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.
New England Innovation Month 2010
June has been designated as New England Innovation month. It was innovation (the company was Digital...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/01/2010
Microsoft at ISTE 2010
Well the schedule for Microsoft sessions and events at ISTE 2010 in Denver is up. And I’m excited...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/28/2010
And here a miracle happens
I was reading a post by Mark Guzdial yesterday (In Praise of Drill and Practice) and was struck by...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/27/2010
Blog Changes taking place
You may have noticed a different look to the blog today. Microsoft has migrated us all (those of us...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/25/2010
Interesting Links 24 May 2010
I pretty much took last week off from blogging. I sort of needed a break and since they were...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/24/2010
2010 U.S. Innovative Education Forum!
Do You Innovate? Apply now for the 2010 U.S. Innovative Education Forum! You could be selected to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/18/2010
Quiet Period for This Blog
It’s going to be quiet here for a while. Over the next week, Microsoft is moving the thousands of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/16/2010
Failure to Upgrade
There was a funny movie out a few years ago called Failure To Launch. It tells the story of a man in...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/14/2010
Assessment And Computer Science
I was reading the CSTA blog the other day and there is an article called Assessment by Joanna Goode...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/13/2010
Programming and Excel
Not everyone needs to be a programmer! You probably hear that a lot if you talk about trying to get...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/11/2010
Interesting Links 10 May 2010
You have to love the Internet and especially twitter. You can hear about things that you’d never...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/10/2010
Point Them in a Direction and Get Out of the Way
I’ve heard Bill Gates talk a number of times about how influential his middle school...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/07/2010
What do you need to know?
The Microsoft Job Blog recently has a two part interview study guide set of posts. In the second...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/05/2010
Interesting Links 3 May 2010
Last week was a struggle for me both blogging and otherwise. A lot of stuff going on at work and at...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/03/2010
Interesting Links 28 April 2010
As promised here are a bunch more links that I hope you will find interesting and useful. The CSTA...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/28/2010
Interesting Links 27 April 2010
I twittered up quite a storm last week. Much of it was because of the US Imagine Cup which I was...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/27/2010
US Imagine Cup Winners
Today after keynote presentations by James Cameron (who praised Microsoft Research for helping them...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/26/2010
Windows Phone 7 Rockstar Award
If you have been reading my blog (or following on Twitter @AlfredTwo) you have been reading about...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/26/2010
Finalists for the US Imagine Cup 2010
Don’t forget that the community showcase is Monday 26 April 2010 at the Newseum. Special guests and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/25/2010
Full Day One for US Imagine Cup Finals
At 8AM this morning, judging for the US Imagine Cup finals began. Ten software design and ten game...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/24/2010
Opening Night US Imagine Cup Finals
The competitors have arrived in Washington DC (OK technically Chevy Chase MD) for the US Imagine Cup...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/23/2010
US Imagine Cup Finals This Weekend
Today I have a presentation to give around mid-day and then I go home to pack for a trip to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/22/2010
New Silverlight 4 Training Kit Available
Microsoft has just released a new free Silverlight 4 Training Kit that walks you through...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/21/2010
The Intersection of Education and Entertainment
How many times have you heard a teacher say something like “I’m here to educate them not to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/20/2010
Interesting Links 19 April 2010
Friday morning this week I head to Washington DC for the 2010 US Imagine Cup Finals. You can...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/19/2010
Credentials or Knowledge
The ever interesting Will Richardson got me thinking again today. He talks about how to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/18/2010
Does Your Computer Lab Scare Away the Girls?
The Internet is as the same time one of the great distractions and great spontaneously learning...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/16/2010
Teachers Don’t Talk Enough
I was invited to be on a panel at Northeastern University (I was a last minute fill-in but happy to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/15/2010
K-12 Computing Teachers Workshop
The Computer Science Teachers Association sent out an announcement about an upcoming workshop hosted...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/14/2010
Visual Studio 2010 Now Available
Well it is official – the final release of Visual Studio 2010 is not available. If your school has...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/13/2010
Interesting Links 12 April 2010
What does this say? 01000010 01100001 01110010 01100010 01101001 01100101 It says “Barbie” in Binary...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/12/2010
Barriers and Strategies for K-12 Computer Science Teachers
An interesting new report from Anita Borg Institute, CSTA and the University of Arizona called...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/08/2010
The Last Bug
I spent much of yesterday working on a computer program. A friend of mine wrote it in Visual Basic...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/06/2010
Interesting Links 5 April 2010
Words matter. One set of words that come up in discussion are “training” and “professional...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/05/2010
Everything Is Changing in CS Education
There seems to be a lot of agreement that we need to change the way we teach computer science,...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/02/2010
Resources for Teaching Binary Numbers
I’ve been collecting resources for teaching Binary numbers and number systems lately. Today...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/01/2010
Exploring Problem-Solving Processes with Smithsonian and Microsoft
Something for the wider education community. I think we need to do more to teach problem-solving and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/31/2010
Playing Video Games Will Not Get You a Job But Creating One Might
Last week I had a chance to hear Larry Hryb (AKA Major Nelson) of the Xbox Live team talk to a group...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/30/2010
Interesting Links 29 March 2010
In yet another example of how poorly I do at predicting what is going to be interesting and/or...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/29/2010
Where does Computer Science Belong?
To some extent Computer Science is the red headed step child of K-12 education. It just doesn’t fit...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/26/2010
Curriculum, Companies, Cooperation and Conflict
Where does curriculum come from? Where should it come from? What involvement should industry in...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/25/2010