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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.
Education is a Journey
My Dad was and is a stickler for good table manners. he always insisted on them at home while we...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 10/03/2008
Intersection of Computer Science and the Rest of the World
What good is computer science anyway? How does it help anyone understand the world around them/ Good...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 10/02/2008
How Central Is Programming to Computer Science
Computer science educators are fond of saying that computer science is a lot more than just...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 10/01/2008
Using Maps From Windows Programs
One of the areas that is seeing huge growth lately is geo-coded information. Applications that take...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/29/2008
Sample Code For Students
One of the key reasons behind the case study in the Advanced Placement Computer Science curriculum...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/29/2008
Computer Science Is Everywhere
Earlier this week Microsoft Research had a special opening symposium. I really wanted to go. But...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/26/2008
Microsoft Campus Tour Video
I’ve been taking a short blogging break this week. Frankly I’m just flat out with other work lately....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/23/2008
Why Isn’t Science Class Like This?
Well there is cost for one thing. And prep time for another. Oh wait, you don’t know what I’m...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/18/2008
Fun With Colors
I’m in the middle of a deep review of some curriculum for developing web pages. (This curriculum was...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/17/2008
NATIONAL MIDDLE SCHOOL SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE
Something for middle school science classes perhaps: The Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/16/2008
Online Programming Contest for Canadian Students
The DWITE programming competition for Canadian high school students is ramping up again for the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/16/2008
Big Ideas In Computer Science
The Wicked Teacher of the West (in real life actually a very charming middle school computer science...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/15/2008
Line Continuation and Visual Basic – More on C# vs. Visual Basic
Clint has more on our Visual Basic vs. C# discussion on his blog today. Like Clint I am completely...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/12/2008
Alfred VS Clint: C# versus VB debate
Clint Rutkas (who is better than everyone) Twittered his distaste for Visual Basic and preference...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/11/2008
Binary Number Game
I love binary numbers. I was first taught about different number systems in grade school and was...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/11/2008
NSF and the Birth of the Internet
One of the reasons I really believe that teachers should blog and otherwise participate more...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/10/2008
Programming in Applications
First a true confession – regular expressions are a pain for me. Oh don’t get me wrong, I think they...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/09/2008
New XNA Curriculum Resources Coming Soon
I have been remiss in following news at Very Silly Games this summer. Fortunately for me Brian...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/08/2008
Multiplying Fractional Numbers
I was reading a report by the New Hampshire Employment Security's Economic and Labor Market...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/07/2008
Who Are The Students We Are Missing
Some years ago I asked a woman who was a PhD in computer science and a professor at Carnegie Mellon...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/05/2008
Time To Start Thinking About NECC and Other Conferences
Wait, isn’t NECC in the summer? Well, yeas actually it is – June 28th to July 1st 2009. So why...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/03/2008
Favorite Posts from August 2008
I was fortunate enough to be invited to guest blog twice in August. Those may have been among my...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 09/02/2008
Friday Game News
OK it is the start of the long weekend – well once my wife gets back from school where she had just...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/29/2008
Teacher Favorite Templates: Ms. Stivers for 6th and 7th grade
OK these teacher templates recommendations from LeeAnn Stivers who teaches at the International...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/28/2008
Educational Uses For Collections of Images
My wife does a middle school research project using “landmarks” as a theme. Students research places...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/27/2008
Five Minutes is a Long Time
Mark Twain once said “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” If...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/25/2008
Reality Check: Laws of Identity
Kim Cameron is one of the top experts on identity and personal information management in the world....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/22/2008
OneNote Videos on TeacherTube
Mike Tholfsen, the OneNote Ninja, found some time to record and upload a bunch of videos about...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/20/2008
Challenge and Success – Behind the Code with Rebecca Norlander
The latest “Behind the Code” interview at Channel 9 is with Rebecca Norlander who is an executive...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/15/2008
Fall Is Education’s Spring
I have a guest post up at the CSTA blog today. The CSTA blog is running a series of posts about...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/13/2008
Tutorial: 2D Game Development in Silverlight
Now this looks interesting – a tutorial to create a game using Microsoft’s Silverlight technology....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/13/2008
Teaching the Computer Science Teacher
Garth left a comment on an earlier post of mine that I really think deserves more visibility and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/12/2008
Microsoft Visual Studio Tips Book Helps Hurricane Katrina Survivors Rebuild Lives
The incomparable Sara Ford is coming out with a book collecting the best 251 tips of the day for...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/11/2008
GridWorld RolePlay Online
If you are an AP CS teacher one of the things that is an important part of your curriculum is the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/11/2008
The Language is NOT the Important Thing
Invariably when anyone posts about “the right” programming language to use in a first course a lot...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/07/2008
Top Conversations and Links for July 2008
July was interesting. If you missed it (all you lucky teachers who got to actually relax and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/07/2008
Teaching Casting
I love a good analogy. Actually I even like so-so analogies. But this one about casting variables...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/06/2008
Math In Office
OK here is another link for you math teachers out there. Murray Sargent has a blog called Math in...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/05/2008
Attracting Young Women to Software-Related and Other Engineering Fields: We've Been on The Wrong Track All Along
David Klappholz asked me to post this and let any interested LA-area high school computer science...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 08/01/2008
Visual Declarative Designer
Last week the Microsoft Visual Studio Middle School Toy was announced and I wrote about it in my...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/31/2008
Foundations Of Digital Games Conference
The Game Development in Computer Science Education conference has been renamed and this year’s event...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/30/2008