Garth,
The Montana CS landscape as described is unfortunate for all stakeholders: students, parents, schools, districts, communities, post-secondary, business/industry, and the nation. There are so many opportunities across the nation (and globally) that would be great for Montana students to have the opportunity to consider.
As far as a teacher goes, there are free CS curriculum and resources that might be of interest to you, including PD. I will mention a few that work for MS and HS, for the most part, and one that has ES resources.
• Code.org (ES-MS-HS)
Learn computer science. Change the world.
Code.org |
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Learn computer science. Change the world. |
Every student in every school deserves the opportunity to study computer science. |
View this on Code.org > |
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• Microsoft MakeCode (MS-HS) - free online tutorials
Microsoft MakeCode Computer Science Education
Microsoft MakeCode |
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Microsoft MakeCode Computer Science Education |
MakeCode brings computer science to life for all students with fun projects, immediate results, and both block and text editors for learners at different levels. |
View this on Microsoft MakeCode > |
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• Minecraft Coding (ES-MS-HS)
Homepage
education.minecraft.net |
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• CMU CS Academy (MS-HS) - free PD
CMU CS Academy
Cmu |
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CMU CS Academy |
CMU CS Academy is an online, graphics-based computer science curriculum taught in Python provided by Carnegie Mellon University. |
View this on Cmu > |
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I suggest starting with the Hour of Code to give students a chance to try it, and then you can gauge the engagement and excitement therefrom.
https://hour of code.com/us
https://arcade.MakeCode.com/hour-of-code-all
Minecraft Hour of Code
Code.org |
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Minecraft Hour of Code |
Minecraft is back for the Hour of Code, and you're the hero! Write code to journey through Minecraft biomes. |
View this on Code.org > |
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CMU CS Academy
Cmu |
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CMU CS Academy |
CMU CS Academy is an online, graphics-based computer science curriculum taught in Python provided by Carnegie Mellon University. |
View this on Cmu > |
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Ed Mondragon k12teacher
Taylorsville UT
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-17-2023 10:30
From: Garth Flint
Subject: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing
Ed, I have given up dealing with the State and University system in Montana. Our state Dept of Ed considers a major part of CS as learning Microsoft Office. I was involved in writing the Standards a few years ago. I think there were 2 K-12 teachers and 10 bureaucrats. It was not pretty and the result was an impossible dream. You would pretty much need a Masters in CS to teach the curriculum.
As far as CS Ed in the Montana universities are concerned, there is nothing practical. Get a CS degree then get an Ed degree. There is a movement to get CS Ed down to a level where an inservice teacher can afford it $ and time-wise but the movement is glacial and is meeting a lot of resistance in the university bureaucracy.
There is NO inservice for CS teachers in Montana. Occasionally some CS professors find a grant and offer something but most teachers are not interested in dedicating a week in the summer away from home for something that does not end in a certification.
Of course a CS cert in Montana does not mean much. Very few schools offer CS. It is not a very marketable cert for a teacher. This is one of the rationals by the universities for not getting a CS Ed program into the mainstream.
Right now most high schools teach a 100 year old curriculum. To implement CS on a practical scale would involve losing something out of that curriculum. It can be done. It just requires effort on the part of the State and school administrations.
-- Garth Flint
Computer Science Teacher
Loyola Sacred Heart High School
406-531-7497
Original Message:
Sent: 11/17/2023 9:54:00 AM
From: Ed Mondragon
Subject: RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing
Utah does have a system in place for all CTE programs/clusters/pathways, and I welcome visiting with you further, if interested. I am a District CTE Coordinator and not a Utah State Board of Education employee, but I work well with our state specialist.
we have had teachers from surrounding states (ID, WY) attend our conferences in the past.
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Ed Mondragon k12teacher
Taylorsville UT
Original Message:
Sent: 11-16-2023 18:09
From: Garth Flint
Subject: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing
Sounds like Utah has a good system. In Montana we are on our own.
-- Garth Flint
Computer Science Teacher
Loyola Sacred Heart High School
406-531-7497
Original Message:
Sent: 11/16/2023 7:07:00 PM
From: Ed Mondragon
Subject: RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing
Garth,
Unfortunately, there isn't a 'how to teach' tutorial for any of our classes, but districts, the state ACTE IT Division, and/or the state office of education provide PD within the districts or conferences although they don't necessarily prepare teachers how to teach it.
Rather, the state board of education has teacher endorsement requirements in order to teach each of these courses. Obviously, the highest level CS endorsement is needed to teach the Game Development courses, so teachers generally have experience teaching CS before they teach these two courses. Additionally, the state office of education provides Methodology courses for every CTE CS endorsement which does provide insight into how to teach a CS course.
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Ed Mondragon k12teacher
Taylorsville UT
Original Message:
Sent: 11-16-2023 09:19
From: Garth Flint
Subject: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing
Ed, I don't suppose there is a "how to teach this stuff" or a resources document to go with the Game Dev Fund 2 document? For us poor ignorant math teachers and teachers that have been teaching how to use Unity, most of this is Greek, especially Strand 1..
-- Garth Flint
Computer Science Teacher
Loyola Sacred Heart High School
406-531-7497
Original Message:
Sent: 11/15/2023 9:02:00 PM
From: Ed Mondragon
Subject: RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing
Utah has standards, called Strands and Standards, for a Game Development Fundamentals 1 and a Game Development Fundamentals 2 course which are available off the Utah State Board of Education website.
Utah has several endorsements in CSIT including an Intro to Computer Science and Programming and Software Development specific to Computer Science, and each endorsement has specific classes that an individual can teach with lots of redundancy in classes. These can also be found in the USBE website.
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Ed Mondragon k12teacher
Taylorsville UT
Original Message:
Sent: 11-15-2023 11:19
From: Brian Bautista
Subject: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing
Does your state have standards for Game Dev?
Does it have a dedicated Teaching Credential for Game Dev?
How does one get it in your state?
Just curious to see what the lay of the land is on this.
___________
Here in California Game Dev is covered in Section D of the Arts, Media and Entertainment section of the state CTE standards.
AME it's own domain in a CTE credential and it is usually acquired through Industry Experience and Teaching Coursework.
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BrianBautistabbautista@rjuhsd.usCA
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