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Alfred Thompson's blog about teaching computer science at the K-12 level. Alfred was a high school computer science teacher for 8 years. He has also taught grades K-8 as a computer specialist.
February 2009 Free eBooks from Microsoft Learning
Over at the Microsoft Learning community blog I found a post with this month's Microsoft Press 25th...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/20/2009
Same and Different
I learn a lot from blogs. For example this morning I read a post at the CSTA blog by Myra Deister...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/19/2009
Silverlight Developer Contest
I know that a lot of students are looking to learn new skills and show of the ones they have. And...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/16/2009
Students 2 Business
With the way the economy has been going lately it has never been more important to help students...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/13/2009
Thursday Links – 2/12/2009
CareerForward is a self-contained online course that can help schools prepare students for their...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/12/2009
Teaching Office Resources, University Lectures, Things Found on Twitter
Twitter continues to grow as part of my professional learning network. This week I learned about a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/11/2009
Finding the Titanic
The closing keynote TCEA was given by Dr. Robert Ballard of oceanographic explorer fame. It was a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/10/2009
Certification 101: Getting Started with Microsoft Certification – It’s Back!
The last time one of these sessions was held I found out about it late but there was still a lot of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/09/2009
Five Year Blogging Anniversary
Today marks five years of blogging for me. That day was a Saturday as well. Funny how things work...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/07/2009
Are you certifiable? Are your students?
Microsoft just released a web site at www.areyoucertifiable.com that just may be the way to find out...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/06/2009
Exploring Binary
The latest blog to be added to my RSS reader (I use RSS Bandit) is the aptly named Exploring Binary....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/03/2009
From Java to C# - How, What, and Why – SIGCSE Pre-conference Workshop
Just on the heels of my finding the Java to C# Orange book I received the following announcement of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/02/2009
Useful Web Links for Computer Science Teachers
I keep doing sets of links to hand out at various conferences. It seems like every time I do the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/30/2009
Java To C# Orange Book
So perhaps you are teaching Java and your students want to learn C# (sea sharp). Or maybe you want...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/28/2009
Monday Video Links – 1 26 2009
Occasionally I post a bunch of links on a Friday. Usually I do this because I found a bunch of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/26/2009
Internet Safety for the Whole Family
I gave a presentation to parents at a local middle school last night about Internet safety. One of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/23/2009
The 2009 Alice Symposium – Call For Papers
Just passing this along in hopes that people interested in Alice will see it and take advantage of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/21/2009
Windows 7: To the Beta and Beyond
Something for the IT people at your school or district. Date: Thursday, February 12th Time: 11:00am...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/21/2009
Bernie Madoff and the Need For Ethics in Computer Science
Have you seen a show or movie about a huge heist lately? The “Mission Impossible” type of movie or...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/20/2009
CWE/SANS TOP 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors
It’s rare when you can get a bunch of software people to agree on much of any thing. Just think of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/16/2009
Ada Lovelace Day
For a long time I have been concerned about the small number of women in the computer field. The...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/15/2009
Social Computing/Networking and Reaching Out To Students
If you are viewing this post using a web browser and slide down the screen a little you will find a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/14/2009
Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years
I remember when I finished first grade and I thought I was done with school. The reason I wanted to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/12/2009
Are You Using a Strong Password
One of the discussions that take place which I talk about Internet and computer safety is what makes...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/09/2009
Are You Smart Enough To Debug Your Own Code
I collected a whole bunch of links recently and have just started going through them in depth. One...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/08/2009
Project Euler – Math Programming Projects
Oh you math teachers are going to love this one. No, really you will. And honestly it may encourage...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/07/2009
Another Web Site with Computer Science Teaching Information and Resources
Over at the teaching computers to kids website I found a link to kidslike.info. This site is...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/06/2009
How well do you use search engines?
One of the things that amazes me is how poorly many people are at using Internet search engines....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/05/2009
PostRank Ranks My Top Recent Posts
I was playing with PostRank the other day and got an interesting (well to me anyway) list of the top...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/04/2009
Coding Up A Coded Message
I love codes and ciphers. As a kid I loved to play with simple substitution ciphers. Since I like...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/03/2009
ACM Urges Obama to Include CS as Core Part of STEM Education
The ACM, the professional society for the computer professionals, issued a paper and a press release...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/02/2009
Happy New Year 2009
Well it is a new year. Last year was an interesting year in just too many ways to recount. But we...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/01/2009
Tetris for Small Basic
Talk about a great sample of the week – the Small Basic blog announces a version of the classic...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/30/2008
Software Modeling
So have you unpacked your Christmas gifts, eaten your fill of the holiday feast or perhaps you don’t...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/29/2008
Students Need Internet-Safety Education
According to this article (Sending racy photos is common among teens) in eSchool News, some 22% of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/26/2008
One More Reason I’m Proud of Working For Microsoft
Interesting article about “a survey of major corporations [of which companies are] doing the best...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/24/2008
Why Do So Many Programmers Use One Character Index Variables
There is a commercial on TV these days where a little girl is helping her mother and grandmother...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/23/2008
What Would a 2000 Year Old Computer Look Like?
A British museum has rebuilt a 2000-year old computer initially used by the Greeks. The ruins of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/22/2008
Free EBooks From Microsoft Learning
I was checking the Microsoft Learning blog the other day and saw this announcement of some free...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/19/2008
Teacher Tech Tuesdays January 2009
The Teacher Tech Tuesday program (last blogged about here) is dedicated to helping teachers and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/19/2008
Small Basic 0.2 Goes Live
The latest update of Small Basic went live this week. I wrote about Small Basic once before. The...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/18/2008
We Need Wireless Power
New Hampshire was hit by a major ice storm last Thursday night. The power at my house went out...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/15/2008
When Is A Short Circuit a Good Thing?
I get inspiration for blog posts from a number of places. Sometimes from Twitter (see yesterday’s...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/12/2008
Are Teachers (Becoming) Obsolete?
This morning a could of things that I thought about blogging just didn’t work for me. I couldn’t get...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/11/2008