From jurgis.pralgauskis at gmail.com Thu Oct 7 21:47:43 2010 From: jurgis.pralgauskis at gmail.com (Jurgis Pralgauskis) Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 22:47:43 +0300 Subject: [Edu-sig] IDLE not highlighting current line while debugging on Win Message-ID: Hi, does anyone else bothers that, IDLE donesn't show highlighted current line on windows (tested XP with python 2.5, Vista with 3.1.2) on Ubuntu (py 2.6) it is ok. of course, I do select "Source" checkbox. on windows the grey highlighting only appears when I doubleclick on Stack Trace last line (but not always works) , and on next "step" dissapears again This is some redraw misunderstanding I guess (though I layout windows of debug / shell /editor not to overlap) the yellow -- breakpoint highligting works ok.. ps.: so I workaround using http://people.csail.mit.edu/pgbovine/python/ for teaching tracing on win pps.: -- Jurgis Pralgauskis tel: 8-616 77613; Don't worry, be happy and make things better ;) http://kompiuterija.pasimokom.lt From jurgis.pralgauskis at gmail.com Fri Oct 8 23:01:01 2010 From: jurgis.pralgauskis at gmail.com (Jurgis Pralgauskis) Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 00:01:01 +0300 Subject: [Edu-sig] py-robocode 0.3 released (with good graphics speed improvement) Message-ID: Hello, in case someone is interested, https://launchpad.net/py-robocode/+announcement/6913 turtle.tracer(1000) helped improve the overall performance a lot :) -- Jurgis Pralgauskis tel: 8-616 77613; Don't worry, be happy and make things better ;) http://kompiuterija.pasimokom.lt From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sun Oct 10 02:33:40 2010 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 17:33:40 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] 'discovery learning' with Python... Message-ID: Greetings edu-siggers -- The appended thread is from the Math Forum and my role is somewhat tangential i.e. I'm always the only one present quoting any Python. Complete thread in case anyone wants more context: http://www.mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2154964&tstart=0 No one else in the world has the job of promoting Python to K-12 math teachers so directly and publicly, except for the Litvins with their ground-breaking MFTDA (Math for the Digital Age and Programming in Python, Skylit publishing). Per my Grossology slides included in the presentation in Vilnius, there's a recognized way to gain some bandwidth among multi-tasking youth by including stuff that's "gross" or "demented" (see exhibit below). Cartoons often exploit this technique, with adults as well. There's a whole genre of cartoons considered "sick and twisted" (Bill Plympton an example contributor). Portland, Oregon has many festivals centering around such content. Such comedic material is apropos per the Monty Python genesis of the name Python. I've often though of Python's subculture as TV-14 and above, meaning we're not trying to compete with the Alan Kays of this world, or with Scratch (which is also fun for grownups, if given permission by their peers). Python takes typing, is not a visual language, takes some lexical sophistication. There's no reason to feature the same language at all levels or in all circumstances, obviously. Anyway, nothing below is especially "sick and twisted" besides the term "snake barf", which refers to the interpreter's coming back with traceback error messages (raising exceptions) when uninterpretable (inedible) expressions get offered. Thinking of the Python interpreter as this "creature" that responds in a kind of "chat window" is not a bad way to go, given the name. You'll also see more of my "everything is a python in Python", a variant on "everything is an object". The paradigm object, in having special names (if only __init__ and __repr__), i.e. a "rack of __ribs__" is somewhat snakelike in appearance. Relevant slides: http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/connectingthedots.pdf (slides 11, 12 re "everything is a snake", 23, 24 re Grossology). Exhibit: "demented cartoon" (Ren and Stimpy, Aqua Teenage Hunger Force, and Spongebob would be other examples). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li5nMsXg1Lk Having such toons communicating more mathematical concepts, including Python (as one of many machine executable math languages, as Leibniz envisioned), would be a feature of Python.tv (which Holden Web is keeping safe for when the time comes). Kirby ======================== Date: Oct 8, 2010 4:27 PM Author: kirby urner Subject: Re: Mathematician On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Jonathan Groves wrote: > Mike and Wayne and others, > > I did look up what Johnson and Rising's book "Guidelines for Teaching > Mathematics" (2nd edition) says about discovery learning, and the > book says more about discovery learning than what I remembered. > Here are some things the book does say about discovery learning. > I will not list everything, but here are some of the big ideas I find > that are worth mentioning. Like here's what I might call "discovery learning"... The teacher is projecting in front of the whole class, and enters the sequence below. She doesn't necessarily talk a lot during the demo, other than saying things like "lets see what this does", "how about this?" i.e. noises associated with doing some inquiry. Students have the ability to follow along and then branch off doing their own experiments. A time allotment is provided, say 15 minutes, at the end of which students volunteer to come in