Commenting on my post on teaching some Software Engineering concepts, there was a comment on code review and that code.org now included it in their CS-A curriculum. I found this video but no other materials. I was thinking that I certainly hoped that the video was not being used to introduce code review to students. I mean the video is fine and probably great to show to teachers so that they'll have some idea on what code review is and why it's important.

So, I turned 55 today. Another year older. The changes? Well, I'm seeing more doctors and seeing them more frequently and to be honest, I'd love to have a day or two without some small niggling ache or pain but that's life. Like many people my age, we've got our health issues but I'm pretty active and managing mine (hey, I had a great 8 mile run this morning :-) ).

I've been in something of a teaching funk for much of the semester. Don't get me wrong, I think things are going pretty well with the classes but I don't feel like I've had my "A game." Part of it, I think is because of the relaxed mask policy. Hunter is masks optional and in their infinite wisdom, last year replaced the signs that said "Masks required" with signs that say "Masks NOT required.

I haven't been posting about specific CS teaching techniques and lesson content recently. Probably because I've been teaching the same classes at Hunter now for the past six years. Twice a year, Fall and Spring, I teach a recitation for Hunter's CS1 in C++. In the Fall I also teach a version of their CS0 in Python. My second undergrad CS class in the Spring is Data Structures. I have some freedom in the CS0 class but that's more with applications and assignments since the basics are the basics.

Last time I mentioned that there are many teachers teaching CS in NY that have no intention of earning the new certification and also don't really know the subject. People might not want to here this but it's true. I don't blame the teachers for this since they've been repeatedly told that "CS is super easy" and that their PD training 100% makes them CS teachers and really prepares them.

I've been running Hunter's teacher certification program now for three years. We started with our Advanced Certificate which allows currently working teachers to earn an additional cert in CS and soon a few masters students joined the pipeline. In three years we've made great progress. Approximately 45 New York City teachers are either state certified to teach CS or are qualified to recieve the certification once they file with the state.

I've been seeing a lot of tweets recently about "the research" - how PD should present how to teach and cite "the research," how research defines the best practices teachers should use, and on and on. As readers know, this is not something I subscribe to. What got me this time was a specific tweet on the PD thing and how it's critically important to show the research to "prove" the effectiveness of whatever is being pitched.

The semesters back up in full swing again - teaching 2 undergrad classes in person - CS0 in Python and CS1 in C++ along with my teacher certification class - Ethics via Zoom. Grand total of about 125 students. An error came up in the CS0 class the other day that reminded me how tough it is not only to prepare students to deal with all the things that can go wrong when learning to program but even for a teacher to realize what's going on.

A big part of the CS4All movement has been making computer science available at all grade levels. Of course that can mean many things. Grade levels could be elementary, middle, and high school or it can me k-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 or maybe even every grade. Does it mean required at every level or just an option? This has led to many discussions and, at least from the ones I've listened in on, the prevailing feeling from the CS side is all CS all the time.

Yesterday was the last day of classes for our current cohort. The rest of the week and maybe weekend will be all grading all the time and then I'll try to tune out work for a couple of weeks to try to recharge the batteries. Since there are some ongoing Hunter administrative snafus I'm not all that optimistic on getting real down time but we'll see. So, how did it go?