Show a storyboarding video clip from Pixar’s Toy Story to show students that storyboarding is a real world activity and that storyboarding is vital in some careers. Share Show a storyboarding video clip from Pixar’s Toy Story to show students that storyboarding is a real world activity and that storyboarding is vital in some careers. with FacebookShare Show a storyboarding video clip from Pixar’s Toy Story to show students that storyboarding is a real world activity and that storyboarding is vital in some careers. with Twitter
Use the playful phrasing “bracket thief” when students get a common Java error for forgetting to use a closing bracket to remind students of this error in a non-threatening way. Share Use the playful phrasing “bracket thief” when students get a common Java error for forgetting to use a closing bracket to remind students of this error in a non-threatening way. with FacebookShare Use the playful phrasing “bracket thief” when students get a common Java error for forgetting to use a closing bracket to remind students of this error in a non-threatening way. with Twitter
Remind students to account for corner cases while debugging because these edge cases are a frequent source of bugs and are often overlooked. Share Remind students to account for corner cases while debugging because these edge cases are a frequent source of bugs and are often overlooked. with FacebookShare Remind students to account for corner cases while debugging because these edge cases are a frequent source of bugs and are often overlooked. with Twitter
Use the “fence post” method when teaching Java’s substring method to help students use it accurately. Share Use the “fence post” method when teaching Java’s substring method to help students use it accurately. with FacebookShare Use the “fence post” method when teaching Java’s substring method to help students use it accurately. with Twitter
Experiment with different techniques for grouping students into pairs to find out what works best in your classroom because pair programming is a great tool that can improve student’s coding skills and syntax proficiency. Share Experiment with different techniques for grouping students into pairs to find out what works best in your classroom because pair programming is a great tool that can improve student’s coding skills and syntax proficiency. with FacebookShare Experiment with different techniques for grouping students into pairs to find out what works best in your classroom because pair programming is a great tool that can improve student’s coding skills and syntax proficiency. with Twitter
Track the variable values of a recursive function using multiple pieces of paper to form a “stack” so that students can visualize what happens when a method calls itself and how each method call has its own unique variable values. Share Track the variable values of a recursive function using multiple pieces of paper to form a “stack” so that students can visualize what happens when a method calls itself and how each method call has its own unique variable values. with FacebookShare Track the variable values of a recursive function using multiple pieces of paper to form a “stack” so that students can visualize what happens when a method calls itself and how each method call has its own unique variable values. with Twitter
Get at eye-level when working with students who are working in their seats, rather than standing above them to reduce intimidation so you develop good student teacher relationships. Share Get at eye-level when working with students who are working in their seats, rather than standing above them to reduce intimidation so you develop good student teacher relationships. with FacebookShare Get at eye-level when working with students who are working in their seats, rather than standing above them to reduce intimidation so you develop good student teacher relationships. with Twitter
Start programming courses with HTML to get students to engage with programming languages by building off of their pre-existing, experiential curiosity. Share Start programming courses with HTML to get students to engage with programming languages by building off of their pre-existing, experiential curiosity. with FacebookShare Start programming courses with HTML to get students to engage with programming languages by building off of their pre-existing, experiential curiosity. with Twitter
Scaffold students through reverse engineering existing Scratch projects to help them gain competency in important concepts like message passing, variables, and event-based programming. Share Scaffold students through reverse engineering existing Scratch projects to help them gain competency in important concepts like message passing, variables, and event-based programming. with FacebookShare Scaffold students through reverse engineering existing Scratch projects to help them gain competency in important concepts like message passing, variables, and event-based programming. with Twitter
Mention to students that individual blocks in Scratch and Snap can be tested by double clicking them in the block library so they know this useful, non-intuitive trick for learning what an individual block does. Share Mention to students that individual blocks in Scratch and Snap can be tested by double clicking them in the block library so they know this useful, non-intuitive trick for learning what an individual block does. with FacebookShare Mention to students that individual blocks in Scratch and Snap can be tested by double clicking them in the block library so they know this useful, non-intuitive trick for learning what an individual block does. with Twitter
