Unit 4 Updates for workshop

Hello all,

I am holding our Q2 workshop this weekend. Is there anything that I need to tell them right off. I have two teachers who will be starting Unit 4 very soon.
Thanks

I would suggest reminding them about the new pacing recommendations from Code.org (in case some teachers are still in chapter 1 of unit 2) and giving them a heads up on the updates in Unit 3 which will be released soon.

@nessex with regards to Unit 4 I’d look to the running commentary in the other thread regarding updates to the curriculum. We’ll be doing out best to support teachers going immediately to Unit 4 and that’s the next thing we’ll be working on. When we know what our plan for updating that unit is we’ll be sharing it with the community so that teachers who are ahead of us can at least try to replicate the changes we intend to make in their own classrooms.

Regardless of what we announce, teachers going into that unit should closely consult the updated Scoring Guidelines and Explore PT exemplars available on the College Board website. This will be the last point in the course where students get explicit preparation for the Explore PT.

Let us know if you have more questions!

Since I am ready to start Unit 4…am I safe to start Unit 5 instead and come back to Unit 4 when it has been updated? Are there any updates to Unit 5 being planned?

@miri.blair we are in the process of updating Unit 4, after which we’ll go on to update Unit 5. Check out our conversation here to read more about how we’re proceeding. In general we’re making changes to improve pacing, clarify assessment opportunities, and improve PT prep. Unit 4 and Unit 5 are the last chance students have to prepare for the Explore and Create PT respectively, both of which has updated Scoring Guidelines this year. You seem to be doing very well on pacing so my advice would be if you teach these units before we publish updates you should just make sure you review those updated scoring guidelines and the exemplars the College Board has posted. We know we need to make some tweaks to the lessons and projects to match these but given your pacing I think it’s the kind of thing you’d be able to make time for as well.

Hope that’s helpful and we’re happy to answer any more questions you have!