Today: Day X - Physical computing

AP CSA 
Students worked on projects.  I tried emphasizing that they need to tell the "story" of their time - how did they use their time to explore something?  We will see how the presentations go.

AP CSP
Work on dancing robots continue.  This is day 2.  I was hoping by day 3 we would be ready.  I think in reality, we need a day 4.  A lot of students are realizing that spinning things tangles wires. I am learning that having two motors is tough on an arduino.

I am going to need to talk to our physics teacher tomorrow.

Concepts
Can we talk about how many "nurse" passes I write in that class?!  The answer for today was 3.  I also had one student come in 20 minutes late - he wasn't feeling well either.  And a third kid gone for testing.  So, it was a quiet hour.  But we got so much done!  I know the students who were here today will do well on their quiz tomorrow. 

The students who were not here... wont.

One Good Thing
I met with our SRI trainer today and I am super excited about it!  Is it summer yet?

Days : Physical computing and final projects

I literally haven't blogged because I don't know what day I am on.  Lame excuse, I know.  Nevertheless, now is the time.   Here is what has happened:

AP CSA
Students said the test was "easy" - I am hoping that the scores turned out OK.  Even so, I am proud of the work I have done with my students this year.

After the AP test I gave them a "final project" - it was WIDE open.  It could be in any language.  It actually could be almost anything that would take 2 weeks that involved code. 

For the most part this has worked out well, I have all sorts of projects:

• Students learning Python
• Students learning/building on Unity
• Students comparing different langauges
• Students making 2048
• Students making Minesweeper
• Students making a Snake game
• Students making card games
• Students making iOS apps
• Students making a robotic spider -- this is a weird one... but using arduinos to do this.
• Students learning about "hacking"

I think the accountability is a little on the low side.  I have some students doing AMAZING things.  Truly creative, challenging projects.  It is nice to give students so much autonomy.  At the same time, I have students who are 5 days in and are still not really able to show me anything for their work.  Maybe it is the "May Effect" but I haven't really addressed my iPhone slackers (the ones who are "watching videos" on their phone for "research"...).  

In all truth, I could probably predict who my problem children would be ahead of time.  

I hate making procedural requirements for all students that hinder learning/progress just so my slackers get moving.  I think this might be an opportunity for differentiation.  Perhaps next year, I check in with my pre-identified problem children and put them on a more structured learning plan. 

I also initiated stand-up meetings in one of my classes.  It is funny to watch the whole group stand up and stretch immediately.  I know that just having people stand is a big difference maker, it also holds the a BIT more accountable to progress as they need to explain to their group mates what they are working on and what challenges they are encountering.  

In another class, I am using "time logs" instead of stand up meetings.  That also has an effect of holding people a little more accountable, but the vague responses for what they have done is painful.  I need to be better at modeling what a good update looks like. 

I also had a guest helper in this week to help troubleshoot problems with students.  He didn't have things to do all the time, but I appreciated having back-up and he did a great job asking students about their progress. 

AP CSP

We started our physical computing unit after the AP test.  We started with play-doh circuits and then moved to our SparkFun Inventor Kits.  

I did remember from last year to have students label their boxes. That was a huge win. 

But I also forgot some things... I forgot to get enough battery packs for our play doh activity and I forgot to post the link to the code for the "labs" initially.  

I also should have modeled what it looked like to read the code provided to them.  Maybe even next time in the "passport" I might have them interpret what a set of code will do.  When it came to applications, students claimed they were unable to do the tasks, but had they read the code and made sense of it, they could have done it.  I didn't have that many issues with the applications last year, but I certainly could still model the problem solving process.

On Thursday, we started our "unit final" project - students needed to make dancing robots.  I think I am going to have some super lame ones.  Students are really phoning it in.  I am going to model what some of the code looks like on Tuesday in class.  I am hoping that a little modeling will inspire some more creativity.  

Here is the interesting part... I was talking to a group of two female students about the task and one of them said "this is my favorite part of the class so far".  That was a bit surprising to me, but also a reminder of why I do this unit.  In a lot of ways, it changes the dynamic in the class.  It can be a fresh start for students who fell behind in programming and also allows students to show off a bit.  For those students who love science - this is their thing.  

For example the other day, a student was having trouble running a LED and a motor.  I looked through his code, tried another board, re-looked at his code, looked at his wiring, and couldn't find ANYTHING.  Another student interrupted me to ask something and when I turned around, I noticed the motor was moving very slowly.  It was a mystery.  That's when the student I was working with said, "Oh, it must just need more power, do we have a transistor?" - this is something I would have needed to google, but because the student had some background knowledge with science he brought to the table, he was able to fix the problem.

At the same time, nearly every student is able to get an LED to light up so the floor is quite low for students.  To some students, getting an LED to blink is magical itself.

Concepts

Even as I type the word "concepts" I sigh.  I have half the class coming in tardy or absent each day.  It is just a rough way to start the hour. 

I have been doing more guided note sheets with students which has been a life saver here for the end of the year.  Students seem to be more on task with the note sheets, but I think the level of learning isn't as authentic.  

We also did the pasta sin and cos curve graphs.  That was fascinating.  There is SO many misconceptions on what x and y are.  It makes all algebra tricky when students don't understand the connection between the variable x, a function, a y value, and how to plot a point/function. 

