acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Blogroll


bg-corner

Reflecting on #CSTA2018
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Reflecting on #CSTA2018

I feel like I have really fallen behind on reporting on the CSTA Conference in Omaha. Part of the problem is being a bit overwhelmed. Usually I write blog posts...

Computer Science Teachers Association announces CSTA+
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Computer Science Teachers Association announces CSTA+

One of the big announcements at CSTA today was a new premium level of membership in CSTA. There is and will continue to be a free membership. This new premium membership...

Pictures From #CSTA2018
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Pictures From #CSTA2018

Before I get into some pictures of the exhibit hall et me tell you that there are a lot of people here. This was lunch on Sunday.Arkansas is in the house. A large...

And it begins–#CSTA2018
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

And it begins–#CSTA2018

Yesterday opened the CSTA Conference with afternoon workshops. And there was a nice reception put on by Google. For me it was a travel day and a getting settled...

Thoughts Before #CSTA2018
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Thoughts Before #CSTA2018

My bags are packed. Normally I pack the night before a trip but my suitcase has been packed for days for my trip to the annual CSTA Conference. I even got a haircut...

Teach Me How to Teach NOT What to Teach
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Teach Me How to Teach NOT What to Teach

Today is the last day of ISTE and I’m not there. I am following a lot of conversation from there on Twitter though. One thing that is coming up is that a lot of...

Facial Recognition, Augmented Reality, and Teaching
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Facial Recognition, Augmented Reality, and Teaching

Summer is a time of reflection and learning for me. I really want to be a better teacher and summer give me a chance to read more and to think more. This week I...

Autonomy, Motivation, and Teaching Computer Science
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Autonomy, Motivation, and Teaching Computer Science

Of the several courses I teach, my favorite course is call Honors Programming. Its a one semester course that is the first real programing course for my students...

Congressional App Challenge 2018
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Congressional App Challenge 2018

One of my students won for her district last year. She found it a very valuable experience. I highly support this challenge. Share it with high school students...

Reflections on Programming and Teaching
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Reflections on Programming and Teaching

Mark Guzdial has an interesting post called Reflections of a CS Professor and an End-User Programmer in which he compares end-user programming and professional...

School Year is Over, Time to Get Ready for Next Year
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

School Year is Over, Time to Get Ready for Next Year

It is teacher wrap up day at Bishop Guertin. The warning bell for homeroom just rang but of course the students were done on Friday so there are no students coming...

Thoughts on Textbooks in Progress
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Thoughts on Textbooks in Progress

My first published book, Microsoft Visual Basic FUNdamentals, came out 18 years ago. It was for Visual Basic version 6 and what I did was to take what and how I...

Computer Science Teacher as Unicorn
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Computer Science Teacher as Unicorn

The t-shirt image here showed up on my Facebook feed the other day.  My first thought was “Yes, computer teachers are the coolest.” Of course I know a lot of teachers...

Looking Back At APCS Principles–My First Year
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Looking Back At APCS Principles–My First Year

During a conversation with my dean, he said it takes about three years to really get teaching an Advanced Placement course down pat. I don't know if that is the...

Programming Projects–The good, the bad, and the ugly
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Programming Projects–The good, the bad, and the ugly

End of the semester project time for me. All of my programming students have been finishing up[ their self-selected projects and I have been grading. It’s always...

Micro:Bits and Teaching Networking
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Micro:Bits and Teaching Networking

This year i taught advanced Placement Computer Science Principles with a mix of high school juniors and seniors. Because of the schedule I had the juniors for several...

Assumptions, Misunderstandings, and Programming Decisions
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Assumptions, Misunderstandings, and Programming Decisions

My beginning students have big problems with writing decision statements. Boolean expressions are a real problem. Most of the time it is because they expect the...

Can We Get there (#CSforAll) From Here?
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Can We Get there (#CSforAll) From Here?

When I was in high school (I graduated in 1971 so this was a while ago) there was a computer in the building. If you got an A in Calculous as a junior you could...

Why Don’t Universities Require Computer Science?
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Why Don’t Universities Require Computer Science?

We talk a lot about requiring computer science as a high school graduation requirement. It is an issue that is not without controversy. (Should Palo Alto students...

Teaching Through Stories
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Teaching Through Stories

This time of year I think a lot about how I teach. There is something about the end of the year and evaluating how much my students have (or have not) learned that...
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account