front of the room, take charge of the projector, and give up to 5 minutes elucidation of what they've learned and/or think is going on, for the benefit of the rest of the class. Here's the scroll (reading program), a real time demo in this case (frozen here): Python 3.1rc1 (r31rc1:73069, May 31 2009, 08:57:10) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)] on win32 Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information. >>> int >>> int('3') 3 >>> int('3', 2) Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in int('3', 2) ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 2: '3' >>> int(3, 2) Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in int(3, 2) TypeError: int() can't convert non-string with explicit base >>> int('3', '2') Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in int('3', '2') TypeError: an integer is required >>> int('3', 10) 3 >>> int('3', 9) 3 >>> int('3', 2) Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in int('3', 2) ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 2: '3' >>> int('1000101010100', 2) 4436 New topic. The teacher enters the following in an editor window, saves to site-packages and then runs: def f(g): def anon(x): return g(x + 2) return anon @f def m(x): return 2 * x @f def k(x): return x + 2 print ( k(10) ) print ( m(10) ) Here is the output: >>> ================================ RESTART ================================ >>> 14 24 >>> Students regularly give lightning talks in this classroom. These are akin to "show and tell", which is a valuable institution at all levels. The standard feature of a lightning talk is it's no more than five minutes (points off for going over), but there's no requirement that it go for that long. Sometimes a student will come to the front of the room and address the class for a much shorter period. Having students come to the front and take control of the projector is a variation on a theme. In a standard Math Lab (does your school have one?) any student has the ability to switch what's on her or his workstation to the screen up front. The teacher may also have this capability, along with mixing controls. A Math Lab session will typically result in an output recording drawing from several workstations and edited in post production. Sound may be added. The growing database of clips is on the school intranet. Fractals alone might account for quite a few gigabytes of storage, with student projects aggregating. College admissions officers may be granted PIN numbers to view student records, with student permission. Anyway, the question is whether projecting content, not explaining everything, encouraging exploration, giving opportunities to elucidate, followed by some teacher explication, is a 'discovery learning' workflow. To the best of my knowledge, 'discovery learning' is not trademarked and so it could well be, without anyone taking serious objection. You may have noticed that the int function (above) wants you to say what base your number object is in, at which point it returns a base 10 result. int('3', 2) was asking for something the int function can't do (it's not about "converting" the decimal number '3' into base 2 here) whereas something like int('FF', 16) or int('10101', 2) would be perfectly OK, no "snake barf" for feedback (where Python spits back your "animal argument" i.e. raises an exception). Remember "everything is a python in Python" meaning a creaturely object (has behavior and internal state, a self / dictionary), potentially with lotsa __ribs__ (special names) and therefore a spine -- like a snake does. We use a lot of biological metaphors on purpose, given mega-trends in physics teaching these days (math teachers are also welcome to use this free technology, though we understand they're still mostly addicted to calculators). The "decorator syntax" (@) is about taking a function definition and sending it through a wringer of sorts, spitting out a new function of the same name.** In this example, the input function is modified such that its input argument will get bumped up by 2, before a function's machinery is allowed to do its work. Kirby ** I can't help but think of 'Invasion' the TV science fiction soap opera, wherein people were eaten by creatures in the Florida swamp, then returned, almost themselves (but only almost): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460651/ - -- if these were beginners, I'd do more on the history of the decorator feature, starting with the idea of properties in classes. > > 1. Discovery learning is a difficult teaching method because it must > be continually adapted to students' questions and comments and what > progress they have made thus far. We cannot plan extensively for > discovery learning just as we cannot plan extensively in advance for > a discussion; we will not know how the discussion will go or where it > will lead until we actually do it. > > 2. As I had mentioned earlier, discovery learning is not appropriate > for all situations. One example they give here is trying to get > students to discover a definition. > > 3. The idea of discovery learning is that it helps students find their > own meaning in the mathematical concepts and their own connections of > that concept with their previous knowledge and experiences. Previous > experiences happen to be one reason why our thinking about a concept > makes perfect sense to ourselves and other students but makes no sense > to someone else; that baffled student might not have had those experiences > to make that explanation meaningful to him