Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information from Alfred Thompson
Alfred Thompson's blog about teaching computer science at the K-12 level. Alfred was a high school computer science teacher for 8 years. He has also taught grades K-8 as a computer specialist.
Teaching Flowcharts – Have the Computer Draw One
Last week the Microsoft Visual Studio Middle School Toy was announced and I wrote about it in my...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/29/2008
trueSpace7.6 FREE Fully-featured 3D Authoring Package
Several months ago Microsoft acquired a company called Caligari largely because of their advanced 3D...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/28/2008
Examples and Exercises
Leigh Ann Sudol has an interesting post titled The Beauty and Elegance of Computer SCIENCE. In it...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/23/2008
Looking For More Computer Science Teacher Blogs
In my RSS reader (and in my blog roll on the sidebar) I have seven other blogs that focus mostly on...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/22/2008
Periodic Table of Videos
It’s a amazing the teaching aids one can find on the Internet these days. How about a short video...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/22/2008
Goof Off Monday
I have nothing serious today. I sent something to the AP CS mailing list and got back a lot of out...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/21/2008
Turning Consumers into Creators
One of the talks in the Microsoft booth at NECC that I attended was Jacqueline Russell explaining...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/18/2008
Popfly Lessons
There are a lot of very interesting computer science topics that typically have to wait a while...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/18/2008
Terrarium Is Back!
If you were around in the early days of the .NET Framework you may remember a game called Terrarium....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/16/2008
The Four Digit Problem
So I was remembering a piece of code I had to write once. Honestly I don’t remember exactly why I...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/11/2008
Recursion See Recursion Again
I don’t remember exactly when I learned recursion. If I recall correctly, and I could be wrong after...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/10/2008
2D XNA Game Tutorial
Over a the XNA blog they have announced a new 2D game tutorial. Two hours of video and other...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/08/2008
Teacher Game Institute
So I’m on vacation this week. I’m trying to stay unplugged and away from the Internet. Time to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/07/2008
June 2008 Top Conversations
June was an interesting month with two main topics that generated traffic and conversation. The most...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 07/04/2008
Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium 2008
I’ve been to most of the CS & IT symposiums at NECC (and the one at SIGCSE) over the years but...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/29/2008
Computers and the Environment
One of the things I frequently bring up in career talks these days is the connection between...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/27/2008
New Computing Journal from SIGCT
ISTE’s Computer Teacher special interest group is made up of a really good group of teachers. Among...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/26/2008
Articles About STEM Education
Lately (and about time if you ask me) the problem of computer science enrollment in particular and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/25/2008
Computer Labs As Crutch
I ran into a thought provoking blog post the other day. Mike Sansone is a blog coach – a consultant...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/24/2008
RampUp – Learn Microsoft Technology Online
I just found out about the RampUp program. Briefly this is a program that lets people sign up for...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/23/2008
A Technology Conference That Bans Technology
[Note: Since this was posted ISTE has made some changes to the good. More details in a comment by...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/20/2008
Getting Ready for NECC
It’s just over a week until I head out (down to?) San Antonio for this year’s National Education...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/19/2008
Women and Minorities in Computer Science
One of the posts I wrote last week brought an interesting comment. Why should one concern themselves...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/18/2008
Above & Beyond Awards - Massachusetts
The Mass Technology Leadership Council is a great organization of people and companies in the high...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/17/2008
Learn How to Create a Popfly Input Box
Ed Dunhill have been running a series on web development on his blog. Recently he wrote a great post...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/17/2008
Learning How to Make a Peer to Peer Zune Game
I wish I had Dan Waters’ creativity. Recently Dan posted a how to video to introduce the peer to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/16/2008
A Whole Pile of Programming Competition Questions
I was looking through the web site for the HP Code Wars competition the other day and came across...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/12/2008
ACM Committee on Women in Computing Newsletter
ACM-W, the ACM Committee on Women in Computing, has just published the first edition of their...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/11/2008
The State of the Education Blogosphere
Controversy is nothing new for education and the rise of education blogs is not exempt from that...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/10/2008
Dream Build Play 2008
Well I see over at the XNA Team Blog they have announced the latest Dream Build Play competition for...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/09/2008
Friday's List of Links
Every so often I run into a number of things that I think are interesting and useful but that I...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/06/2008
A Group Project – Create an Index File System
Back when I first started writing code for commercial use I was working on a project on a small...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/05/2008
Educational Games – A List
I had a mixed experience using computer games in the classroom the year I was an elementary/middle...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/04/2008
May Posts in Review
digg_url = 'https://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2008/06/03/may-posts-in-review.aspx'; May was an...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/03/2008
Win Money for Education Technology
digg_url =...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/02/2008
Who, from the Past or Present, You'd Like to Teach Your Class for a Day
digg_url =...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/30/2008
Tips for Tech Talks and Demos
digg_url = 'https://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2008/05/29/tips-for-tech-talks-and-demos.aspx';...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/29/2008
Who Cares How Fast the Code Is?
digg_url = 'https://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2008/05/27/who-cares-how-fast-the-code-is.aspx';...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/27/2008
Class Programming Project Ideas
digg_url = 'https://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2008/05/26/class-programming-project-ideas.aspx';...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/26/2008
Microsoft Education Team Blogs
digg_url = 'https://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2008/05/23/microsoft-education-team-blogs.aspx';...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/23/2008
Short Office Tutorials
digg_url = 'https://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2008/05/23/short-office-tutorials.aspx';...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/23/2008
New Developments in XNA Resources
digg_url =...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/22/2008