We all have them, it is the rare person who doesn’t. I am talking about those dreaded days were our energy is low, where we can’t get started, where even the simplest tasks seem like moving a mountain regardless if they are personal or professional. In short, you have the blahs.
Why are you blah? It could to many assignments to mark, administrators who just don’t get it, too little sleep, a to-do list longer than your arm, or all of the above. Regardless of the reason, you have the blahs and now you have to figure out how to move past them.
I use the power of 15 to deal with these times. This is a trick I learned over a decade ago and one that I keep coming back to time and time again. I don’t remember where I first heard about this technique. It is not new. I bet you already have heard about it and might even be doing it. If you look it up on the internet, you’ll see a host of people claiming they invented it. Where it came from isn’t important. Actually doing it is.
By now I can hear you saying, “Okay already, what is it?”
The power of 15 is a simple motivational technique. I set a timer and tell myself that I only have to do this “thing” for 15 minutes and then I can do something else. The “thing” is different for everyone. It could be a project you’ve been dreading, exercising, cleaning out the garage, whatever. It is your personal stumbling block. It doesn’t matter what the something else is either. You can work on another project, have a cup of tea, do something you love; the something else is just a reward (mental bribe) to get you started on the “thing” you haven’t had the umph to do yet.
The power of 15 technique has never failed me. I always accomplish something even if it is only for 15 minutes. If, at the end of the 15 minutes, I still find myself worn out, I just schedule another 15 minutes later in my day. And then I just think to myself, “Heck that was better than the avoidance I had going before.” And what usually happens is that I find myself absentmindedly shutting off the timer alarm and continuing to work on the “thing” for quite a bit longer, sometimes to completion.
What motivates you to get started when you have the blahs?
Lissa Clayborn,
Director of Development, CSTA

I just drove most of the way across the country (from upstate New York to New Mexico, just shy of 2500 miles). This gave me ample opportunity to ponder my GPS, what its underlying algorithm is, how it comes up with routes, and what the interface is that I’d like it to have. It occurred to me that a GPS could be used as the foundation for an interesting classroom exercise. And, since lots of people bemoan the fact that nobody can read maps anymore, this exercise can promote good old-fashioned map reading along with thinking about computers and computing.
Here’s a basic idea, though it certainly could be modified depending on the age of the students and how vast an area you wanted them to consider.
1. Give the students a map of the relevant geographic area. For younger students this might be just the neighborhood around the school. For older students you could work at the city, state, or national level.
2. Ask the students to use the map in order to generate multiple routes between two points. Based just on what they see on the map (using the legend to determine road type, etc.), have them predict which should be the shortest and which should be the fastest routes.
3. Then fire up a GPS and see what it says. Maybe do some advance work by actually driving the GPS’s chosen route, see how long it takes. Try some variations based on what you know as a driver (or a walker, for those in urban areas).
4. Work with the students to try to determine how the GPS is making its decision about the “best” route, what the algorithm might be, what factors it is capable of considering, which factors it ignores. For example, the longer route with fewer traffic lights will be faster but the GPS (mine, at least) always chooses the shorter route with traffic lights which invariably takes more time.
At the upper level, one could have students plot out a few cross country routes, compare the Google map options to the GPS route, research information on rush hour traffic in major cities, and consider the option of smaller roads that avoid urban areas. It’s a relatively simple scenario which turns out to be rich in problem solving and algorithmic opportunities.
When I ignore my GPS’s directions, I’m particularly intrigued with how long it takes for me to get far enough along my chosen route that the GPS will finally stop trying to get me back to its chosen route. What I really want is for the GPS to initially present me with options (the way Google maps does) so that I can tell it whether I want the longer scenic route, the urban centers route, etc. But for now I’ll just relax until I have to get back in the car and make the return trip (taking a totally different route home!).
Valerie Barr,
CSTA Computational Thinking Task Force Chair

