Day 84 (and 83 retrospectively)

AP CSP

On day 83 we did a "rainbow logic" activity and then did a "guess who" questioning activity.  It was a good way to start the semester.

Today we worked on the explore.  I swear we could get this done in one more day.  Tomorrow I need to go through and see where everyone is.  There is a lot of off task behavior... I don't know how to handle that for this "designated time" - it does set a bad precedent.

AP CSA

On day 83 we did a sorting activity and reviewed the exam.  The sorting activity was just fine - students didn't do a great job of writing their algorithm - I maybe should have given them the opportunity to refine it as they saw some of the issues.

Today we started with polymorphism.  

Day 85

AP CSA

Today we worked on the "structure lab" - I realized that the best way to monitor student progress was to check in with students the last 10 minutes of class and ask to see their toString method in a parent class.  I wanted to see that they used "super.toString" - some didn't, but when I talked to them about it they had a good a-ha about it.  I also handed out a worksheet - I think more mini unplugged practice like this is helpful.

Day 84: Start of semester 2

AP CSP

On day 83 we did a "rainbow logic" activity and then did a "guess who" questioning activity.  It was a good way to start the semester.

Today we worked on the explore.  I swear we could get this done in one more day.  Tomorrow I need to go through and see where everyone is.  There is a lot of off task behavior... I don't know how to handle that for this "designated time" - it does set a bad precedent.

AP CSA

On day 83 we did a sorting activity and reviewed the exam.  The sorting activity was just fine - students didn't do a great job of writing their algorithm - I maybe should have given them the opportunity to refine it as they saw some of the issues.

Today we started with polymorphism.  I had students create a UML diagram of these different classes.  It was amazing how quickly the idea of "oh we can use the Person class to help with Student" came up.  

From there we did a stand-and-talk looking at 2 different classes and one runner class with output.  That actually went really well - I wish I would have had one copy per student for them to mark up.  Some student known

We then added to our tri-folded notes. 

Then we did a quick code along with ChildrensBook and Book. 

It was an action packed hour!  I am feeling good about how we are starting this - I think the trifold notes could have waited as a "summary" a few days later.  Right now, I don't think it meant a lot to students as we were writing.

Overall, students had great questions about this new content. 

Geometry

Yesterday we did the rainbow logic activity as a team builder.  Then I had them fill out a card with 2 truths and a lie.  I am going to use this to choose students in the future.

I introduced proportions today.  They struggled with when fractions are negative how you handle the negative sign.  They also struggled with setting up the proportion with labels.  We did speed dating instead of homework, and I think that went well - I need to structure that more - some super motivated students were just swapping problems without talking about it.  I think next time I could have them go to a different table each time to get more movement in the classroom.

One Good Thing

I felt good about what happened in geometry today.  I also feel good about what I have coming up in geometry. 

Day YY:

What. A. Whirlwind.  I went to New Zealand for the break and it was tough to get prepped before I left and to get caught up afterwards.

AP CSP
I actually like my flow this year.  Students researched a "data innovation" for unit 4 and then submitted their responses and I graded it, they re-did it, and I re-graded it.  Then they did the "full practice explore" on the same innovation.  Because they had already perfected about half of the task, they only had half left.  Then, when I graded it, it was really easy - they did really well!  During the final time, they are going to work on the "real Explore".

I am worried that kids are going to get bored with 8 hours of Explore time.  I have a few days that I am going to miss in February for PD, so I might make those "work days".  I TRULY believe that after all of our prep, my students can mostly get this done in 2-3 hours.   I figure doing 1.5 hours on the exam day and 2 days next week, most students will be done at that point.

Then we can jump back into programming!

AP CSA
Some how we were able to squeeze in Interfaces before the semester break!  Once again, there were a few students who just bombed the quiz.  I think they had forgotten how a basic class/method header works.  Next year, I think I will give a "practice quiz" first just to force them to think about it.  OR OR OR maybe we can do "find the errors" activity???  I haven't done that yet.  I should.

I reached out to another AP CSA teacher about what she did for a review for the class and she said, I don't.  That was good to hear.  Today (the day before the final) I returned the Interface quiz and then covered topics that students were a bit shaky on including: Math.random(), String methods, for-each loops

Geometry
I played Taboo with my geometry students to review for the quadrilaterals test.  At first they complained.

I get so frustrated when students complain about doing something fun.  Mainly because it takes a lot of my time to get it put together.  I was pretty transparent with them on that fact.  They seemed get into line a bit more.

We started by playing Taboo as a class on the board.  I had two people who (presumably) knew how to play and one person turned away from the board.  The other person could see the board as I put a "card" under the document camera.  Then they explained the word and the class held them accountable.  We did 2 rounds like that and then I gave students their individual cards.  I actually played with a group and it went really well.

BUT, and this is important, it is TOUGH for ELL students.  A friend of mine was dating a guy whose first language was Spanish, and while conversing with him you wouldn't necessarily think English was his second language, playing Taboo was tough for him. 

So, the question is, what supports can you put in place?  I cannot answer that question now.  My student I was most concerned about wanted to work on something else so I accommodated that request but I didn't love that solution.

One Good Thing
I am so thankful for my Lunch and Learn team!