[Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel

[Zac Miller]

Hello Vern,

The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've been getting here.  We bought one of the robots to experiment with and the students really enjoy working with it.  How many of the robots do you use?  What kind of robot to student ratio?

I think that a panel discussion with an established program like yours and a start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third and work out the details in private email.  Anyone else interested?

I'm interested in doing a poster as well.  I will be working it all out this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November.

-J. Zachary Miller


________________________________
From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org]
Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM
To: Zac Miller
Cc: edu-sig at python.org
Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG

Hi Zac,

On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller <zmiller at gsc.edu<mailto:zmiller at gsc.edu>> wrote:
Hello!

I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived threads from last few months.  My name is Zac Miller and I am currently teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students.

I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG?  I am looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be hard to find others using Python in this setting.

I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little Python to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well as offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc.

Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board that Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a blast. I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school kids through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), using Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_.

As André mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead and raise your questions.

I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011.  So far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year.  I attended PyCon 2010 as student.  Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it.

I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science courses for the entire state.  What would make for an interested PyCon talk on K12 education involving Python?  Does anyone have similar data or a summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind sharing for me to use as comparison?  Anyone interested in doing a Panel proposal?

I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a proposal, but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... Also, as the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a talk or panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a poster proposal.

Cheers,
Vern Ceder

Thanks!

-J. Zachary Miller
_______________________________________________
Edu-sig mailing list
Edu-sig at python.org<mailto:Edu-sig at python.org>
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig



--
This time for sure!
   -Bullwinkle J. Moose
-----------------------------
Vern Ceder, Director of Technology
Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804
vceder at canterburyschool.org<mailto:vceder at canterburyschool.org>; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137

The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW