Re: [Edu-sig] Teaching python at a Computer Clubhouse
In a message of Tue, 22 May 2012 08:54:47 +1200, Carl Cerecke writes:
I'm thinking of becoming a mentor at a local Computer Clubhouse http://www.computerclubhouse.org/. In particular, there are some kids the re who are quite keen to learn to make their own games, but none of the current mentors know any programming (one said that he had done some "programming" in HTML). I would be grateful for any recommendations for material to help me and t he kids. I have plenty of programming experience and some teaching experienc e (at the university level, though). I've written some text-only turn-based games in python before (about the level of connect-4), but nothing with graphics. The idea is supposed to be that this is driven by the interests of the children, but I need to balance that with the requirement for a bi t of a programming foundation as well if they're going to be successful in writing the sort of games they're interested in. I also think I need to make sure their expectations are realistic... So, any advice/recommendations?
Cheers, Carl.
How old are the members of the clubhouse? If at all possible you should let kids group by interest. Date of manufacture (birth date) is a rotten way to sort people and your kids, like everybody else, will be happier if people are sorted by something other than 'birth date'. I steal regularly from http://www.briggs.net.nz/snake-wrangling-for-kids.html and given that the author is in NZ as well, he might have some insights that are better shared in person. best of appreciation for what you are doing, Laura Creighton
The kids are 10-18. Yes, I won't group them by birth-date. I started teaching myself programming when I was about 10, on a Commodore-64, from books and magazines. If there's a kid that's as keen as I was at that age, then hopefully they'll be able to progress rapidly. The group will be fairly small, I imagine, so they can all be at different levels and rates without too much problem. Thanks for the snake wrangling reference. Forgot about that. Cheers, Carl. On 22 May 2012 09:03, Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> wrote:
In a message of Tue, 22 May 2012 08:54:47 +1200, Carl Cerecke writes:
I'm thinking of becoming a mentor at a local Computer Clubhouse http://www.computerclubhouse.org/. In particular, there are some kids the re who are quite keen to learn to make their own games, but none of the current mentors know any programming (one said that he had done some "programming" in HTML). I would be grateful for any recommendations for material to help me and t he kids. I have plenty of programming experience and some teaching experienc e (at the university level, though). I've written some text-only turn-based games in python before (about the level of connect-4), but nothing with graphics. The idea is supposed to be that this is driven by the interests of the children, but I need to balance that with the requirement for a bi t of a programming foundation as well if they're going to be successful in writing the sort of games they're interested in. I also think I need to make sure their expectations are realistic... So, any advice/recommendations?
Cheers, Carl.
How old are the members of the clubhouse? If at all possible you should let kids group by interest. Date of manufacture (birth date) is a rotten way to sort people and your kids, like everybody else, will be happier if people are sorted by something other than 'birth date'.
I steal regularly from http://www.briggs.net.nz/snake-wrangling-for-kids.html
and given that the author is in NZ as well, he might have some insights that are better shared in person.
best of appreciation for what you are doing, Laura Creighton
I'm thinking of becoming a mentor at a local Computer Clubhouse http://www.computerclubhouse.org/. In particular, there are some kids the re who are quite keen to learn to make their own games, but none of the current mentors know any programming (one said that he had done some "programming" in HTML). I would be grateful for any recommendations for material to help me and t he kids. I have plenty of programming experience and some teaching experienc e (at the university level, though). I've written some text-only turn-based games in python before (about the level of connect-4), but nothing with graphics. The idea is supposed to be that this is driven by the interests of the children, but I need to balance that with the requirement for a bi t of a programming foundation as well if they're going to be successful in writing the sort of games they're interested in. I also think I need to make sure their expectations are realistic... So, any advice/recommendations?
Cheers, Carl. How old are the members of the clubhouse? If at all possible you should let kids group by interest. Date of manufacture (birth date) is a rotten way to sort people and your kids,
I think that Al Sweigart's book "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python" can be an excellent resource. It is a great way to learn Python in the context of creating games. A link can be found at http://inventwithpython.com/ Brian Wilkinson Sandy Spring Friends School Technology Resource Coordinator 301-774-7455 x218 Occam's Razor - The principal that simpler explanations are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones. From: edu-sig-bounces+brian.wilkinson=ssfs.org@python.org [mailto:edu-sig-bounces+brian.wilkinson=ssfs.org@python.org] On Behalf Of Carl Cerecke Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 6:23 PM To: Laura Creighton Cc: edu-sig@python.org Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Teaching python at a Computer Clubhouse The kids are 10-18. Yes, I won't group them by birth-date. I started teaching myself programming when I was about 10, on a Commodore-64, from books and magazines. If there's a kid that's as keen as I was at that age, then hopefully they'll be able to progress rapidly. The group will be fairly small, I imagine, so they can all be at different levels and rates without too much problem. Thanks for the snake wrangling reference. Forgot about that. Cheers, Carl. On 22 May 2012 09:03, Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se<mailto:lac@openend.se>> wrote: In a message of Tue, 22 May 2012 08:54:47 +1200, Carl Cerecke writes: like everybody else, will be happier if people are sorted by something other than 'birth date'. I steal regularly from http://www.briggs.net.nz/snake-wrangling-for-kids.html and given that the author is in NZ as well, he might have some insights that are better shared in person. best of appreciation for what you are doing, Laura Creighton
participants (3)
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Brian Wilkinson -
Carl Cerecke -
Laura Creighton