Random Numbers make Big Hair

Random numbers are one of those core topics in teaching computer science. We experience them all the time, but most folks really dont know anything about how they happen or what they are used for.

Often games are the most obvious way of teaching about random numbers. It is a quick and easy way to introduce the topic. However there is a downside in relying too much on games. Not all students, especially females, are naturally interested in gaming. Traditionally it is perceived to be a very male centered activity and  only using gaming to teach runs the risk of turning off a large chunk of our students.

This months Wired Magazine had a quick article on how the animators at Pixar created the hair in Brave. It gives and interesting discussion of how geometry and computer science come together in animation. The article is nice and short and would make a good discussion board prompt on random numbers.

I do use games throughout my courses, but I try to balance them with other types of programs. We use a lot of media computation based problems also, and when I do games I try to wither offer a social component or an alternative assignment.

A side note - overall this was one of the better issues for high school kids. Pretty readable overall, and less questionable content than some.

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Fifth Grade Project Everglades part 3

By: Gregorio

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Marissa Meyer Nine Lessons Learned about Creativity at Google

This is a talk given at the Stanfords Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast by Marissa Meyer, new CEO at Yahoo back in 2006.

The talk is 48 minutes total, and they have it broken down into ten video clips. These would make great prompts for student discussion boards.

Of course as a high school computer science teacher this news is very exciting. She is a very visible and successful computer science major. All the news buzz about her balancing work and family have been a bit overdone in the media, buy for the girls in our classes it is great to see this conversation play out on such a large stage.

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Computer Science Movies

I posted this on Twitter yesterday, and got a rather heated response.

Can you recommend any good movies for high school computer science classes?

War Games

Whew, I just expected a few Pixar movies and that was that. What I got instead was, well, frankly a bit grumpy. And also spot on.

I personally dont do movie days often. The time we have the kids in the lab and are able to really get them engaged is pretty limited and I want them creating, not watching, as much as possible. This means that whole class periods where we "watch" a movie is out- and we all know the kids are usually napping or on their cell phones anyway. Of course you can make them fill out a worksheet as they watch, but nothing kills joy like a worksheet.

I do use movies and videos. For example in my intro class we do a big movie project where the kids create a stop animation movies, including chroma-key-compositing, using Visual Basic. To get them excited we watch some short films, and selections from Avatar.

We do a lot of Ted Talks, especially in the APCS Principles class, as writing prompts.

But my focus most of the time is hands on activities where the kids are engaged and making things.

One interesting answer on the Twitter feed was to watch movies themed around ethical computer use - like War Games. I love the idea of using a movie to hit this sometimes hard to explore topic.

Now all that said, Most years I end up having my APCS and IBCS kids the afternoon after they take their exams. And we watch a movie. And eat popcorn.

So, what movies would you recommend?

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SLC conference folder covers

Today we are going to spend the hour working on the SLC Computer Apps sheet, and creating a SLC folder cover.

The Computer Apps folder sheet is green, and it needs to be filled out.  I will be handing out your crossword puzzle from last week so that you can use it for a portfolio example; you could also print out any of the vocab quizzes we have taken, or if you have any of your formatting activities you could also print them out as a portfolio example.

Here are the things that I want you to include on the folder cover:

At the top include the day and time of your conference.  Create this in a large sized font.

Next, you can include 2 images in your document.  These images should reflect one of three things:  something that you like about school (lunch or lunch recess do not count), challenges that school presents on a daily basis, or hobbies you have. You can only have one of each of the three different areas.

Once you print out the cover you can tape it to the manila folder.

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Vocab definitions Crossword puzzle FA9

There is no vocab quiz this week, so we will be having a crossword puzzle that I will hand out today. There will be vocab quiz #8 next week so if you have not yet posted any definitions for list #8 please get that completed as soon as possible (you have all day tomorrow - no excuses!).

Today we are going to start learning about inserting shapes into Word.  There are several different styles of shapes, and there are also many cool ways to format the shapes that you can insert.  We also will learn to insert WordArt, which is a uniquely formatted way to enter text into a document.


Activity 9.pdf

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Learn B and Y

Today we will add the B (L1) and the Y (R1) to our arsenal of learned keys.  These are both long reaches on the keyboard, but since you are using your index fingers it should help.

After learning these two keys we will spend the rest of the hour reviewing.

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