or her. > > 4. Some ideas for prompting students to think more deeply (examples taken > straight from this book): > > "Give me another example." > "Do you believe that, Bill?" > "How do you know that?" > "Can anyone find a case for which John's rule does not work?" > "That seems to work. Will it always?" > "Have we forgotten any cases?" > > 5. The book points out some cautions to discovery learning (as quoted from > the book): > > a. Be sure that the correct generalizations are the end result. > b. Do not expect everybody to discover every generalization. > c. Do not plan to discover all the ideas of your course. Discovery of > some ideas is too inefficient. Sometimes students do not need an intuitive, > emprical, discovery approach to understand an idea. > d. Expect discoveries to take time. > e. Do not expect the generalization to be verbalized as soon as it is > discovered. > f. Avoid overstructuring experiences. > g. Avoid jumping to conclusions on the basis of too few samples. > h. Do not be negative, critical, or unreceptive to unusual or off-beat > questions or suggestions. However, incorrect responses must not be > accepted as true; and disruptive, nonessential explorations must be > eliminated. Students should know that their status is not threatened > by incorrect answers. > i. Keep the student aware of the progress he is making. > j. If possible, have crucial ideas "discovered" repeatedly or by > different methods. > k. Finally, each student must recognize why his discoveries are significant > and how the ideas are incorporated in the structure involved. > > 6. The book gives some examples of ideas that students can try to > discover for themselves: > > a. The difference between the prime numbers 5 and 2 is 3. Why do no > other prime numbers have this property? Here is a related one I have > thought of: 3, 5, 7 are three consecutive odd natural numbers that are > also prime numbers. Are there any other examples of three consecutive > odd natural numbers where all three are prime numbers? If not, then > why is this example the only one possible? > > b. What do we know about sums and products of odd integers? > > c. Why is 1.999....=2? > > d. What is the maximum number of pieces of pie if a round pie is > divided by seven cuts? > > e. How are the slope and y-intercept of a line related to the equation > of a line? > > f. How is the perimeter of a right triangle related to its area? > > g. What is the number of subsets of a finite set? (The book does not > say "finite" but should.) > > h. How can the formulas for areas of geometric figures be related to the > area of a rectangle? > > i. What equality properties apply to inequalities? For those that do > not, can you find conditions for which these equality properties apply > to inequalities? > > Here is one I thought of: > > j. Must we use the LCD to add or subtract fractions? Or will any > common denominator work? If any common denominator works, can you > see why? I like this one because I have seen many students who > believe that adding or subtracting fractions using a common denominator > besides the least common one is wrong simply because "that's not how > I was taught to do that." > > > A comment to Mike Dougherty: In some sense, asking students to discover > the reasoning and logic behind mathematics is discovery teaching. > Sometimes this term refers to getting students to discover ideas and > the underlying logic for themselves such as discovering and proving > a theorem, something similar to what a mathematician has to do when > developing a theory. Other times it can refer to having students fill > in the details of the reasoning after the teacher has presented the big > ideas and some outline of the reasoning with the details omitted so that > students can try to fill those in for themselves. In these cases, the > student is not asked to discover theorems but is asked instead to > discover the proofs of them. It is clear from the examples given above > from the book I had cited that this book uses the word "discovery > learning" or "discovery teaching" in both of these senses. > > I don't know if we explain too much, but I often question if we, including > myself, explain too much too quickly before giving the students chances > to think about and see these ideas for themselves. That is, if we explain > too much up front, then we don't give students many chances to think for > themselves. We also give students the impression that it is okay to > take our word for it, especially permanently rather than just temporarily > for convenience, even if they haven't the foggiest idea of why that is true. > I don't see a problem with a student who wants to take our word for it for > the time being, especially if they need to use that result immediately, > if the student is willing to try later to see why that is true. Of course, > if the proof of the result is beyond the scope of the course, then that is > a completely different matter. > > > > > Jonathan Groves > > > > > On 10/8/2010 at 11:21 am, Michael Dougherty wrote: > >> To me, math is almost automatically "discovery >> learning." Maybe all subjects are but I could argue >> math is more so. It's just a matter of how much of >> it you want them to discover on their own. If I >> teach trigonometric substitution or partial fractions >> decompositions, they will still have to "discover" >> the logic of it as they go, even if I completely >> explain the logic to them in my always brilliant >> lectures. I suppose if I want to give these two >> topics a