January 2020
In this issue:
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is excited to share the new Computer Science rubric aimed at providing guidance for quality computer science education programs in schools. This rubric is part of the Oklahoma Champions of Excellence Initiative and is now accessible on the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s (OSDE) website.
This document was significantly shaped by guidance from documents such as the K-12CS Framework, produced in collaboration with code.org and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), the Standards for CS Teachers from CSTA, and the 9 Essential Elements from the OSDE. The rubric is organized into three categories: 1) Instruction and Curriculum, 2) Student Access and School Culture, and 3) Professional Learning, and is responsive to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Computer Science.
The computer science rubric, along with the other Well-Rounded Education rubrics, is accessible on the OSDE website at http://sde.ok.gov/ChampionExcellence. For more information on the rubric as well as how to meet the goals set in the rubric, contact Karen Leonard, Director of Education Technology and Computer Science.
AISES Grants
The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), a national nonprofit committed to substantially increasing the number of Native Americans in STEM fields and studies, is excited to announce it has received grants from Motorola Solutions Foundation, General Motors, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Foundation to fund the SPRK-ing Interest in Computer Science program! AISES Grant Information
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CS Teacher Tip-Sheets
Through funding supported by a National Science Foundation grant, a team of educators and CS professionals worked to document and disseminate effective computer science teaching practices. The team, along with numerous researchers, interviewed over 150 CS teachers and developed over 1,300 tips for teaching CS. They used these tips to create eleven very useful CS Teacher Tip-Sheets, which are free to use and download.
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AP Computer Science Principles Forums
Computer science teachers often feel isolated in that they are the only one of their kind in their school or district. In order to make connections and form CS support groups, two forums are available to teachers of the AP CS Principles course. These forums are private and require proof that you are a teacher.
Upcoming CS in K-8 #CSK8 Twitter Chats
- January 15: topic to be determined (There will be only one chat in January)
- February 5: Teaching AI in K-8
- February 19: TBD
These popular hour-long Twitter chats will continue on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM CST.
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Raspberry Pi Foundation Free Courses
Whatever age group you teach, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has something for you.
These courses and many more (a total of 14 free courses) are accessible on the Raspberry Pi homepage on FutureLearn: rpf.io/csatnews. There is a fee to receive a completion certificate; otherwise, the courses are free.
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Tynker CodeMaker Camps
Are you looking for an idea for a summer camp? Tynker CodeMaker Camps are launching all over the US this year!
The program gets you Tynker's award-winning curriculum, activities that students love, training from the American Camp Association, your own website with credit card processing ready to go, and more.
Designed for teachers, a CodeMaker camp gets you the flexibility you need.
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Pick the weeks you want to run a camp - 3 weeks? 10? Whatever works for you.
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Choose your own schedule - mornings, afternoons, or all day.
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Select from 17 available courses - Game Design, Drone Coding, Python & more.
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Set your own fees - whatever is appropriate for your school.
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Decide on class size - 5 students or 25.
Learn to run your own camp business with help from Tynker, all while doing what you have been trained to do. Click here to learn more today! No prior coding experience necessary.
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USA Computing Olympiad
The mission of the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO) is to support computing education in the USA and worldwide by identifying, motivating, and training high-school computing students at all levels. They provide:
- Hundreds of hours of free on-line training resources that students can use to improve their programming and computational problem-solving skills.
- On-line programming contests (roughly six per year) for students at all levels. The next two contests are Jan 17-20, 2020 and Feb 21-24, 2020 and are open to anyone.
- An intensive summer training camp, to which the top students in the USA are invited to further improve their skills and learn advanced material.
- The opportunity for the top four students in the USA to represent their country at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), the most prestigious international algorithmic programming competition at the high-school level.
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ISTE and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) have been working together for many years to advocate for effective computer science (CS) classes in schools across the U.S. In 2019, ISTE partnered with CSTA to help create standards for CS teachers that will support rigorous and equitable CS education for all students. These new ISTE Standards for CS Educators will be closely aligned to ISTE’s Computational Thinking Competencies, which were recently updated.
ISTE is asking teachers to take a moment to review the draft standards and provide your feedback.
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The Oklahoma Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA-OK) invites you to network with other teachers, learn more about computer science and how it can connect with other subject areas, and participate in free professional learning opportunities.
Whether or not you are currently teaching Computer Science, CSTA-OK highlights opportunities for bringing computer science to any curriculum you are teaching (or for starting an after-school program.) This group is open to educators of PreK-20, administrators, and organizations interested in learning more about Computer Science and Computer Science Education.
Starting in January, they will be hosting in-person meetings in TWO locations each month. They will also continue to have a virtual opportunity to join each meeting.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 21st, from 4:30-6:00 p.m.
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Oklahoma City Location: Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, 309 NW 13th St #103, Oklahoma City, OK 73103
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Tulsa Location: Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, 907 S Detroit Ave #600, Tulsa, OK 74120
- If you cannot attend either meeting in person, plan to join virtually! They will post additional information (including a link to join virtually) on the CSTA-OK Facebook Group.
Email cstaok@gmail.com with any questions.
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