Heading into the holidays and the end-of-semester, I was thinking about activities that have students engage in computational thinking but without involving a lot of work for the teacher and are engaging. These aren’t as good as a class party, but hopefully you’ll find them helpful.
1. Talk about modeling
I have had students do object-oriented design without programming. One of the great strengths of computer science is modeling real-world phenomena in the computer. That means abstraction. Pick some topic (e.g. pizza) and students have to figure out what the attributes are. My class came up with a list that was roughly: dough/bread base, sauce, cheese, toppings. There was a huge debate about the requirement of cheese, which led us to talk about how different people model things differently: there’s a lot of power in being the model-creator. We also talked about how experience leads to us creating the models we do (i.e. value of diversity). We talked about inheritance by modeling “place setting” which was an attribute of “dinner table”. You could model weather using Excel – what attributes of weather do they want to model? Temperature? Precipitation? Humidity? Get data from weather.com, put it into Excel, and graph. Or make tables. Use the data to make predictions, using formulas.
2. Take off from the CS Unplugged on image representation
(http://csunplugged.org/image-representation).
Do that activity, which digitizes black and white images. Then give the kids a color palette (I used 8-colors), graph paper, and transparency grids (I had 3 sizes of squares available). Have them pick a picture either that they bring in or from magazines, and have them digitize color pictures. Then they should swap the digitized version and decode someone else’s. You can have them decode more than once – once with the same palette, once with a “reverse” or “grayscale” or “sepia” or other palette to see how the computer can do those effects. In my classes, this led to discussions about how computers are really good at some things that people are bad at and vice versa. It also led to discussions about the different algorithms we used to choose which color to label a box, since a single square often had multiple colors. I let them make their own compression algorithms, so we could talk about that. Also the size of the transparency grid led to a discussion of pixels, file size (that was a LOT of little numbers for them to write down!) and how the resulting picture looked.
3. Other activities
The one-day CS Unplugged activities:
http://csunplugged.org/activities
are terrific. They also have extensions linked at the bottom as well. The Mathemaniacs website
http://www.mathmaniacs.org/lessons/index.html
is also really good.
What activities do you use to keep kids’ attention at high distraction times?
Michelle Hutton
CSTA Past Chair

During CS Ed Week I thought I would find some things that may not be what I normally “teach” in CS. I thought I would find things that would make my students think about the world, think about things bigger than themselves, and think about “things that make [them] go hmm” (yes that was a sad 90’s music plug).
So in my quest I remembered Luis Von Ahn who I had the privilege of hearing speak twice in the past couple of years. I found this interview from 2009 at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/profile-von-ahn.html
It profiles him, captchas, and re-captchas. I thought that this was extremely revelant since all of my students have had to type one at some point.
I started each class with the question ” what is a captcha?” To my surprise at least one student in each class knew. Actually all of my students knew what they were its just that not all knew they were called captchas. After the video we discussed the idea of CS solving a problem that couldn’t easily be solved with just math, science, or another discipline. We talked about what happens behind the scenes with a database, how the words have to be compared and how a computer can create something it cannot solve itself. I saw wonderment in some of their eyes. I saw my students connect real world with CS. I also had one student that said he was going to be more careful when he did a recaptcha since he was actually working on digitizing books. He said he wasn’t going to just type stuff until one of them worked. While it may seem small to some, when a student wants to change a behavior because he has learned something about his world I think it is time well spent.
I told the students that this week we would look at things that were just to make them think and understand the computing world they are living in. It appears to be working and even though it is not “testable” material they may be learning more than on a regular day.
I hope all of you have had a positive experience during CS ED Week!
Stephanie Hoeppner
Ohio CSTA Cohort
Ohio Chapter Vice-President

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the CSTA/Anita Borg K-12 Equity Teacher Workshop at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Portland, Oregon. It was great to feel energized and inspired by the power of so many computing educators talking about critical equity issues in computer science education.
Along with, Elaine Bromeyer, an Exploring Computer Science teacher from South Gate High School in Los Angeles, I gave a presentation to highlight the contextual and pedagogical elements of teaching computer science. As part of this presentation, we showed a short video of Elaine’s classroom lesson that focused on students’ creation of directions for assembling a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
The conversation Elaine and the audience participants had following this video highlighted the particular inquiry-based pedagogy and equity-based practices of Elaine’s classroom. Though I found the entire discussion illuminating, Stanford professor Eric Roberts’ final question has stayed with me as a central pedagogical technique that blends inquiry and equity.
Eric Roberts began with commenting on one of the students’ reflective remarks on the lesson that stated, “I learned that computers shouldn’t make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches”. Eric’s question was, “How can we take student comments like these to look at other things computers aren’t particularly good at?”
By pointing out this teachable moment, Eric highlighted how student-centered instruction can lead to sets of rich discussions about central themes of the utility and tradeoffs of computing in particular social contexts. I believe that this instructional technique of using student reflective comments to drive classroom discussions of related computing topics a great instructional tool for computer science classrooms. Having students write journal reflections on a regular basis is a great way to adopt this approach in your own classroom.
Joanna Goode
CSTA Equity Chair

