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.
The Best and Most Innovative Teachers
Being somewhat opinionated about the subject (who am I kidding – most subjects) and at the same time...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/21/2012
Interesting Links 19 March 2012
Have you gotten the free software tools to develop for Windows Phone 7.5 and Xbox LIVE Indie Games...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/19/2012
ChronoZoom–a new way to look at history
Microsoft Research announced a new project a couple of days ago called ChronoZoom - An Infinite...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/17/2012
Pex4fun, an online lab for APCS
Are you teaching Advanced Placement Computer Science? Are you looking for supplemental exercises...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/16/2012
Tic Tac Toe for Windows Phone
Introduction We are going to create a simple Tic Tac Toe game for Windows Phone. We’ll be...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/14/2012
Interesting Links 12 March 2012
In between the usual meetings, email exchanges, phone calls and meeting basketball stars (Why...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/12/2012
Using Kinect for Windows with XNA Curriculum
I mentioned Rob Miles new Using Kinect for Windows with XNA curriculum in Monday’s Interesting Links...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/07/2012
CS 2012 Strawman Draft Comment Period Open
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, (ACM/IEEE-CS Computer Science Curricula 2013 - Strawman draft) the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/06/2012
More on Signing Up for DreamSpark and AppHub
About a month ago I wrote a post (DreamSpark and AppHub Sign Up) to help people step through the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/06/2012
Interesting Links 5 March 2012
I took some vacation days last week. Here in New Hampshire the weather has been wild. On Tuesday I...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/05/2012
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If…
Interesting new student competition from Time Warner Cable (TWC). As part of Connect a Million Minds...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/02/2012
It Doesn’t Pay To Be Too Clever
Recently someone posted the following question and bit of code to the Advanced Placement Computer...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/01/2012
Microsoft at SIGCSE 2012
For the first time in several years I am not attending SIGCSE this week. I’m really missing it...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/29/2012
One week left to enter the Kinect Fun Labs Challenge!
I know that here and there you might have some really great Kinect game or app ideas at your...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/27/2012
Interesting Links 27 February 2012
The highlight of this past week for me was taking part in the CSTA CS & IT conference program...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/27/2012
Tutorials, Projects and Problem Solving
Another recent confluence of posts on similar topics (list below) has caused me to spend some time...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/24/2012
Big Brother Knows More Than You Think
And by Big Brother I don’t mean the government. No, I mean the companies you do business with. If...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/22/2012
Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum–Reminder
I know I keep blogging about this event but it really is a great event and I really hope many of you...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/21/2012
ACM/IEEE-CS Computer Science Curricula 2013 - Strawman draft
Over the weekend, the ACM/IEEE-CS Computer Science Curricula 2013 committee (of which I am a member)...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/21/2012
Interesting Links 20 February 2012
Happy President’s Day! Not a day off for me but still a good day. Hope you are all off to a good...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/20/2012
How To Start A Computer Science Flame War
Computer Scientists and computer professionals who may not think of themselves as “scientists” and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/17/2012
National STEM Video Game Challenge TweetChat
The National STEM Video Game challenge kicked off a couple of months ago but it starting to come...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/16/2012
Microsoft Developer Day: Entertainment Reimagined
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/14/2012
Magic Numbers Are Bad
I had my friend Clint Rutkas review some code of mine. Now I have been writing code longer than...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/14/2012
Interesting Links 13 February 2012
Home again after a week in Texas! Had a great time in Texas both at the TCEA conference and the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/13/2012
Key Imagine Cup 2012 Dates Approaching
Randy Guthrie wrote a long information packed post about Key Imagine Cup 2012 Dates Approaching in...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/10/2012
Hello From Texas
You may have noticed I haven’t been blogging as much this week. I’ve been in Austin TX at the TCEA...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/09/2012
Tools for Teaching Adults to Program
We seem to be developing tools to teach younger and younger people to program. Kodu in theory is for...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/07/2012
Interesting Links 6 February 2012
I’m headed to Austin TX today for the Texas Computer Educators Association (TCEA) conference....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/06/2012
When Just Working Isn’t Good Enough
I wrote a tic tac toe game for my Windows Phone today. It works just fine. I’m just not happy...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/04/2012
Kinect For Windows Is Out
I know you have been reading me write about Kinect for Windows for a while now so why is this news?...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/03/2012
No Room in the Inn–I Mean Schedule
I spent yesterday at Stevens Institute of Technology, an outstanding university across the river...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/01/2012
Are You Applying for the 2012 US Forum?
Last summer I attended the US Innovative Education Forum in Redmond and came home quite inspired by...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/31/2012
Interesting Posts 30 January 2012
Wow! January if almost over. Groundhog Day coming up this week. I wonder if these is a fun computing...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/30/2012
Kinect Sweepstakes For Schools
Energize your classroom and get students moving! Enter for a chance to win a KinectTM for Xbox...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/27/2012
Inviting ALL EDUCATORS to share their GREAT IDEAS
I love sharing by educators. It is one clear way that I believe we can all make education work...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/25/2012
We Need A Wider Conversation on CS Education
There is an active conversation going on in the UK about computing education. From the Royal Society...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/25/2012
One Option for How to Teach Kodu
I recently ran some workshops to prepare students to be peer mentors and to mentor younger students...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/24/2012
Interesting Links 23 January 2012
Last week really reminded me of how much I miss being in the classroom. Two all-day workshops with a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/23/2012
Time Flies When Learning Is Fun
I did some work workshops with the great people from Digital Wish again this week (see also Teaching...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/20/2012