CSA
Students were getting arrays faster than I thought they would. The Practice It exercises were already more challenging than the labs I was going to have them do for our "Unit 14" so I decided to move up the test a bit.
Today we did an "unplugged" algorithms activity where students needed to "sort" glasses of water from empty to full. It went pretty well. Students came up with the selection sort algorithm and the insertion sort algorithm themselves. In one class, bubble sort popped up as well.
I don't think I pushed this as far as I could have pushed it though. I think next time I would make this an unplugged day where we start with the cups of water and then have students write out the code for the algorithm they developed. Then perhaps ended with a worksheet having students trace through the Xth iteration of the algorithm.
CSP
We started back with programming on Friday. Today, I had students start to make their multi-screen apps. I am trying something new where I only grade a specific bubble of each stage - usually the "project" stage. Already, I am uneasy with it. The bubbles allow for some repetition and guidance. While SOME students don't need that, I think the majority do. I am most certainly going to have all students do all bubbles for the variables lesson because it is SUCH a key idea. I am thinking the norm should be "do all the stages", and for the 3-5 students who don't need it, they are the exception.
Concepts
I actually presented at TIES today so I didn't see this class, but they worked on an ACT test.
One Good Thing
I enjoyed presenting today at TIES today! It reinforced why workshops are more valuable than conferences. You just get a better community. I saw a lot of people I knew in passing but didn't get to really dive deep into things with anyone.
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