Click here to go to slides.  Thank you to Oliver and the Raspberry Pi Foundation for the opportunity to start to develop this strand.

Only 20% of current 9_1 Computer Science GCSEs are Python… 50% theory means we should be focussed on how to teach theory well and keeping up-to-date with latest techniques to do this underpinned with theory and a shared understanding of what works well.

I hope to make a contribution to this discussion.  Please feel free to join in on #caschat and CAS forum in the next few weeks.

Here I outline how we have used a variety of resources to increase our Year 7 students’ understanding of sequencing and use of loops – as well as having fun and engaging with their learning.

Having reviewed our baseline test at the beginning of Year 7, our Year 7s showed better than expected eSafety, better Scratch understanding, but poorer computing programming and sequencing skills.  I looked at several resources online and have used Phil Bagge’s Jam Sandwich making Robot, Stephen Howell’s Scratch Shape Drawing Activity for CoderDojo; Simon Haughton’s Etch-a-Sketch; and Barefoot Computing’s Crystal Flowers (pdf download) to create the following resources:

“Scratch Shapes” scheme of learning – jam sandwich making robot and Scratch Polygons and nested loops More

Now what? Action items from social science research to bridge the gender gap in computing research – Stout-Camp-2015

Women require work to have a clear social application.
Stress teams require both genders to function to solve real-life problems – adv to be female.
Need have a sense of belonging.
Men write more on competence and women more on warmth related – compassion and interpersonal skills.

Next step(s): stress advantage to be a woman in minority STEM subject as needed in a balanced team.

Lost In Translation “Gender and High School Computer Science” – Goode J, Estrella R, & Margolis J – 2006

(Chapter 3 of Women and Information Technology: Research on Underrepresentation – Joanne Cohoon and William Aspray)

Sue Sentance suggested several research papers to me, and this was by far the most useful.

“This chapter presents four themes that suggest some reasons why and how high school female students are — or are not — drawn into the field of computer science through their high school experiences. First, despite the national and local initiatives to “bring schools into the twenty-first century,” researchers discovered that few computer science learning opportunities actually exist at the high school level, especially in schools that serve communities of colour.  Second, they found that notions of relevance play a key role in influencing females’ choices to enrol or not enrol in computer science classes.   A limited and narrow presentation of what computer science is as well as what computer scientists actually do impacts students’ take on how computer science could further their academic and career endeavours. Third, for the female students who do take computer science, researchers observed an accumulation of negative experiences in classroom settings, where greater male technology experience/expertise and female social isolation and insecurity are part of the cultural landscape. Fourth, all of these experiences are then compounded by the way that computer science is motivated and “interpreted” for the students”.

More

We are on track to *finally* get our BBC Micro:bits out to our Year 8s… this is how we are going to do it … and we are excited about the Grok Learning Quest challenges for after half term.

Our Digital Leaders are trained up using out 3 step programme www.gr8ict.com/bbc_microbit More

Using the Raspberry Pi in Code Clubs and the Curriculum – click to go to slides

“This session will provide an introduction to the Raspberry Pi and first-hand experience of setting up a Pi-Lab.  Then some thoughts on how it fits in with the KS3 curriculum as well as Code Clubs.  The second half of the session will be hands-on using a Raspberry Pi for an example KS3 lesson”.

Developing Digital Leaders to Support Computing – click to go to slides

“Digital Leaders can mean many things but this session will help you gain insights into how students can help you with implementing an effective computing curriculum.  You will be shown stages of developing Digital Leaders and given time to discuss and plan how you might develop their use in your school including running Code Clubs”.

Thanks you to everyone who has sponsored Matthew, Harry and I for our epic Way of the Roses ride this May.

https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/chris-and-matthew-way-of-the-roses-2016

We raised £625 pounds towards Stan’s wheelchair (needing a total of £7000 – already half way there).
https://fundrazr.com/stanswheels

It was a lot tougher than we thought and here is the story in pictures.

Getting Bikes:
In August last year I decided to get fitter, and ordered a road bike on the cycle to work scheme. Needless to say, Matthew saw the bike in the garage a week before Christmas and decided that he would like to do some cycling too.  Onto Gumtree, and a trip to Leeds led this photo:

Here’s the map of the Way of the Roses:

Morecambe Bay to Pateley Bridge = 62 miles.  Pateley Bridge to York = 47 miles.  York to Bridlington = 61 miles.  170 miles in total.

My favourite quote from the official site is “The route is best done from West to East (Morecambe to Bridlington) for the greater chance of having the wind at your back”.  (Ha Ha for the Bridlington part… see later)

Training:
And here is the profile.

As you can see, we needed some practice on hills as they’re aren’t many in and around York . From January onwards I have managed a road every week, and Matthew and Harry built up their miles too in the weeks before. Helen’s friend Alison introduced us to the Wolds, and some fellow highwaymen from school showed that from Thixendale, the only way is up!

As well as hills, we also needed miles, so we did rides north of York too, and Skipton to Bolton Abbey, which involved reintroducing the towbar carrier:

     
Maintenance and Repair:
The ride from Thixendale presented our first puncture, and I spent the remaining training rides discovering what equipment was needed for punctures and maintaining bikes to make them as easy to ride as possible.  The boys got involved – with varying degrees of success…

I also highly rate this youtube video “How to clean a bicycle in about 15 minutes”.

Maps:
The day Matthew and I were due to ride the daffodil sportive, the weather was so bad that I spent the afternoon discovering how to create rides and transfer them to Google maps. See here.

Way of the Roses – Day 1
A huge thank you to Helen (and then John) for providing a support vehicle.  We set off from Morecambe at 10.00am.

Dave waited for us at Settle as we knew the hill was going to be steep … and it was… Matthew suffering bad cramp halfway up…

Once at the top of that bit, it stretched on a while further, but the ride the other side was wonderful:

The ride through to Grassington and Burnsall was still tough at times and we were glad of Dave’s help and support:

The ride up the hill beyond Appletreewick was really hard, and the ride towards Stump Cross caverns was the hardest.  We had almost run out of puff.

The boys really did not want to give up, and we finally made it down Greenhow Hill and into Pateley Bridge at 7.30pm.

Way of the Roses – Day 2

Angela joined us the next morning, with John providing car support, with us setting off and reaching Ripon… then pub lunch with the other Highwaymen and onto York.  Matthew then played cricket at York…

Way of the Roses – Day 3

Actually, the evening before:

The Met Office had introduced a couple of extra colours for the radar of the rainfall for this storm, and the winds were from the North and an average of 25mph.  The boys agreed to an early start the next morning:

We avoided the bad weather until 15 miles from Brid.  Then the rain was on us and we battled gusting head winds and driving rain.  At times the wind gusted at 47mph…

Click here for video:

This is where we knew we would finish, and when we did…

The others finished too…

And two new Highwayman rewarded for their hard work and their resilience:

Slide Show:

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“Digital Leaders in Primary and Secondary”
– Developing Young People as well as the Technology

Raspberry Pi – Hardware and Classroom Management

Link to worksheet for pelican crossing