that is modeled with a Boolean function. I find it super tricky to find a place in the curriculum to teach this without it feeling like a diversion from whatever unit or topic... Continue Reading →
Data Science Part 4 – Tutoring Center Data
Previously: Why I Go All In with Data Science Data Science Part 1 - Gapminder Data Science Part 2ish - The Netflix Prize Data Science Part 3 - Marketing Profiles At this point in the unit, my goal is to create real-world, authentic experiences for students that also promote their writing skills in preparation for... Continue Reading →