If you are like most of the teachers I know (and how I used to be) then you probably spent your summer doing any combination of the following: vacationing, resting, conferencing, professionally developing, or working. And I would guess many of you spent more time doing the last two than the first three.
As teachers, we expect our students to hang on our every word (ok, really we would be happy if they hang on even 50% of our words) and to put into practice what we teach.
So, my question for you is: What did you learn this summer? And how do you intend to put it into practice? Our wish is for this blog to be very interactive, so we welcome comments from you so all our readers can live vicariously through you! I’m sure some of you attended the CS&IT Symposium or perhaps an Alice Workshop. Or maybe there was a workshop at a local university? Or maybe you taught a summer course and were surprised by a project one of your students created? Tell us about these experiences! We continue to grow through shared experiences.
As Vince Lombardi once said “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.” Do not be afraid to share something. CSTA is not just for you, it is you.
So let us know what you did last summer!
Mindy Hart
CSTA Board of Directors
This is my first year teaching programming so ANY training was great this past summer. I attended the TAPESTRY Workshop at the University of Virginia. The workshop was about attracting more students to our classes, especially women and minorities. I learned a lot at the workshop, from the formal workshop and all the wonderful teachers there!
I felt this blog was a little one sided in it’s approach to direct teacher’s into a one sided critique of their educational practice. Now it is also important to educate and inform faculty and staff that is healthy to not only adapt and learn new teaching material to their students but also take time off to work on relaxing their minds and enjoying life, a happy teacher will teach their kids more effectively than a sad teacher.