Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 116: Building a Comprehensive Computer Science Program

Transcript

Ep 116: Building a Comprehensive Computer Science Program · New Teacher Talk

• 0:01
  Welcome to another episode of New Teacher Talk,
• 0:04
  the podcast designed for new and aspiring educators.
• 0:08
  Whether you're in a rural, suburban, or urban setting,
• 0:11
  we're here to provide insights, advice,
• 0:14
  and support to help you thrive in your teaching journey.
• 0:18
  Hi, my name is Melissa Axelsson,
• 0:20
  Dean of Students with NJCTL.
• 0:24
  And I'm Susan Olszewski, Dean of Faculty with NJCTL.
• 0:27
  Today we're gonna talk about building a comprehensive
• 0:30
  computer science program at your school.
• 0:32
  That's right.
• 0:33
  Today's episode is geared towards secondary teachers,
• 0:36
  primarily high school teachers who are interested in
• 0:39
  working together with others at their school to build a
• 0:41
  comprehensive computer science program.
• 0:44
  We really feel that there are a few things that your school
• 0:47
  can do to open up the access to more students enrolling in
• 0:51
  AP computer science courses.
• 0:53
  The first thing you should do is to look at scaffolding the
• 0:56
  learning with general computer science and building up to
• 1:00
  AP computer science principles or AP computer science A.
• 1:04
  Then,
• 1:04
  you should drop the prerequisites that often are required
• 1:08
  and many times eliminate students who want to take AP
• 1:11
  computer science.
• 1:13
  This will open AP access to anyone in the school who is
• 1:16
  interested in taking one of these courses.
• 1:20
  So this plan is great because it opens access to any
• 1:23
  student who's interested in taking an AP course,
• 1:26
  but it does create some needs at the school.
• 1:29
  For instance,
• 1:30
  you're going to need quality curriculum and teachers who
• 1:33
  are qualified to teach these courses.
• 1:35
  College board has thought through this and created endorsed
• 1:38
  providers for computer science.
• 1:41
  All endorsed providers meet specific requirements.
• 1:44
  These endorsed providers have an aligned curriculum that's
• 1:48
  been approved by College Board.
• 1:51
  They have approved PD and approved course syllabi that you
• 1:54
  can use.
• 1:56
  NJCTL is an endorsed provider for both computer science
• 1:59
  principles and computer science A,
• 2:02
  so you can fast track your course audit.
• 2:05
  When you go on to the College Board website and you
• 2:08
  register to have your course audited,
• 2:11
  you can select NJCTL as your endorsed provider.
• 2:15
  If you're teaching computer science principles or computer
• 2:18
  science A, when you select an endorsed provider like NJCTL,
• 2:24
  your course audit will automatically be approved.
• 2:27
  So this helps with the problem of having a quality
• 2:31
  curriculum and it helps with getting your course audit
• 2:34
  approved,
• 2:35
  but it doesn't necessarily mean that you have teachers who
• 2:37
  are qualified to teach the subject.
• 2:40
  So, to help with that,
• 2:42
  if you have not taught AP Computer Science before,
• 2:45
  we have developed graduate level courses that can prepare
• 2:48
  you to teach both AP Computer Science Principles and/or AP
• 2:52
  Computer Science A.
• 2:55
  NJCTL is a College Board endorsed provider for both of
• 2:58
  these courses.
• 2:59
  You can also take it one step further and enroll in our
• 3:02
  Masters of Science in Teaching and Learning Computer
• 3:05
  Science degree.
• 3:06
  More information about our graduate level courses and our
• 3:09
  free teaching materials can be found on our website,
• 3:12
  www.njctl.org.
• 3:17
  Once on the website,
• 3:18
  select your state slash region from the drop down menu in
• 3:21
  the upper right hand corner,
• 3:22
  and you will be able to access these free teaching
• 3:25
  materials as well as more information about any of our
• 3:28
  online courses for teachers.
• 3:32
  Thank you for listening to today's New Teacher Talk
• 3:35
  episode.
• 3:36
  Be sure to follow us on our socials.
• 3:38
  Look for the Tuesday Teacher Resource and check out our
• 3:42
  Thursday Thought on our Instagram page at New Teacher Talk.
• 3:47
  Please follow this channel.
• 3:49
  Just hit the button and share with others.
• 3:52
  We're here to support you in your practice,
• 3:54
  no matter where you are.