Good luck to all the grade-10 students writing the OSSLT tomorrow!
2011-03-29
Late + short = hectic!
I know that students like our late starts, but they do make for a hectic day: while students start late, teachers start early (for school-wide or departmental meetings), and then all of us have to rush through shortened periods—and a shortened lunch!
I appreciate the goodwill of my students: they deal with the time crunch with equanimity, and their good humour makes a difficult day less frantic.
Thanks, folks!
I appreciate the goodwill of my students: they deal with the time crunch with equanimity, and their good humour makes a difficult day less frantic.
Thanks, folks!
2011-03-28
Flash!
One of my favourite activities is supervising the thrice-weekly meetings of the Flash Programming Club in Lab 218 at lunch time. The enthusiasm of the club leaders in sharing their love of Flash programming and the excitement of club members as they develop their skills are a real delight to behold!
I encourage everyone who’s an interest in learning about Flash programming, developing existing skills, or sharing her/his expertise, to check-out the club one Monday, Wednesday, or Friday!
I encourage everyone who’s an interest in learning about Flash programming, developing existing skills, or sharing her/his expertise, to check-out the club one Monday, Wednesday, or Friday!
2011-03-25
Half a dozen weeks
We’ve been at it for only six weeks, but already we’ve covered so much ground and made so much progress!
I encourage all of my students to consider what they’ve accomplished so far, what academic practices have worked well this semester, and what changes or improvements they’d like to make to ensure even greater success in the next half-dozen weeks to come.
I encourage all of my students to consider what they’ve accomplished so far, what academic practices have worked well this semester, and what changes or improvements they’d like to make to ensure even greater success in the next half-dozen weeks to come.
2011-03-24
SPTN Live!
The database to allow students to book appointments for themselves and their parents/guardians to meet with me next week is now live at touque.ca.
I look forward to meeting with as many parents/guardians as possible!
I look forward to meeting with as many parents/guardians as possible!
2011-03-23
Is responsibility dead?
Absolutely not!
Everyday in my classroom, I see grade-10, grade-11, and grade-12 students rising to the challenge of young adulthood posed by my expectations of civility, maturity, and responsibility. My teaching philosophy is to treat students like the young adults they aspire to be, believing as I do that their character and intelligence will prevail.
Not every student has yet reached the level of responsibility that I expect—and require!—but I have great faith in the capacity of even the least mature to make choices which bring them closer, day by day, to becoming productive and effective members of our learning community.
Responsibility is alive and thriving in Lab 218!
Everyday in my classroom, I see grade-10, grade-11, and grade-12 students rising to the challenge of young adulthood posed by my expectations of civility, maturity, and responsibility. My teaching philosophy is to treat students like the young adults they aspire to be, believing as I do that their character and intelligence will prevail.
Not every student has yet reached the level of responsibility that I expect—and require!—but I have great faith in the capacity of even the least mature to make choices which bring them closer, day by day, to becoming productive and effective members of our learning community.
Responsibility is alive and thriving in Lab 218!
2011-03-22
Is the phone dead?
No, not the pocket computer with which you send text messages, read e-mail, listen to music, play games, and check the time. I mean the device with which you hold a synchronous conversation with another person.
In a recent New York Times article, Pamela Paul observed that few people make telephone calls anymore. And I note that, increasingly, my students think I’ve lost my grip on reality when I suggest that they could have dealt with their my-dog-ate-my-Internet problem (which precluded them from doing homework, studying, completing the assignment…) by telephoning a classmate for assistance.
Perhaps in a world in which people Big Brother themselves with social media, the notion of actually talking to someone who’s not physically present is culturally abnormal. In Isaac Asimov’s classic The Robots of Dawn, the denizens of planet Aurora, the innermost planet orbiting Tau Ceti, have refined their dislike of physical presence to the extreme: they interact exclusively through technology, finding sickening the idea of being in the same room—breathing the same air!—as another person.
Is the phone dead? For many of my students, the answer is yes!
In a recent New York Times article, Pamela Paul observed that few people make telephone calls anymore. And I note that, increasingly, my students think I’ve lost my grip on reality when I suggest that they could have dealt with their my-dog-ate-my-Internet problem (which precluded them from doing homework, studying, completing the assignment…) by telephoning a classmate for assistance.
