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This is the introduction to the blue giraffe.

 

1. pete
2. george
3. same

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"You can always learn to rhyme well later but, unless you have that compulsive pleasure in consonant sound, to the point of nonsense, you'll never be a poet."

-Gwyneth Lewis, poet, person who has experienced depression, and author of Sunbathing in the Rain: A Cheerful Book About Depression.

 

Haverford College hosted the Computer Science Education Summer Institute for one week. There were six speakers who presented on how to incorporate computers and computer science in K-12 education. They provided hands on activities, sample material, and a context for the programs or topics discussed. The thoughts I present, reflect the times I was in attendance. Unfortunately, I was not able to participate in the entire institute.

Overall, the institute functioned well in incorporating concepts of computer science to the participating teachers and adequately demonstrating various computer science skills that can be applicable for differing subjects. The weeklong program did well in introducing the participating teachers with non-conventional computer concepts and programs, giving them several tools to experiment with and potentially utilize to make a positive difference in their own classrooms. I would like to commend JD for voicing links between overlapping concepts in the different workshops and generating discussions between the teachers and want to suggest taking this one step further during the next institute.

Math Project- Quadratic Equations

Use Alice or Scratch programs to design “Finding the solutions of Quadratic Equations” 

It's Thursday already, wow it flying by -- Tom Cortina provided a most interesting and engaging experience with the group, it's fun watching people "be" a binary digit (bit), and binary birthday cake, and even a parallel sorting exercise outside (the weather really cooperated) -- I get the sense that people might be able to incorporate CS Unplugged exercises into their classes, albeit indirectly.

CSESI does go by fast, so take notes (or post to a blog .. like this :-).

I just had a nice meal with my friend and WED presenter Tom Cortina of CMU, this after a great day with Monisha, Nikill and Scratch, you can check out the online demos at the Scratch website.

Monday went even faster, Paul worked on getting teachers to at least be skeptical of what they perceive, and Dora lived up to the "Drinking from the firehose" analogy, presenting many videos and examples of Information Science Applications onlline.

see all in the am.

An interesting conversation has broken out, at several different places on Serendip and beyond, among (so far) two scientists, three humanists, and several college students of whom at least one has yet to declare an identity. Among the things that make it interesting, to me at least, is that it isn't actually about the two cultures per se (see also Two Cultures or One?), but rather about experiences teaching and learning in different contexts - with the intriguing suggestion that humanists might have something to learn in this regard from scientists and vice versa.

Well, another year has passed, and we return to Haverford to again engage is activities and discussion (and two meals a day!) to explore the use of computing and the role of computing in K-12 education, especially but not limited to the sciences.

 Last year I literally blurted out the title "Virtual Thinking," and it stuck to the point that many look at this year's workshop as VT2 -- however, I am hoping to suggest a more meaningful title, especially looking at the topics, so I am hoping to start a (long and deep) conversation about the use of reflection in conjunction with some activity/exercise to "induce" (produce?) learning.