When I started work at North Gwinnett High School a year and half ago, I was asked to teach two computer science courses: AP Computer Science and Computing in the Modern World. Budget cuts had me teaching 3 pre-engineering classes with 30 students in each. I was told that the only way to teach more computer science classes was to increase my school’s CS awareness and interest.
I started by rebuilding our school’s website with a group of students who had already taken AP computer science. I taught them to design sites using Joomla, a stable content management system. The entire school was involved in the project. The computer art teacher helped with the aesthetics of the website, and yearbook and newspaper staff used our site to post their publications online. The new website was very well received, and increased computer science visibility among our administrators.
As a next step, I created a computer science pathway. I drew up a table and a chart of the various computer science courses and their prerequisites. I created flyers and brochures with details on the courses and handed them to all administrators, counselors, parents and students. I placed brochures in the counseling and curriculum offices and at the local middle school information desks. I emailed letters home to all parents about AP Computer Science. I used the College Board’s AP Potential to help me recruit students with strong math skills.
My hard work was rewarded when the recruitment season ended. This year, 120 students have enrolled in Computing in the Modern World, 40 in Beginning Programming, and 30 in AP Computer Science. Our school currently has 3 CIMW teachers, and I teach the other computer science courses. We face the same daunting challenges we faced last year, but we certainly have made progress.
Deepa Muralidhar
North Gwinnett High School
CSTA Leader : Georgia

I’m the type of person who really does see computers and computer science everywhere. I can turn any situation or location into a discussion or eye-opening opportunity for students. Some are more obvious than others, especially for those of us already teaching computer science.
For example, a couple weeks ago my husband and I stumbled upon a restaurant in the mall that had a different gimmick. Each table had an iPad. At first we thought it was meant for entertainment. But its purpose was to allow the customers to order and customize their food. After the novelty of customizing the food yourself and seeing the cost of each added item (such as adding cheese or tomatoes to your salad changes the price) wore off. We found we missed the human interaction of the server. Would we really want to frequent a restaurant where the people only drop off the food?
The iPad and the software used brought the ordering system that servers use to the customer. It was made more user friendly by allowing customers to drag the ingredients they wanted onto their salad/sandwich/pizza and see it stacked in a visual graphic. I couldn’t help but want to take my CS students on a mini-field trip to the place so they could “deconstruct” the specifications needed for the software used.
This, of course, is one overtly obvious place that computer science is applied. Some variation of the application is used in all restaurants to allow their servers to put orders to the kitchen. Cash registers in retail stores are computers (gone are the days of a traditional cash register), the receipts are merely reports/outputs. Professional football broadcasts overlay the line of scrimmage and first down markers on a live video footage of the field. Disneyland and other amusement parks use software to control their rides. All these are examples of computers and computer science used in the world around us (and these don’t even include the cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices we carry with us).
As CS Ed week approaches, I encourage you to challenge your students to write down every place where computers and computer science are used as they go about their week (include the weekend). I’m sure they’ll be surprised as to all the places it reaches and will lead to some good conversations in the classroom!
Shirley Miranda
CSTA Board of Directors

You never know where a resource is going to come from. We have a retired guidance counselor that is back subbing in our building this month. He sought me out to ask if I had seen an interview by Charlie Rose with Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. I had not, but the interesting thing was that he said Zuckerberg had talked about how everyone should take a programming class.
So I found the interview at:
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11987 or at YouTube http://youtu.be/LFdUEkTzDeI
and at about 15:30 it gets to the part that will make every CS promoter’s heart flutter.
Zuckerberg talks about his number one piece of advice is that everyone should take a programming course. He also goes on to mention how almost all jobs in the future will require some level of programming. This is something that all of us believe but sometimes have a hard time convincing others about.
The great thing about this clip is that it is an unprompted promotion of CS Education by someone that the whole world knows about. The record number of people that use Facebook, who think it would be cool to work there, or who just like to watch the Facebook frenzy in the media, pay attention to what Zuckerberg says. Now I have a clip that I can show it to students, parents, or administrators that echoes my sentiments but comes from a media icon.
Besides this fantastic resource I now have, I have learned something else. I have learned that if you keep talking to others about CS Education then you are the first person that pops into their head when they hear anything about CS. It is just as important to keep pleading your case and talking to people because they have their own circle of influence, knowledge, and experience. You never know when something that they come across will help you. If I was not as vocal about CS Education then the guidance counselor would not have immediately thought of me when he saw the interview.
So keep on talking and promoting as you will never know what it will lead to!
Stephanie Hoeppner
Vice-President CSTA Ohio Chapter

If you are looking for some inspiration and/or entertainment for you or your students, check out the Vi Hart’s Blog. Vi is a “recreational mathemusician” (her words, not mine) who creates interesting videos about mathematics and music. They are highly entertaining – perfect for for high school students, but also teach real mathematics and critical thinking. My favorite is the Binary Hand Dance:
http://vihart.com/blog/binary-hand-dance/
which is a fun and catchy way to demonstrate binary numbers. Just watch it, then tell me you weren’t practicing on your own when no one was looking ;-).
Dave Reed
CSTA Board of Directors