Reinforce that certain types in Python such as lists are mutable while others (e.g. strings, tuples) are not. Students have difficulty tracing code that uses mutable types because they often forget this. Share Reinforce that certain types in Python such as lists are mutable while others (e.g. strings, tuples) are not. Students have difficulty tracing code that uses mutable types because they often forget this. with FacebookShare Reinforce that certain types in Python such as lists are mutable while others (e.g. strings, tuples) are not. Students have difficulty tracing code that uses mutable types because they often forget this. with Twitter
Train students to draw pictures of code traces through namespaces, objects and function calls because the benefits of drawing these processes helps them avoid common mistakes. Share Train students to draw pictures of code traces through namespaces, objects and function calls because the benefits of drawing these processes helps them avoid common mistakes. with FacebookShare Train students to draw pictures of code traces through namespaces, objects and function calls because the benefits of drawing these processes helps them avoid common mistakes. with Twitter
Ask students “What were you trying to do?” when they ask for help to help answer their own questions because they may already have the skills to debug their own Scratch programs. Share Ask students “What were you trying to do?” when they ask for help to help answer their own questions because they may already have the skills to debug their own Scratch programs. with FacebookShare Ask students “What were you trying to do?” when they ask for help to help answer their own questions because they may already have the skills to debug their own Scratch programs. with Twitter
Use scoreboards to motivate the use of variables because young students have developed strong mental models for scoreboards through previous exposure allowing them to quickly understand what variables are. Share Use scoreboards to motivate the use of variables because young students have developed strong mental models for scoreboards through previous exposure allowing them to quickly understand what variables are. with FacebookShare Use scoreboards to motivate the use of variables because young students have developed strong mental models for scoreboards through previous exposure allowing them to quickly understand what variables are. with Twitter
Step through an accumulator pattern on board to make clear how variables change within a while loop to help students understand this confusing topic. Share Step through an accumulator pattern on board to make clear how variables change within a while loop to help students understand this confusing topic. with FacebookShare Step through an accumulator pattern on board to make clear how variables change within a while loop to help students understand this confusing topic. with Twitter
Have students code boundary condition test to handle removing adjacent duplicates to help them better understand data structures and become familiar with common bugs through practice. Share Have students code boundary condition test to handle removing adjacent duplicates to help them better understand data structures and become familiar with common bugs through practice. with FacebookShare Have students code boundary condition test to handle removing adjacent duplicates to help them better understand data structures and become familiar with common bugs through practice. with Twitter
Create boolean variables to use as the condition when introducing if statement to highlight for students that the condition is any expression that evaluates to true or false. Share Create boolean variables to use as the condition when introducing if statement to highlight for students that the condition is any expression that evaluates to true or false. with FacebookShare Create boolean variables to use as the condition when introducing if statement to highlight for students that the condition is any expression that evaluates to true or false. with Twitter
Use group discussion to help students figure out boundary cases for removing duplicate adjacent elements on their own so that they get to discuss a variety of test cases in depth before focusing on the code. Share Use group discussion to help students figure out boundary cases for removing duplicate adjacent elements on their own so that they get to discuss a variety of test cases in depth before focusing on the code. with FacebookShare Use group discussion to help students figure out boundary cases for removing duplicate adjacent elements on their own so that they get to discuss a variety of test cases in depth before focusing on the code. with Twitter
Keep the Scratch scripting area organized using the clean up button to ensure that there aren’t dangling scripts and to make debugging and understanding scripts easier. Share Keep the Scratch scripting area organized using the clean up button to ensure that there aren’t dangling scripts and to make debugging and understanding scripts easier. with FacebookShare Keep the Scratch scripting area organized using the clean up button to ensure that there aren’t dangling scripts and to make debugging and understanding scripts easier. with Twitter
Have students trace loops with break statements to reinforce the behavior of break because tracing is a powerful and straight-forward exercise. Share Have students trace loops with break statements to reinforce the behavior of break because tracing is a powerful and straight-forward exercise. with FacebookShare Have students trace loops with break statements to reinforce the behavior of break because tracing is a powerful and straight-forward exercise. with Twitter