AP Computer Science Principles

5-6, 7-8, 9-12, Advanced Topics, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, Computer Science I, Robotics, Uncategorized

Back to School Night Ideas

September 24, 2021September 24, 2021 by Michele

With the added pressure of Back to School Night in person (we hosted virtually last year in a modified format), I decided to stick with what I’m most comfortable with and just teach. In each class, I picked out a quick unplugged activity or discussion to give a truer sense of what a period in my classroom is like. Here are some ideas.

7-8, 9-12, AP Computer Science Principles, Computer Science I, Professional Development

CSTA 2021: Nifty Assignments

July 19, 2021July 19, 2021 by Michele

Titled “Unplug the Internet,” my nifty assignment is an unplugged simulation of how the internet works. Because students are taking on the role of different parts of the internet (DNS, router, client/server, TCP, etc) they are able to build a connection with that vocabulary. This year, I had my AP CSP students facilitate the simulation to my CS1 class as a review for their AP test. They gave lots of positive feedback and for the rest of the year referred back to the person playing the role in class discussions. Find out all the information about my nifty assignment here!

9-12, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, Computer Science I

Taboo & Writing Code for a Purpose

March 18, 2021March 18, 2021 by Michele

Long story short, I ended up writing my own Taboo game to review vocabulary words. Check it out on Replit.com! The game currently offers the choice between AP CSA and AP CSP lists of words, but leave a comment if an important word is missing.

9-12, Advanced Topics, AP Computer Science Principles, Computer Science I, Hybrid Learning, Uncategorized

Investigating Web APIs

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021 by Michele

A few weeks ago I decided to work through this Mixtape tutorial on Repl.it that utilizes the Spotify API. While an excellent tutorial on it’s own, especially for someone teaching themselves, I saw an awesome opportunity to expand each part with rich discussions and discovery activities. Over the course of a few lessons, students explore HTTP requests, discuss the values set forth by the Developer’s Terms of Service, interpret JSON objects, write basic HTML, make use of Flask and Python, and put it all together in the original tutorial’s Mixtape project.

9-12, Advanced Topics, AP Computer Science Principles

Playing Around with Simulations

November 5, 2020November 5, 2020 by Michele

Simulations has always been a fun topic to explore with my computer science students. I know AP only includes it for a lesson or two, but I luxuriously explore it for a few periods since my students have already had some programming experience. If your students are familiar with Python, I’ve got a simulation for them!

5-6, 7-8, 9-12, Advanced Topics, AP Computer Science Principles, Computer Science I, Robotics

Activities for Activating Prior Knowledge

September 12, 2020September 19, 2020 by Michele

Since I always feel short on time, I try to find out what they already know while doing fun activities that set the tone for my classroom. I want students to know that it’s okay to laugh and have fun, try something even if they’re not sure, ask questions, and work together.

9-12, Advanced Topics, AP Computer Science Principles

Exploring Network Traffic with Wireshark

September 7, 2020September 19, 2020 by Michele

I asked students, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” about the network traffic. Amazing discussion followed.