I’ve attended quite a few Computer Science conferences over the years including many years of SIGCSE and the past two years of the K-12 Workshop at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Typically, I sift through the big bag of stuff and create piles.
One pile is composed of anything that I can pass off as a generous gift to my own two children. These items include pens, mirrors, pens, travel nail clippers, pens, sticky notes, notebooks, pens, cell phone holders, pens, screen cleaners, lanyards, pens and of course pens.
Another pile is advertising from companies or schools recruiting and desperately trying to convince people to work for them or attend their programs. That stuff is historically the throw-away pile since I’m not the intended audience. Then I had a thought….why not save these pamphlets and prove to parents or guardians and students that there are companies and colleges begging for employees and students?!
Don’t take my word for it, here are examples after examples of major companies like Intel, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Oracle, Yahoo and a ton of others vying for the chance to get your attention.
So, on my latest flight home from Portland to Chicago, I brought these pamphlets along with me to show to my students and their parents or guardians with the hope that these pieces of paper may help show that Computer Science isn’t defined by outsourced tech support centers, but by exciting and innovative companies and educational institutions working collaboratively on the challenges we face today and tomorrow.
Jeff Solin
CSTA Chicago Chapter
Northside College Preparatory High School
Chicago, Illinois
jbsolin@cps.edu

I’m teaching two courses this term that have me thinking a lot about the ubiquity of computing across disciplines, and about the ever increasing need for young people to understand about computing. Even if they themselves will not be involved in computing, it is increasingly likely that they will be working in a field that requires computing. They may have to talk intelligently with implementers, be comfortable pushing computational tools, be skilled at interpreting results.
One course is a research seminar on disasters and technology. Each student has to choose a topic that explores either a disaster caused by technology, an almost-disaster mitigated by technology, a technology used in disaster recovery, or the way in which technological advances inform policy and planning for disasters. We are defining “technology” rather broadly in the course, so the engineering of the Mississippi levee system counts in our context. But many of the students are looking at more modern developments, such as search and rescue robots, cellphone communication system recovery after earthquakes, use of social networking in disaster recovery, and use of social media for notification. I have, of course, been looking for nifty uses of technology. An area that is very interesting is the use of computer modeling for wildfire prediction and interdiction. If you want to take a look at this, and maybe interest your students in this application area, check out the many research projects of the Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program:
http://www.firelab.org/research-projects
In my next post I’ll share some of the interesting applications I’ve found for my Taming Big Data course, an introductory CS course that focuses on how we handle large amounts of data.
Valerie Barr
CSTA Computational Thinking Task Force Chair

I’m always looking for new ways to start off my computer science and robotics classes. It used to be that every intro class started off with a “Hello World” program. It was the quickest way to have students see a result on the screen. Now, I have choices beyond the standard output line. There’s Alice, Scratch and AppInventor to name a few.
In the summer program that I teach and the regular school year, we start off with Scratch. It’s easy to work with, even the students who have never had any programming experience can get the sprites to move and make sounds. The tutorial is straight-forward and then they are off creating a game. Because students are familiar with computer and video games, they realize their limitations and often want to learn more, problem solve and research to figure out how to get the features they want to work. It is a tangible activity for them. They can see immediate results; sometimes seeing that what they thought they programmed isn’t what the sprite actually did. There are no compile errors to worry about which is a huge plus. It is a great starting out point.
From there, I can tie in various computing concepts (objects, loops, methods, etc.) and get to the “real coding”. With forty students in a classroom from no programming experience to “I’ve programmed in C++ before”, it is a good way to start things off with something new to everyone and get everyone engaged.
When all of them play some sort of video or computer game at home and with friends, what better task to lay before them than “By the end of this, you’ll be able to make your own computer game”. Hooks them every time.
Shirley Miranda
CSTA Board of Directors

As we embark on the school year, creating an equitable classroom environment is important for supporting girls and other underrepresented groups in a positive learning experience around computer science. There are several equity-based pedagogical practices that you can employ to ensure that your classroom culture is welcoming and inclusive for all students:
* Provide a welcoming classroom community/environment for all students (i.e. positive feedback, addressing students by name, greeting students at the door, etc.).
* Maintain high expectations for all learners by encouraging students to go beyond the basic level of the task.
* Value and make content relevant to student knowledge (i.e. language, home culture, personal interests, pop culture, etc.).
* Use multiple learning modalities to connect to different learning styles.
* Provide academic supports for English language learners.
What other pedagogical practices do you implement to provide a welcoming and inclusive classroom culture?
Joanna Goode
CSTA Equity Committee Chair