During the past year, a good deal of my work time has revolved around revising our state Business, Finance, and IT Essential Standards. We have organized our standards around three of the States’ Career Clusters: Business Management and Administration, Finance, and Information Technology. At the state level, we have really created a mind-shift for our administrators, teachers and students.
In the previous “Standard Course of Study” students were considered concentrators in our Business Technologies Pathway if they completed four courses, one of which was a second-level course. We had students becoming concentrators after completing Computer Applications I and II, and various other course offerings. Even though we ramped up our Computer Applications II course to focus on Multimedia and Webpage Design, we certainly were not preparing our students for life in the 21st Century. Needless to say, many teachers and administrators in our local school systems were not all thrilled with our new Essential Standards (even the name had changed!). Of course there were some who embraced the change.
My firm conviction that we were on the correct path was reinforced recently when I read an article about schools in the United Kingdom testing a new curriculum in which the students write their own computer software programs. The plan was to shift the IT curriculum away from computer literacy to software development and computational principles. How refreshing! I have long been an advocate that computer applications skills are productivity skills (that everyone needs to have) and they are NOT IT skills or knowledge. It’s a hard sell when some teachers (and many students!) are quite comfortable with the productivity software products and activities. (You may read the entire U.K. article by following this link:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/16/uk_school_it_curriculum_trials_teaching_students_to_code/
As part of our new state Essential Standards, I have been working with a team of teachers to revise our Computer Programming I and II courses. We have a decent enrollment in the first-level course, but the enrollment drops significantly for the second-level course. The revision is still a work in progress, but our plan is to offer computer programming basics in the first course and to teach the students Visual Basic programming. Students wishing to expand their knowledge during the first course can apply the knowledge and skills using C#.
We want to expose all the students to C# in the first course, because we plan to apply the knowledge and skills in the second course by teaching the students C# programming and XNA Game Studio. Hopefully, this will entice the students to continue with a second programming course. (Students can also choose to study SAS Programming after completing the first-level course.) Students who complete the second course will have a good foundation to succeed in AP Computer Science. And, the teachers teaching in the pilot of the new courses are quite excited, and that’s a big step in the right direction.
Our state has formed a partnership with Microsoft, and our former Computer Applications courses are now centered around the students achieving MOS certification in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access. These courses reach almost every high school student in our program. We are also piloting two Network Administration courses that teach Microsoft curriculum. The first course is composed of curriculum for four MTA exams (Operating Systems Fundamentals, Networking Fundamentals, Windows Server Administration Fundamentals, and Security Fundamentals). The second course also teaches Microsoft curriculum for Installing and Deploying Windows 7 (Microsoft Official Academic Courseware). In both cases, students can take Microsoft certification exams that are actually written for students. Right now the enrollment in the Network Administration courses is very limited. Hopefully, we can increase the enrollment after the pilot is complete. The students and teachers participating in the pilot are enjoying the curriculum. That’s a good sign!
Through our new Essential Standards we are working to motivate our students and teachers by raising the bar in our IT courses. In the Network Administration courses, the “carrot” to attract students (as well as parents and teachers) is the industry certification exams. In our Computer Programming courses, the “carrot” is the XNA Game programming. Carrot or not, the students are getting a good foundation in a specific IT pathway. That’s good for students, and that’s good for the IT industry.
What are you doing to entice students to study rigorous IT or Computer Science courses?
Note: A recent CSTA Blast included some very good resources for teaching XNA Game Studio. This was great news for me and the Computer Programming Curriculum Development team. Excerpts from the CSTA Blast are below.
Revitalize your Computer Science program with Game Development with XNA: Semester 1. This exciting and engaging computer science semester course enables students to apply a basic foundation in programming to create games and simulations for social causes using C# and Microsoft XNA Game Studio. Teaching resources and C#/XNA software are free.
C# is a modern, professional object-oriented programming language which when combined with the Microsoft XNA framework creates the XNA Game Studio – a professional game development environment for PC, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone.
Lessons are aligned to CSTA, ITEA-STL, and ISTE-NETS standards.
Success Scenario: Students who have had experience with a structured programming language and a basic understanding of variables, conditionals, loops, and object-oriented design.
Download today!
Teacher Roadmap (http://www.facultyresourcecenter.com/curriculum/pfv.aspx?Id=8856)
Part 1 Basics (http://www.facultyresourcecenter.com/curriculum/pfv.aspx?Id=8858)
Part 2 Games for All (http://www.facultyresourcecenter.com/curriculum/pfv.aspx?Id=8859)
Appendix (http://www.facultyresourcecenter.com/curriculum/pfv.aspx?Id=8857)
Contact innovativeteachers@microsoft.com for additional information.
Deborah Seehorn
CSTA State Department Representative

