CSTA-Arizona June Newsletter (Jun 01, 2020)

CSTA-AZ May Community Call

CSTA-Arizona held our May Community Call on May 26th.

Here are the slides from the event: https://bit.ly/csta-az-may-2020

Here is a recording from the event: https://youtu.be/j2XfA88nvdQ

Our next Community Call will be in August - please contact cstarizona@gmail.com if you are interested in presenting at the call.

CS Fundamentals Summer PD!

We're excited to announce summer dates for Code.org's CS Fundamentals Virtual PD! These workshops will be offered July 6th - 8th. Click Here to Register for Virtual Summer Workshops offered by the Arizona Science Center!

Computer science fosters creativity and teaches students critical thinking skills to become proactive learners, so elementary school is the ideal time for students to be introduced to CS. Our six Computer Science Fundamentals courses are flexibly designed for teachers new to CS who want to offer accessible and equitable introductory CS courses to their students. New to teaching computer science? No worries! Most of our teachers have never taught computer science before. Join local teachers for inspiring and hands-on support to implement computer science in your classroom.

CSFirst Summer PD

CS First is Google's free, introductory computer science program for grades 4-8 (ages 9-14). This video-based curriculum teaches students foundational CS, problem-solving and collaboration skills through themes related to students’ interests. CS First can be used within classrooms, or as part of after-school programs in schools, libraries, or community spaces. Learn how to use this free computer science grades 4-8 curriculum that makes coding easy to teach and fun to learn on Scratch. No experience necessary for students or teachers.

Read below to learn more about this program and sign up for one of several summer workshops.

Computer Science Webinars

The Arizona Department of Education is offering several webinars on implementing the Arizona Computer Science Standards in elementary classrooms:

Computer Science Resources for the K-5 Classroom - June 4th - Explore ways to integrate computer science into everyday lessons. Discover how you are already teaching computer science and explore pre-made lessons to use in your classes! This webinar is supported by the Arizona Department of Education. Click here to register!

Meet Computer Science Standards with Code.org - June 11th - Have you been wanting to use code.org in your classes but feel overwhelmed by the possibilities? Let me demystify code.org and prepare you to start using it with your students! Code.org is an excellent resource that can be used with learners from Kindergarten to adult! Click here to register!

CSforEL Teacher Leaders

Computer science is the fastest growing subject in the US, yet English learners are dramatically under-represented in these courses. CSforEL is a new 4-year research project funded by the U.S. Department of Education, to attract, retain and engage English learners (EL) in AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). We seek CSforEL teacher leaders who will help us identify and test strategies and develop lessons and materials that effectively support ELs in CSP during our project’s pilot year (2020-21). We will rely on their expertise to develop the professional development in future project years.

Click below to learn more about this program

Computer Science K-8 Micro-credential Pilot

The Arizona Department of Education is partnering with Bloomboard to assist K-8 teachers in earning the Computer Science K-8 Endorsement and integrate more CS into K-8 classrooms. We are looking for educators who would like to be part of this process - one district / site to participate with 3-5 teachers. The teachers would work as a team to attain the K-8 Endorsement in partnership with Bloomboard and the department of education.

It is our hope that participating schools/districts will have the following qualities in place:

Multiple teachers who teach computer science or a related topic so that multiple teachers are participating at the same time as a team,
A track record of district/charter support in providing teachers with professional development to teach computer science,
A desire to use this opportunity to strengthen the school/district’s computer science program and/or build a new computer science program.

For more information about participating in this program, contact Sarah Sleasman - sarah.sleasman@azed.gov

Partner Opportunity - Pilot for PopFizz CS Curricula

Popfizz.io is a full service online curriculum and PD provider with a convenient LMS style platform. We provide PD courses for Intro to CS with Raspberry Pi and Python, Intro to CS with Python, APCSP and APCSA. Our PD courses are $175 per teacher and our curriculum is $500/year/teacher. However, we are currently seeking a single school with or without CS experience to pilot a full unlimited package for next school year. This package includes unlimited PD and Course access to unlimited teachers and students for the first year. After the pilot, schools can choose to continue in the Popfizz program.

For more information about Popfizz or participating in the pilot, contact Allan Jameson - allan@popfizz.io

Partner Event - CRR Summer Math Institute

The UArizona Center for Recruitment and Retention of Mathematics Teachers (CRR) is happy to announce that this year's Summer Institute will take place the week of June 22-26, 2020. It will happen entirely online with teams of teachers from across the state preparing for the new normal of next fall. There is NO FEE to attend and participants will receive a STIPEND in addition to recertification hours. See below for more information

Lesson Resources - STEMAZing pHun

Teaching about the binary number system? Lessons that are differentiable from PreK-HS, this series of lessons starts with patterns found on binary #MicDropMath cards, wows people with your ability to determine their birth day with five yes/no answers, and then shows you how to build your own cards. It carries on with a CSunplugged lesson on error detection and correction using parity bits, becoming human computers to send secret messages using ASCII characters, and an arts extension throwback to ASCII art of yesteryear. Finally, students can uncover the connection between Russian and Egyptian algorithms for multiplying two numbers and how that relates to binary. https://stemazing.org/binary-mic-drop-math-lessons/

GenCyber Summer Camp for High School Teachers

Grand Canyon University has received a grant from the National Security Agency (NSA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) to host the GenCyber Summer Cybersecurity Camp for teachers of grades 9-12. Starting July 2021, this engaging camp offers hands-on labs and a field trip to learn from cybersecurity engineers. Plus, all participants get a FREE Raspberry Pi computer!

· When: June 21 - 25, 2021

· Class Schedule: TBD

· Where: Grand Canyon University, Cyber Center of Excellence

· Cost: Free!

GenCyber camps are open to participants at no cost. During the camps, participants will receive a Raspberry Pi computer, a powerful mini-PC they can use to continue their cybersecurity explorations after the camp experience concludes. More information & registration here: https://pages.gcu.edu/cset/gencyber-summer-cybersecurity-camps.php

Editor Note: Please note these camps begin next summer (2021) and space is limited - applications for spaces in the camp are open now.

Community Opportunity - VHS Online Learning

VHS is a non-profit online learning provider of over 200 courses to students and schools everywhere. VHS Learning is hiring for work-from-home part-time contract teachers for the following courses:

AP Computer Science Principles
AP Computer Science A
Cybersecurity
Java Programming
Video Game Design with Unity
Programming in Visual Basic

Click below to learn more about this opportunity

CSTA-Arizona Tucson Meet-Up - February 2022
Transplant Pizza
Feb 10, 2022 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Code.org CS Fundamentals Workshop
Arizona Science Center
Feb 11, 2022 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

CS Across the Curriculum Summit

Feb 12, 2022 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Empowering Sisterhood in CS

Feb 23, 2022 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

CSTA-Arizona Community Call - March 2022
Virtual
Mar 01, 2022 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Equitable CS Practices

Mar 14, 2022 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Code.org CS Fundamentals Workshop
Arizona Science Center
Mar 19, 2022 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

CSTA-Arizona Community Call - April 2022
Virtual
Apr 05, 2022 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

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