So, you think you are not an English teacher? Guess again.

Disneys Paperman 

This is a good article about the new Disney short film Paperman.  Well be using this article as a prompt in the CS Principles class this week. In making the short Disney combined traditional hand drawn animation with the CGU technology with a piece of software called Meander.

For the CS Principles Pilot this year the focus is on assessment - how will Collegeboard test the kids at the end of the year?

One major change from the existing AP Computer Science course is the addition of written portfolio items. You can preview them here under Prototype Items. Students are asked to write to demonstrate learning in the CS Principles class.

The best way to prepare for a written assessment is to write, go figure. So though out the course I have the students respond in discussion boards and journals. My goal is once a week. Just like with coding frequent practice leads to mastery.

It has been very interesting to see the students reactions. In the pilot class I have a wide range of abilities. Some are seniors taking mostly IB and AP classes, others might not take a single advanced class while in high school. From all the computer science teachers I talk to this is pretty typical. It means that we cannot make assumptions about the students writing levels.

One thing I learned last year was I had to be very explicit about what academic writing should look like. While they have all written English papers, it doesnt always occur to them that rules like "write in full sentences" apply in the computer science class.

We finished up the first Portfolio papers right before winter break. Since the Internet Unplugged is the second unit I cover int he course we did the Internet Portfolio paper. Well be doing the ones on data and programming over the next two months.

Ill summarize more about the Internet Portfolio papers and the experience of working on them with the kids later. Right now I am just trying to come up with enough interesting discussion board topics to keep them writing until the next round.

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One of the biggest changes for the new APCS Principles course is the use of Performance Tasks (PT) as a part of the official CollegeBoard assessment. These PTs and a summative test at the end of the year will be used to score the kids, just like the 1-5 score they get on other AP tests.

This means our students need lots of practice writing. In my CS Principles pilot we do a lot of journaling throughout the year. I give them specific prompts to respond to every few days. We also heavily use discussion boards (more on that here) to get them reading and responding to other students work. this is especially important since two of the PTs are collaborative.

This year I am trying to keep these topics n a more organized list - here are the topics for Unit 2: The Internet Unplugged: Journal Topics for Unit 2

For their journals - I read them periodically throughout the term. I am not checking for grammar or spelling - the goal is to get ideas recorded and to start using writing as a part of their reflections on the topics we use in class.

Note - if you were using an old version of the PTs, they were updated earlier this fall. You can find the update here.

The most significant change is the Internet Task has been replaced by Explore. The feel of the two tasks are the same, but the updated version allows them to pick any innovation, not just those centered around the Internet.

For my students I am doing journal topics that connect the Internet and innovation. well be doing a Model Performance Task in the next few weeks, and will finish the first PT on Innovation after we finish the Unit 2.

Other writing Posts:

• The Great Debate
• Discussion Boards
• Debating Computer Science
• Music to teach Computer Science

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