Perhaps in a world in which people Big Brother themselves with social media, the notion of actually talking to someone who’s not physically present is culturally abnormal. In Isaac Asimov’s classic The Robots of Dawn, the denizens of planet Aurora, the innermost planet orbiting Tau Ceti, have refined their dislike of physical presence to the extreme: they interact exclusively through technology, finding sickening the idea of being in the same room—breathing the same air!—as another person.
Is the phone dead? For many of my students, the answer is yes!
2011-03-21
Happy 5th Anniversary, Twitter!
Can a lot be said in 140 characters?
Perhaps it depends on the character who speaks, since it’s said that actions speak louder than words.
Perhaps it depends on the character who speaks, since it’s said that actions speak louder than words.
2011-03-11
March Reboot
Even though our March Break starts tomorrow, today was a regular sort of day: students worked hard on the current assignments, helped one another over the rough spots, and increased their understanding of the complicated, rewarding, and captivating world of computer studies. Alas, there were no student playlists for Studio 218, so we had to fall back on some of mine. (This disappointed me, because I look forward to hearing new music and discovering new bands.)
My policy is not to assign homework over holidays, but I encouraged students who need catching-up to take advantage of our class website, wiki, discussion forum, and e-mail to do just that. And catching-up or not, I prescribed for all (including me!) sleeping much and eating well!
I look forward to seeing my refreshed students in a week's time.
2011-03-10
Make mistakes now!
If you’re going to make mistakes, high school is a good place to do it: You’re surrounded by people who want you to succeed and are concerned with teaching you what’s required to be a good human being and a successful citizen. In high school, it’s expected that there’ll be errors in judgement and reasoning—and that you’ll learn from those errors as you develop into a mensch.
And in high school, you get to start fresh every day: Your teachers, having instructed, guided, corrected, or admonished you the day before, look forward to your fresh opportunity to demonstrate to them—and to yourself—that you have what it takes to be that good human being and successful citizen.
So if you’re planning on making lots of mistakes, make them now—you’re in the right place!
And in high school, you get to start fresh every day: Your teachers, having instructed, guided, corrected, or admonished you the day before, look forward to your fresh opportunity to demonstrate to them—and to yourself—that you have what it takes to be that good human being and successful citizen.
So if you’re planning on making lots of mistakes, make them now—you’re in the right place!
2011-03-09
Respect
Kudos to class A for their good work during my absence today. And thanks, again, to Andrea and Muhammed for serving as Student Hosts. They and their classmates did me proud!
Congratulations to class C for their significant progress towards a difficult goal: mastering the concepts of Classes and Objects. They continue to have my admiration.
As for class B: what is the proper response to their disrespect?
Congratulations to class C for their significant progress towards a difficult goal: mastering the concepts of Classes and Objects. They continue to have my admiration.
As for class B: what is the proper response to their disrespect?
2011-03-08
All quiet on the southern front
Many students were away from class today, enjoying the benefits of field trips offered by various courses. Meanwhile, in Lab 218, significant progress was made by those present, perhaps benefiting from the relative calm which descends on a class when its population falls below a certain level.
Steady progress was made on understanding the fundamentals of variables and procedures (the regular and advanced students of class A), the structure of methods and the utility of return values (the grade-11s of class B), and the importance of rigorous testing of classes (class C and the grade-12s of class B).
Tomorrow, students will have another chance to demonstrate their best behaviour: classes A & B will host Guest Teachers in the morning. I look forward to an excellent report, anticipating that all will remain quiet on the southern front.
Steady progress was made on understanding the fundamentals of variables and procedures (the regular and advanced students of class A), the structure of methods and the utility of return values (the grade-11s of class B), and the importance of rigorous testing of classes (class C and the grade-12s of class B).
Tomorrow, students will have another chance to demonstrate their best behaviour: classes A & B will host Guest Teachers in the morning. I look forward to an excellent report, anticipating that all will remain quiet on the southern front.
2011-03-07
Budding Journos Uncovered!