Nearly every Sunday morning I try to read the Sunday paper to help me get charged up for the week and relax for a few quiet moments before starting my day. This past Sunday I was drawn to the Parade section because the feature article was “Born to be Wired” (You can view the article at: http://www.parade.com/health/2011/10/generation-wired.html). As a high school teacher, I am drawn to articles that discuss the behaviors of our today’s youth. As I read these articles I compare what they claim with my observations.
One question the article did ask was “Should Teachers Use Twitter in the Classroom?” The discussion that followed included statistics gathered in a survey concerning how teachers felt regarding the job their districts were doing educating students about online safety, security, and ethics. I had incorporated these topics into my curriculum five years ago. Finally at the conclusion of the section, they quote the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She says, “If you can use Twitter to maximize the likelihood that these kids will be proficient in a subject matter, why not?” Honestly, I am not convinced that many of my students are actually using Twitter. I do know that most of them use Facebook.
Another point this article covers is that researchers are suggesting that due to “nonstop connectivity” that it maybe “rewiring their brains.” One researcher has suggested that due to this constant connectivity, students have “a diminished ability to focus on one thing for long.” After I read that, I reflected back to when I was a college student learning to program. I had to preserve at writing programs to be successful. For the most part, I do not see that trait in many of my computer science students.
After I finished reading the article, I reflected on the question, “How can I use this information to improve my computer science classes?” If students only have a ten minute attention span, do I need to offer more activities? Should I add Twitter or Facebook to the online tools I am currently using?
I will continue to ponder more about these questions as well as consult with other computer science teachers when I attend the next local CSTA meeting.
What are your thoughts?
How are you addressing the shorter attention span?
How are you using social media in your classrooms?
Myra Deister
CSTA At-Large Representative

Unlike the solar calendar which marks January as the beginning of the new year, my new year, like that of all teachers, begins in September. A new school year means new beginnings and new opportunities. I couldn’t wait for this school year to start because I was determined to make a difference in how my students perceived computer science.
My goal for the 2011-2012 school year was to inspire my students to consider computer programming as a viable creative outlet. I felt that over the past three years, while I had been successful at teaching them programming concepts, few had fully embraced the medium. What was I doing wrong?
I decided to explore the question of inspiring my students in further detail. I began by scouring the internet for inspiration. Not surprisingly, I found plenty of generic suggestions on how to engage students in the learning process Some examples were to:
(1) make it real by creating learning activities that are based on topics relevant to students’ lives,
(2) provide choices so that students feel some sense of autonomy in the learning process, or
(3) provide students with role models that help them to identify with the subject matter.
Not bad. I could work with these recommendations.
Unfortunately, I had another hurdle. How could I overcome the negative stereotype of the computer programmer as a socially awkward young man who spends his days hiding in his parents’ basement working 12 to 16 hours a day on his computer? (McConnell, Steve. Orphans Preferred. Chapter 7. http://www.stevemcconnell.com/psd/07-OrphansPreferred.pdf) In addition, USA Today reported that because the techie nerd stereotype is so well entrenched, students in every grade ranked computer jobs near the bottom of their lists of career choices. (USA Today, February 16, 1998, pp. 1B – 2B.)
How was I to overcome decades of negative stereotypes and gender type casting? How was I to reach my students? All of them. Not just the ones who already found computers exciting.
I went back to the internet. This time I focused my research on locating articles that would provide insight into what students like and how computers could support these preferences. I discovered that I could tap into recreational activities that my students were already enjoying, specifically computer games, to capture their attention. By leveraging students’ interest in video games, I hoped to replace the negative perception of computer programming with the allure of computer gamming. At the same time I hoped to entice students to explore computer programming in more detail while possibly helping them to discover a new passion.
According to Allyson Peerman, president of the AMD Foundation (the philanthropic division of Advanced Micro Devices, a computer chip manufacturer), “We know from research that playing games provides some STEM skills, but when [students] get involved with creating games, those skills [and interest] go up exponentially”.
I decided to tap into my students’ love of computer games by assigning them the task of creating computer games using Scratch that would teach either mathematics or language arts skills to younger students. I was surprised at how quickly they embraced this goal. They couldn’t wait to get started. One student (a fifth grader) even eagerly suggested a programming competition, where students would present their projects to the younger students, who would then decide which games they enjoyed the most. I was thrilled with their enthusiasm. Is real learning occurring? Yes it is. And are my students having fun? Yes they are.
It is too soon to know how successful the computer games will be at teaching the younger students, but I hope that once the programs are completed and presented, both groups will have benefited from the experience. The older students will have a sense of accomplishment for having created real-world applications and the younger students will have a new and exciting game to use for drill and practice.
Recently, I complemented one of my younger students (a third grader) on his computer skills, and he responded that he loves computers, and that he wants to be a computer technology teacher when he grows up, just like me. So it seems that developing computer games with an educational purpose definitely motivates my students.
Will this interest last into middle school and beyond? I don’t know. All I do know is that it seems to have captured their attention for the moment, and for that I am grateful. Maybe their excitement will inspire administrators, parents and teachers to consider computer science an important educational directive for the future. Because, as I see it, computer science is more than just programming computer games. But don’t tell my students.
Patrice Gans
CSTA K-8 Representative