One Good Thing

One of my students was building an iOS app. In reality, I think he mostly followed an online tutorial, but I was ok with that - we all start somewhere.  He was using my computer and then the bell rang.  He stayed because he was "so close" to finishing his app.  I told him he needed to get going to his next class, and 10 minutes into my next hour he was still there.  I asked him to get to class again and he said "this is just so much more exciting than what I am doing in my other class".   It was kinda a nice moment... I just cannot make enemies with other teachers.

Day: Feeling good about AP tests, but feeling gross about feeling good

AP CSA and AP CSP

Today was the last day my students took their practice AP MC test and I am feeling really good about it.  Averges were in the 72% or 78% range which is a solid 4 on the AP scale for AP CSA.  Given we have 3 more days before the actual test, that seems good to me!  CSP averages were higher - in the 80s.

Students will be able to do test corrections for half credit back before the AP test.

One of my more reluctant students was working on their corrections on the practice test and said, "low key, this is actually really helpful" --- hmhmmm... it took all my energy not to scream "THATS THE POINT!!!!"  BUT, I know that students need to be ready to hear the truth, when I told him it was helpful last week, he wasn't ready to hear it.  Now he was.

So... I am feeling really good about where students were at.  For CSA, we were doing SO MUCH work to prep for the FRQs, but it is clear that transferred to the MC.  I am still a little concerned about students being able to pace themselves, but I think I've done what I can.

For CSP, I think I would push back the "final" to the week before AP testing - the week of is too hectic for students.  I would also give them an extra day to do corrections in class on the practice final.

Concepts
We started a series and sequences unit today.   I had students take notes on a note sheet.  They liked it.  I have always assumed that students needed to have high engagement lessons, but they looked so engaged during this time - the off-task behavior was much lower.  Now, having students copy down notes does NOT mean they are learning, but there is value in having on-task behavior.

One Good Thing
Concepts is changing next year, that is a good thing.

Days : AP test prep reflection

AP CSA
We have done a TON of FRQ prep.  I think I like the scaffolds I have in place.  We started with doing group FRQs which allowed students to talk about it as they went.  Now we have been doing 10-minute silent work time on a question and then 5 minutes with their group and then talking about the solutions.

I am still not sure how to utilize the resources given in the best way possible.  Do I have students grade their own before showing them the solution, do I show them the solution and have them fix theirs?  Do we use the student-created solutions and compare/contrast?  It seems like there are a lot of ways to do this.  I am also wondering if I should assign more of it as homework - although, then I feel like I might just get students who copy down the answers.

Interestingly enough, students did quite well on the practice multiple choice test, so I focused more on FRQs.  I have realized there are some things I didn't emphasize (or even teach) in class.  Checking for the null reference is one of them.  Reference variables, and the idea you can "re-tie" memory addresses to a different reference, is another.  Regardless, in a poll I took yesterday, students said they wanted to focus more on multiple choice prep which seems a little surprising since they did so well on the practice. I have continued to move forward with FRQs, but will be working in more MC prep soon too.

For a while, I did a mini-lecture and then gave them FRQs associated with that mini-lecture.  In some ways I really liked that because students saw how ArrayList questions might look on a FRQ - they saw the connections immediately.  However, I know that spaced practice is good for long-term memory, so now we are doing more practice in sequential order.

AP CSP
Student tasks were due yesterday.  I am going to try to avoid a rant here, but in a series of disconnected thoughts... here we go:

• Templates.  Students for the most part used the template I gave them from our practice Create.  For the most part, this means they used their resources wisely, for the bad part, a lot of what they submitted was a MESS. I even returned some things to students because they had boxes on there that they shouldn't have had.  Next year, I think I will take a 13th day and have students copy and paste their responses into a template that has only "2a" "2b" and "2c" "2d" with empty boxes.  That will at least clean up what is turned in to the College Board.
• Doing all the create practice was worth it.  We did a ton sprinkled across the year but it was all worth it.  2a has a tricky part where students need to describe the OVERALL development of the app (not just 2 points).  A lot of students took this to mean "how does your app work" not "how did you develop it".  Algorithms - we drove home the "1 parent, 2 child, use math/logic in each" definition.  Some students still did not show a screen shot of their child functions, it took a lot of practice, but most students got it.  Abstraction - the managing complexity was hard for students to articulate.  The most important part is that it is used more than once or it has a parameter - I need to focus on that more in unit 3 next year.
• Bring in the big guns.  Next year I think I am going to bring in our rather passionate testing coordinator to talk to students about starting the tasks.  Too many students were too nonchalant about it this year.  I made the task due Friday (the deadline was Monday).  About 15 students didn't have it done.  I was an unhappy camper.  WORSE, come Monday, I still had 10 students not done.  4 of them weren't CLOSE to done.  I think having our testing coordinator drive home what I can and cannot do as well as stress the importance of the task, might help students take it more seriously. 
• Parents are your friends.  I ended up sending e-mails to the 15 families on Friday and then calling the 4 families on Monday.  Next year, I think I am going to have students e-mail update their families (and me) on their progress.  I think a simple "this is what I accomplished in the last 3 days... here is what I hope to accomplish in the next 3 days..." might help me and my students track their progress. 

Now we move on to multiple choice prep.  I am trying to find a way to engage the 38 students in the class with that... we will see how it goes.

Concepts

We are talking about "is college worth it" and doing some cost analysis with that.  We have used spreadsheets to help us with computations and now we are looking at salaries for each different educational level. 

One Good Thing

I will say our field trip went pretty well with concepts - the students were on good behavior and the information was good.