A previously unknown supply of budding journalists has been found in an unexpected location: the grade-10 computer-studies class at Victoria Park Collegiate Institute (VPCI) in Toronto, Canada. More than half a dozen student reporters were uncovered by their unsuspecting teacher at the school, which is located in that country’s largest and most diverse city.
“I was taken completely unawares,” said Michael Arkin, the only full-time computer-studies educator currently teaching at the secondary school, which serves a range of academic programs to more than 1400 teenagers. “I’ve a long-time interest in newspapers in particular, and writing and editing in general, but I never thought I’d find such talent in a CS class,” he said.
The fledgling journos were discovered quite by accident, during a routine assignment meant to boost the school’s OSSLT results, which have been less than stellar in the past. Successful completion of the OSSLT, the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, is a provincial high-school graduation requirement.
At the end of last Friday’s class, Mr. Arkin assigned students the task of writing a news report on the class’s discussion of ways to select a representative to the newly created VPCI Senate. He uncovered the unheralded scribes only today, while marking those assignments.
“I was taken completely unawares,” said Michael Arkin, the only full-time computer-studies educator currently teaching at the secondary school, which serves a range of academic programs to more than 1400 teenagers. “I’ve a long-time interest in newspapers in particular, and writing and editing in general, but I never thought I’d find such talent in a CS class,” he said.
The fledgling journos were discovered quite by accident, during a routine assignment meant to boost the school’s OSSLT results, which have been less than stellar in the past. Successful completion of the OSSLT, the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, is a provincial high-school graduation requirement.
At the end of last Friday’s class, Mr. Arkin assigned students the task of writing a news report on the class’s discussion of ways to select a representative to the newly created VPCI Senate. He uncovered the unheralded scribes only today, while marking those assignments.
2011-03-04
Getting with the program
Programming is a non-trivial skill, so of course it takes time, effort, and concentration to acquire.
But because much schooling is about the continuation of earlier study, students are often taken aback when they’re confronted with material about which they have no prior knowledge. And because modern life often allows students to shirk their responsibilities to read dense text for comprehension and to write with care and precision (think flashy websites designed to elicit clicks, not contemplation, and near-illiterate “texts” and “tweets”), is it any wonder that students are surprised by the sophistication of thought required in order to program?
The programming learning curve is shallow, in part because old habits of imprecise thought and composition have to be abandoned. But as was shown this week by the hard work of my students, the curve does point upwards as new ideas and ways of thinking are assimilated.
I am encouraged by the productive struggles of my students learning programming for the first time, or learning a new programming paradigm like OOP, and look forward to their continuing success!
But because much schooling is about the continuation of earlier study, students are often taken aback when they’re confronted with material about which they have no prior knowledge. And because modern life often allows students to shirk their responsibilities to read dense text for comprehension and to write with care and precision (think flashy websites designed to elicit clicks, not contemplation, and near-illiterate “texts” and “tweets”), is it any wonder that students are surprised by the sophistication of thought required in order to program?
The programming learning curve is shallow, in part because old habits of imprecise thought and composition have to be abandoned. But as was shown this week by the hard work of my students, the curve does point upwards as new ideas and ways of thinking are assimilated.
I am encouraged by the productive struggles of my students learning programming for the first time, or learning a new programming paradigm like OOP, and look forward to their continuing success!
2011-03-03
A rising tide raises all Boats
Kudos to class C for the yeoman service they provided one another today. Working in a large group, they tackled with energy and enthusiasm a from-the-beginning review of the concepts crucial for an understanding of classes (no pun intended!) and objects, and I marvelled at the intensity of their intellectual effort. My only regret was that I didn’t think to video the session for the benefit of others!
Truly a rising tide raises all
Truly a rising tide raises all
Boats!
2011-03-02
2011-03-01
Completely Challenging Contest
It was a privilege this afternoon to supervise the Canadian Computing Competition in Lab 218.
About a dozen students worked furiously for three hours to complete the Junior Division competition: five tough problems which put brains into overdrive!
How inspiring to see the grace of these fine contestants!
About a dozen students worked furiously for three hours to complete the Junior Division competition: five tough problems which put brains into overdrive!
How inspiring to see the grace of these fine contestants!
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