I am a new Comp Science teacher and a first year teacher. I got the job right before school started. Currently I am using last years curriculum from the previous teacher. She started the kids off on CodeHS with Tracy Phython. That has gone pretty well. That section was 6 weeks. The next thing she had them do is either another CodeHS plan that included history of computers and computer structure. I don’t want to use that since it is no longer free. The other option is unit 1 and 2 from the AP CSP course and just taking out the reference to the AP items. I don’t really want to do that since I might have some students take AP CSP in the future.
So what would be a good next course to do for 6 weeks. I plan on finishing the year with AI & Machine learning. I have been poking around the CS Discoveries and CS fundamentals. Which section would you recommend from that?
I am assuming from your post you teach high school. I would recommend starting here Code.org - Learn Computer Science . It will show you all the courses available. You can see the grades that each course is designed for. It’s flexible and depends on your students, of course.
If you do decide to start with CSDiscoveries, we always recommend starting with Unit 1 which lays the groundwork for problem solving. However, if the students have already completed other units elsewhere, it might not be the best place to start for you.
Just to add - you might also consider our new self-paced CS Discoveries Professional Learning course. It gives an overview of CS Discoveries and can give some insight on which units to pick from the course. It’s designed to be completed online, at your own pace. Here’s the direct link.
Sorry it took a while to respond - hopefully this is still helpful as you’re making your decision!
I hope you are still with code.org! I am searching through posts in a panic… I am teaching our CTE CS course to all online students starting NEXT WEEK! YIKES! It’s been a nightmare with the curriculum situation. Anyhow, any advice or suggestions on starting the CS Discoveries with 9th and 10th graders who are remote learners but come in person 2x weekly for 45 minutes? they have given me no hands on items. I know I need to do the teacher course, but I won’t have time right away. Do you have suggestions on if I should use this for the full year or combine it with other things? How do I adjust pacing? What items should I request for hands on when the kids do come in person? any advice is immensely appreciated! THANK YOU!
Shannon Duncan
These could provide a good foundation for different kinds of adjustments you could make for students, especially while they’re virtual. It’s not gonna solve all your problems - this situation sounds very unique and sending good vibes for how to manage it - but these resources might at least give you a starting place.
The one caveat is: they were created for our 2021-2022 version of the curricula and haven’t been updated as our curricula has. For some units, this is fine (for example: Unit 1 is still mostly the same as it was in 2021). But for others (like our new Web Design sequence), you may find some of the resources don’t match exactly with our latest updates.
Dan,
Thank you so much for the information! I am going in and am going to look between the two and see how different some of the items are. I appreciate the guidance!
Shannon