The NV Code.org CSP teachers had a great email thread discussing whether to skip U2 Lessons 11-14, with thoughtful pros and cons useful for teachers considering this questions. They gave me permission to share the thread, so here we go:
Hi,
Has anyone seen the banner that suggests skipping lessons 11-14 of unit 2?
I just started lesson 11 and now I’m wondering if I should take the recommendation. Anyone skipping those lessons? Let me know.
See you next Saturday!
Thanks,
Sharona
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I am skipping them and adding the rest of the second half of two to the beginning of Unit Four on big data. I just started Unit Three this week.
Lloyd Mann, M.Ed.
Shadow Ridge High School - Computer Science and Cyber Defense Teacher
Shadow Ridge High School CyberPatriot Open Team Coach
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Joseph Palmaffy
I am still in unit two going slowly so I will look to see if I can skip them. …
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I haven’t seen it but I met with my AP mentor yesterday and he is also a code.org facilitator. He told me about it. So yes drop 11-14. He also told me some of it will be added back in Unit 4. AND Code.org is in the process of updating Unit 4.
Hope this helps.
Sherri
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The lessons are good and they are tough for the students. There were some problems with instructions on Excel and Google sheets is certainly has issues with these lessons but I wouldn’t skip them. However if they are adding them (or something similar) to Unit 4, I’ll go along with that. Unit 4 seems to be a better place for them.
Scott Underwood
Computer Science Teacher
Coronado High School
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I just gave Unit 2 Ch2 test last Wednesday (10/18) and I had already planned on either skipping or abbreviating most lessons in U2 Ch2 just based off of my students’ feedback who scored highly on the AP exam last year and are now my student aides 
That feedback being:
-It was good to know about visualizations of data (which type should be used when)
-It was good to understand what someone should/should not do when cleaning data
-Assumptions people make with data…what can and can not be determined from data sets
Based on that info, I decided that it was, in fact, useful for students to go through the process of cleaning data and experiencing what visualizations can/should be made with data.
Here is what I did:
-Had my class complete the data tracker during the first half of U2
-Day 1 (completed after students finished U1 Ch2 test) -
L08 & 09 - combined these and shortened this lesson to just showing them Google Trends and letting them try it out followed with the digital divide activity
-Day 2 (done on a Friday - modified block where we see all 8 classes - so not a regular block)
L10 - I put a few visualizations from “Collection A” and “Collection B” into the PPT and we took a minute to discuss each one and try to figure out what is being shown in the visualization and if each was “bad” or “good” – Gave them the Visualizations 101 with the worksheet for homework
-Day 3 (normal block day - last day to fill out class data tracker)
L11 - I showed them how to make charts with a data set and then gave them a bit to try it with their partners
L12 - skipped completely
L13 - I showed them how to clean their data from the class data tracker and assigned it for homework
-Day 4 -
L14 - I walked them through the steps of making pivot tables in order to summarize their data and then gave them time to try it with their class data that they had cleaned and then used their summary table to create a chart and use that to find a “story” or trend in their class data (abbreviated L15)
-Day 5
The “story” they found in our class data due
Overall, the above took me 4 1/2 block days to complete since I shortened lessons enough to complete more than one in a day.
Angelina Dominguez
AP Computer Science Principles
Exploring Computer Science
Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy
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Rocky Williams
I am on lesson 5 on unit 2. It has been slow. I am going to skip 11-14. My fear is not completing everything I need to finish.