Starting Teaching CS Again!

I recently started my volunteer teaching again. I'm very excited to say that this time I get to teach in person. I am volunteering to teach an AP Computer Science Principle class in support of my wife who is the teacher of record. So far it's been a pleasure to teach beside her.

We are teaching the Beauty and Joy of Computer curriculum. The textbook is very impressive, almost teaching itself. However, experience has shown me that knowledgeable teachers are still needed. The lessons are structured very clearly with good examples and sidebars. They also provide starter programs for a number of their lesson so students can jump right to the targeted learning elements.

We are utilizing Snap! to teach. Not my favorite style of programming, but I'm convinced of its power as a learning tool. The visual language can help them quickly learn concepts without getting hung up on syntax. I'm impressed by how fast our class of twelve is picking up the concepts.

If you are more interested in the specifics of AP Computer Science Principles, you can check out the details here. I look forward to talking more about this course in future posts.