Codindg classes as CTE classes

CS Discoveries
1

Is there anyone who has made CS Discoveries or CS Principles semester classes for CTE class offerings and if so how did you do it? I don’t want to make a new wheel if someone is willing to share what works for them in this situation. Thanks in advance.

I have thought about

  1. cutting the class into two semsters, but if a student does not take the first semester, will they be lost in the second semester?
  2. Cutting items out of the class to make it a semester class (not sure how I would do that)
2

Hi @delilah.heil,

I teach high school and my program is an approved CTE program in Colorado. I use Discoveries for my CS Foundations course and I use CSPrinciples (in one semester) and I will move to Code.org’s CSA curriculum next year for the approved AP courses. I am certainly no expert on CTE since this is only my 2nd year in high school but here are my thoughts:

  • Make sure the course you are teaching meets your state’s CTE standards. For example, here are the standards for Discoveries. The AP courses are already approved assuming AP is a part of your pathway.

  • I do have to teach Principles in one semester. I basically teach most of the course as planned through the programming units. Unit 7 is skimmed and the topic of “libraries” is presented in notes format. We also have to skip the large projects at the end of most of the units (like the Hack-a-thon). Then, unit 9 and 10 are taught in jigsaw model where the kids each summarize a lesson and present it to the class. I then have several review session in April to finalize the Create Task and study for the exam.

  • As for reducing other classes to a semester, my guess (and it is just a guess) would be that if you are not able to teach the state’s standards for the class in one semester, the student would not receive credit in the pathway until they completed both sections of the class. There are many posts in the forum covering different pacing options for Discoveries. This implementation guide can also help you determine how to reduce content and still meet your state’s standards.

I am not sure if this answers your questions but hope it gives you some ideas and resources to move forward. I look forward to other’s to chime in with their ideas as well. You may want to share what state your teaching in so that other’s with CTE experience in your state can reply. Good luck!

~Michelle