Here is another video for this weeks vocabulary:

STARTING TODAY: ANYONE CAUGHT WITH THEIR SPEED SKIN OFF OF THEIR KEYBOARD WILL LOSE 10% ON THE NEXT ASSIGNMENT.  YOU WILL LOSE 10% EVERY TIME I SEE YOU WITH YOUR SPEED SKIN OFF THE KEYBOARD, SO IT IS POSSIBLE TO LOSE MORE THAN 10% IN ONE ASSIGNMENT.


If you have not yet finished FA6 you will have class time to get that done.  If you are done then you need to finish any missing work that you dont have turned in.  I have not yet graded FA5 so if you did not complete it you need to get it turned in ASAP.  If you dont have any missing work then you need to complete the Alice tutorial from Monday - here is the website again:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/alice09/tutorialsAlice3/gettingStartedTutorials/witchCauldron/witchTutorial.pdf

Tomorrow is obviously the last day before Spring Break and our vocab quiz over Technical terms - lets make sure to end the week on a good note and go into Spring Break with a good feeling!

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(This is a day by day of the Data: Lets do the Numbers Unit in CS Principles. The overview is here.)

So far the Data Portfolio has gone really well. Students are excited about their data sets and questions. Today we moved on to using these data sets to explore the questions they posed last class.

Number Crunching on the Eniac

Today I also realized I have been worrying about this too much. I was coming at this as a math major that hated statistics and absorbed as little of it as possible. I was worried about all the high end statistical analysis they need to do. Really I was making it too complicated. 

By giving them some positive experiences with data early in the unit, and steering the process of asking questions and selecting a data set they were in a position to handle the computation part of it with minimal trouble.

I have also realized there are some institutional barriers to getting this portfolio done. Some things teachers really need to think about ahead of time:

• Computer Equipment and software. Due to budget cuts we still use Office 2003. Students have had difficulty with some of the larger data sets and Excel.
• Internet filtering: Many data sets were blocked by our school filters. Also sites like Google Docs  are blocked, which is making collaboration between students difficult.
• Limited storage space on the school network makes it hard to store the datasets. 
• Many of my students do not have Internet access at home. In addition they live an hour or more away from school and staying after is not possible for many families. This is limiting their ability to collaborate outside of school. I am having to provide a lot of class time for them to write.

Bumpass Virginia - a real place

(You can see all the CS Principles documents here)

Here is the listing of what we did:

• Work with Partner: today they started looking at their data and answering their questions. Today was a half day due to Kindergarten registration so we only had 45 minutes. Several groups are having to come back to the lab to finish up.
• The prompt for the Data Portfolio rubric is:

apply computational tools and techniques to answer your questions, e.g., by finding patterns in the data, by transforming or translating the data, or by finding connections between the data and other sources of knowledge

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In case youre hungry and want to order pizza or food with delivery at office or at home , we have from now available and an application,developed for iOS and Android."Pizzicato" is called and is made of Ascend
NetSolutions. The application has been downloaded of Google Play and App Store,before the official announcement.

Immediately after the user place an order,this is contacted by phone of an operator Pizzicato which will confirm delivery.

The applications can be downloaded on phone : for Android & for iOS.

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What is Robotics


Lego Robotics


Institute of Robotics

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I have been asked to share this - I usually do this during my second unit in APCS Principles - The Internet Unplugged.

Writing is a big part of doing well on the new Performance Task assessments for the course. I have found this activity to be a great way to get them writing. I do not grade for grammar or spelling at this point. I want them writing, we can work on mechanics later.

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One activity that works really well to get students writing is an online debate using a discussion board. The point of this activity is to get them used to thinking and debating a topic and responding to other students. In the beginning students tend to take a very surface approach to topics. Debating lets them really delve in and explore the why behind the points they are making.

This activity works well in several areas of the APCS Principles curriculum. It is simple to grade and really gets the students engaged in writing.

To get them ready we play a game in class to get them used to pros and cons, then we debate a current event topic online. The in class debate topic does not necessarily need to relate to computer science. For the online topic I usually pull a current event that relates to something like privacy or online ethics.

The in Class Game:

Have the students line up into two equal lines. Make one like pro and one line con.

