Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information from Alfred Thompson
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.
Interesting Links 16 January 2012
Sorry this is late today. Not a good weekend or morning either. Should be close to 100% for the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/16/2012
Teaching Teachers and Students Together
The other day Chris Bowen (that’s Chris working with students below) and I gave a Kodu workshop for...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/13/2012
Interesting Links 9 January 2012
Wow! What a weekend I had. Microsoft was pretty involved with the kick off of this year’s FIRST...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/09/2012
Kinect for FRC 2012
Tomorrow is the official kickoff for the FIRST Robotics Competition. One of the things that means is...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/06/2012
CS & IT 2012–Participate Actively!
Back in the end of November I posted the call for proposals for the 12th Annual Computer Science...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/05/2012
Microsoft Bliink 2012 Illinois Web Design Competition
Registration for the Microsoft Bliink 2012 Illinois Web Design Competition is now open. Bliink...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/04/2012
Computer Science Orphans
I had a conversation with one one of the senior managers of the FIRST Lego League challenge. FIRST...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/03/2012
Interesting Links 02 January 2012
Happy New Year! My best wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year to all my readers. Today...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/02/2012
Let’s go do some math
I was watching an episode of Mythbusters the other day. I always enjoy that show and while most of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/30/2011
Top Most Read Posts of 2011
It may be a little early to post this but not much. At this point it would be a big surprise if some...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/27/2011
Kinect Educators
One of the great things in my job is the chance to make connections between people doing interesting...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/23/2011
One Compile A Day
A recent blog post by Ian Bogost (The Virtues of Long Compiles) has me thinking once again about the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/22/2011
Textbooks–The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
I was reading through a couple of blog posts by Garth Flint earlier today. I’ve been using some of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/21/2011
Help Shape the CSTA Annual Conference: Be a Proposal Reviewer
This is one of several recent “CSTA Blasts” that I am posting on my blog. If you are a member of the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/21/2011
CS AP Principles–UW Bothell
A number of universities around the US are piloting courses to fit the proposed Advanced Placement...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/20/2011
Interesting Links 19 December 2011
I’m on vacation this week. That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t collecting links last week and putting...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/19/2011
First Do No Harm
I came across a great quote by Pablo Picasso the other day “All children are artists. The problem is...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/16/2011
Pick The Software First
Last week an email passed though my inbox that said something like “my district is buying the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/15/2011
Creating Engineers One Student At A Time
Last weekend I visited the Maine State Championship for FIRST Lego League which is run by a group of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/14/2011
Year Up Visits the MTC
Last Friday the Microsoft Technology Center in Waltham MA was pleased to again host a group from...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/13/2011
Interesting Links 12 December 2011
Last week I posted a list of some of the great computer science related blogs I read on a regular...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/12/2011
Why I’m Still Excited about Computer Science
It’s computer science education week and that has me thinking about what I’d like to tell students...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/09/2011
Computer Science Education Blog Roll
I’m a firm believer that blogs are a great way for teachers to share ideas and builds...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/08/2011
Could You Pass the AP Computer Science Exam?
There is an article in the Washington Post about a school board member who took a standardized test...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/07/2011
Bentley’s CIS Sandbox
Last week I accepted an invitation from Professor Mark Frydenberg of Bentley University to attend...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/06/2011
Interesting Links 5 December 2011
Happy Computer Science Education Week! Hope you are doing something fun and interesting to encourage...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/05/2011
CS Bits & Bytes From the National Science Foundation
Another good lead from the CSTA today, the national Science Foundation is starting a new bi-weekly...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/01/2011
12th Annual Computer Science & Information Technology Conference.
The Computer Science Teachers Association runs what I consider the single best and most important...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/29/2011
Interesting Links 28 November 2011
Last week was a quiet one for me. Thanksgiving holiday in the US meant I didn’t spend as much time...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/28/2011
Programming for Absolute Beginners from Channel 9
Channel 9 has just launched an absolute beginner series to help people learn to program. There are...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/26/2011
The Rock Paper Azure Challenge is back
The Rock Paper Azure Challenge is back and you could win big! Play Rock, Paper, Scissors in the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/22/2011
Interesting Links 21 November 2011
This week will be a short one with the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US later this week....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/21/2011
Big App On Campus
Microsoft announced a Windows Phone development contest for college/university students in the US...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/19/2011
Collection of Kinect in Education Links
Thanks to Johnny Kissko (9 Excellent Programming Resources for Kinect) I recently discovered Ray...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/18/2011
C# Mini Course
So this is an experiment of sorts. Last summer I was asked to train some college students in C#. The...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/16/2011
Leading With Kinect
Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting a group of students from the Boston Preparatory Charter...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/15/2011
Computer Science at the Microsoft Global Forum
This week Microsoft is hosting over 700 innovative teachers from around the world in Washington DC...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/09/2011
Python, Visual Studio and Kinect
Python is rapidly growing in popularity in academia. Last week Microsoft announced Python...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/08/2011
Teacher Trainer Professional Development Program
The Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) program provides trainers the opportunity to deepen and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/04/2011
How Many Sorting Algorithms Do Beginners Need To Learn
Do beginners even need to learn sorting algorithms? Let’s face it most modern programming...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/02/2011
What To Tell Students About Computer Science
Last Friday I drove down to Cape Cod. Just over the Cape Cod canal via the Bourne Bridge is Upper...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/01/2011