Then explain the rules:

• the two lines take turns
• after a student goes they move to the back of the line
• if you are in the pro line you must be for the resolution, if you are in the con line you must be against it, no matter your own personal opinions
• whoever is at the front of the line earns a point for every time they
• add a new point or
• rebut a point made by the other team
• No points are awarded for repeated points or responses

Once they understand the rules reveal the topic reveal the topic. As they take turns keep score.

Topics that work well are things like:

• Resolved: the minimum driving age should be raised to 18
• Resolved: cell phones should not be allowed in schools
• Resolved: social media sites should be limited to people over the age of 18

As you move to the online debate a similar format works. In addition students may earn points by by responding with a related fact as long as they provide a link to a reliable source.

I usually let the online debate go on for 3 - 5 days. In the end you can add up points and declare a winner. You can even post a daily point tally. I do usually try to keep the total points close to keep everyone interested.

For topics for the online debate try to pick something currently in the news. The first time I did this activity Congress was debating some Internet piracy legislation that was being heavily covered in the news.  Computer Science is constantly in the news there is almost something in the headlines related to the Learning Objectives.

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So we are wrapping up conditionals in the CS Principles course. We have come so far this year, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Part of me cant believe how much we have covered, and part of me wishes there was more time. I suppose something always gets cut.

Anyway, my goal this unit is to teach simple if thens, throw in some Boolean conditionals and relate all this to digital circuitry ala logic gates. Our final project for the unit will connect this to the Simulation part of the Abstraction Big Idea.

No small task.

For now I am stuck with C++, we have an existing curriculum I am doing the pilot in this class, so I have to get the students through arrays in C++. No wiggle room there. I am ambivalent about C++, it is a great language and I love working in it, but it is not the best vehicle for teaching good programming. It is fiddly to say the least.

On the other hand- BYOB Scratch is a great teaching tool. My original approach this year was to do Scratch first, then transition to C++. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

About two weeks back we were having a hard time getting though the classic leap year problem. I have taught this for years, and typically some kids get it right away, and some kids never fully get it. I had one of those "well, duh" moments, and we switched over to scratch. Within 10 minutes every student had a working leap year tester, could explain why it worked, and could explain how to choose good test data for this problem. We then went back to C++ and used the Scratch visual to build our C++ solution. Amazing!

So this will be my approach next year. Scratch as a prototyping language for C++ rather than two distinct topics. This will let us hit the coding about 6 weeks earlier next year, and if the last two weeks give any indication they should grasp the C++, and the underlying concepts, much faster.

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This has gotten to be a bit of an obsession over the past few days. Using paint to create electric circuits.

Seriously, it is all I can think about. I am making a lot of  "this sweater is OK, but it would be awesomer with some LED light bulbs" statements that make my children hover between interest and a deep tween embarrassment that only mothers can induce.

It started with a CNN article on Pens that can be used to draw circuits. I know, great idea.

Except they are from the UK, and kind of pricey (12 pounds which is about $18 today). And according to my sources on twitter the conductivity isnt great once it is dried over long distances. That said the site has some nice classroom kits that include thumbtack batteries. There has been a hollow empty void in my life that is filled now that I know thumbtack batteries exist - you know what I mean?

Also according to the website these pens are available in Radio Shack, so good for those of us stateside.

Think Geek Conductive Paint

For about $30 you can get a 50ml tub of paint from Think Geek. I have visions of renumbering the computers in my lab using this ...possibilities are endless.

This appears to be the same company, so it is probably the same stuff that is in the pens, but it is a better price point for just the paint.

I also found a video describing how to make copper based conductive paint. Sounds fun, but given my overall free time...I might just head to Radio Shack.

MIT also has some resources listed:

• A Kit of No Parts has a great list, including sources

One of the main reasons I am interested is the application for wearable electronics. I am curious to see if the paint can be used to attach conductive thread to the power source. Ill let you all know if it works.

Need more inspiration? Here is a video of interactive wallpaper made with conductive paint. It plays music.

We do some very simple circuits and logic gates in the APCS Principles class suing play-doh. The play-doh works well because it can be changed and experimented with very easily, but the stuff dries out so nothing can be taken home. This paint would make a nice extension, especially if they can make something to take home. Prototype in play-doh then paint for permanent.

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