month instead of a week (collectively), they >> might be able to "discover" it from something closer >> to first principles, but no matter how much I explain >> things they still have to work the problems to >> "discover" what works and what does not. >> >> As they say, give a man a fish and you feed him for a >> day; teach him to fish and you feed him for a >> lifetime. >> >> OK, but now they're asking us to let him discover for >> himself how to fish, perhaps out of desperation? >> He'll know some aspects of fishing better than if >> f you teach him, but he'll miss out on a lot of >> details you could have taught him. And a lot of time >> will be consumed where it did not have to be. >> >> As he gets older, it's good if we can teach him how >> to find the resources to "teach himself," but in the >> beginning it's better to present a logical context >> and let them work through it. >> >> But I submit it's still "discovery," that they will >> make working through problems we give them. The rest >> is arguing about what level we want them to start, >> and how much guidance to give them. Also, how much >> of it we want to be a group activity. >> >> So when I hear "discovery learning," I'm hearing that >> they think we explain too much. In math, that's >> almost impossible, if at some point you make them >> work problems on their own. >> >> - --Mike D. From calcpage at aol.com Sun Oct 10 03:35:44 2010 From: calcpage at aol.com (Calcpage) Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 21:35:44 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] 'discovery learning' with Python... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <60A7D147-8B5D-4A6E-87B6-7D9323B9556C@aol.com> I've been selling python, SAGE and the Litvin text to High School math and compsci teachers for some time too! I've been talking up python on the AP Calculus, AP Physics and AP CompSci listservs quite a lot actually. I also promote python on my blog! Regards, A. Jorge Garcia Applied Math & CS Baldwin SHS & Nassau CC http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 Sent from my iPod On Oct 9, 2010, at 8:33 PM, kirby urner wrote: > Greetings edu-siggers -- > > The appended thread is from the Math Forum and my role is somewhat > tangential i.e. I'm always the only one present quoting any Python. > > Complete thread in case anyone wants more context: > http://www.mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2154964&tstart=0 > > No one else in the world has the job of promoting Python to K-12 math > teachers so directly and publicly, except for the Litvins with their > ground-breaking MFTDA (Math for the Digital Age and Programming > in Python, Skylit publishing). > > Per my Grossology slides included in the presentation in Vilnius, > there's a recognized way to gain some bandwidth among multi-tasking > youth by including stuff that's "gross" or "demented" (see exhibit > below). > > Cartoons often exploit this technique, with adults as well. There's > a whole genre of cartoons considered "sick and twisted" (Bill Plympton > an example contributor). Portland, Oregon has many festivals > centering around such content. > > Such comedic material is apropos per the Monty Python genesis of > the name Python. I've often though of Python's subculture as TV-14 > and above, meaning we're not trying to compete with the Alan Kays > of this world, or with Scratch (which is also fun for grownups, if > given > permission by their peers). > > Python takes typing, is not a visual language, takes some lexical > sophistication. There's no reason to feature the same language at > all levels or in all circumstances, obviously. > > Anyway, nothing below is especially "sick and twisted" besides the > term "snake barf", which refers to the interpreter's coming back with > traceback error messages (raising exceptions) when uninterpretable > (inedible) expressions get offered. > > Thinking of the Python interpreter as this "creature" that responds > in a kind of "chat window" is not a bad way to go, given the name. > > You'll also see more of my "everything is a python in Python", a > variant > on "everything is an object". The paradigm object, in having special > names (if only __init__ and __repr__), i.e. a "rack of __ribs__" is > somewhat snakelike in appearance. > > Relevant slides: > > http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/connectingthedots.pdf > (slides 11, 12 re "everything is a snake", 23, 24 re Grossology). > > Exhibit: "demented cartoon" (Ren and Stimpy, Aqua Teenage > Hunger Force, and Spongebob would be other examples). > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li5nMsXg1Lk > > Having such toons communicating more mathematical concepts, > including Python (as one of many machine executable math > languages, as Leibniz envisioned), would be a feature of Python.tv > (which Holden Web is keeping safe for when the time comes). > > Kirby > > > ======================== > > Date: Oct 8, 2010 4:27 PM > Author: kirby urner > Subject: Re: Mathematician > > On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Jonathan Groves > wrote: >> Mike and Wayne and others, >> >> I did look up what Johnson and Rising's book "Guidelines for Teaching >> Mathematics" (2nd edition) says about discovery learning, and the >> book says more about discovery learning than what I remembered. >> Here are some things the book does say about discovery learning. >> I will not list everything, but here are some of the big ideas I find >> that are worth mentioning. > > Like here's what I might call "discovery learning"... > > The teacher is projecting in front of the whole class, and enters the > sequence below. She doesn't necessarily talk a lot during the > demo, other than saying things like "lets see what this does", > "how about this?" i.e. noises associated with doing some inquiry. > > Students have the ability to follow along and then branch off > doing their own experiments. A time allotment is provided, say > 15 minutes, at the end of which students volunteer to come in > front of the room, take charge of the projector, and give up to > 5 minutes elucidation of what they've learned and/or think is > going on, for the benefit of the rest of the class. > > Here's the scroll (reading program), a real time demo in this > case (frozen here): > > Python 3.1rc1 (r31rc1:73069, May 31 2009, 08:57:10) [MSC v.1500 32 bit > (Intel)] on win32 > Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information. > >>>> int > > >>>> int('3') > 3 > >>>> int('3', 2) > Traceback (most recent call last): > File "", line 1, in > int('3', 2) > ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 2: '3' > >>>> int(3, 2) > Traceback (most recent call last): > File "", line 1, in > int(3, 2) > TypeError: int() can't convert non-string with explicit base > >>>> int('3', '2') > Traceback (most recent call last): > File "", line 1, in > int('3', '2') > TypeError: an integer is required > >>>> int('3', 10) > 3 >>>> int('3', 9) > 3 > >>>> int('3', 2) > Traceback (most recent call last): > File "", line 1, in > int('3', 2) > ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 2: '3' > >>>> int('1000101010100', 2) > 4436 > > New topic. The teacher enters the following in an editor window, > saves to site-packages and then runs: > > def f(g): > def anon(x): > return g(x + 2) > return anon > > @f > def m(x): return 2 * x > > @f > def k(x): return x + 2 > > print ( k(10) ) > > print ( m(10) ) > > Here is the output: > >>>> ================================ RESTART >>>> ================================ >>>> > 14 > 24 >>>> > > > Students regularly give lightning talks in this classroom. These are > akin to "show and tell", which is a valuable institution at all > levels. > The standard feature of a lightning talk is it's no more than five > minutes > (points off for going over), but there's no requirement that it go > for that > long. Sometimes a student will come to the front of the room and > address the class for a much shorter period. > > Having students come to the front and take control of the projector > is a variation on a theme. In a standard Math Lab (does your school > have one?) any student has the ability to switch what's on her or > his workstation to the screen up front. The teacher may also have > this capability, along with mixing controls. A Math Lab session will > typically result in an output recording drawing from several > workstations > and edited in post production. Sound may be added. The growing > database of clips is on the school intranet. Fractals alone might > account for quite a few gigabytes of storage, with student projects > aggregating. College admissions officers may be granted PIN > numbers to view student records, with student permission. > > Anyway, the question is whether projecting content, not explaining > everything, encouraging exploration, giving opportunities to > elucidate, > followed by some teacher explication, is a 'discovery learning' > workflow. > To the best of my knowledge, 'discovery learning' is not trademarked > and so it could well be, without anyone taking serious objection. > You may have noticed that the int function (above) wants you to say > what base your number object is in, at which point it returns a base > 10 > result. int('3', 2) was asking for something the int function can't > do > (it's not about "converting" the decimal number '3' into base 2 here) > whereas something like int('FF', 16) or int('10101', 2) would be > perfectly > OK, no "snake barf" for feedback (where Python spits back your > "animal argument" i.e. raises an exception). > > Remember "everything is a python in Python" meaning a creaturely > object (has behavior and internal state, a self / dictionary), > potentially > with lotsa __ribs__ (special names) and therefore a spine -- like a > snake does. > > We use a lot of biological metaphors on purpose, given mega-trends in > physics teaching these days (math teachers are also welcome to use > this free technology, though we understand they're still mostly > addicted > to calculators). > > The "decorator syntax" (@) is about taking a function definition and > sending it through a wringer of sorts, spitting out a new function > of the > same name.** In this example, the input function is modified such > that its input argument will get bumped up by 2, before a function's > machinery is allowed to do its work. > > Kirby > > ** I can't help but think of 'Invasion' the TV science fiction soap > opera, > wherein people were eaten by creatures in the Florida swamp, then > returned, almost themselves (but only almost): > > http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460651/ > > - -- if these were beginners, I'd do more on the history of the > decorator > feature, starting with the idea of properties in classes. > > >> >> 1. Discovery learning is a difficult teaching method because it must >> be continually adapted to students' questions and comments and what >> progress they have made thus far. We cannot plan extensively for >> discovery learning just as we cannot plan extensively in advance for >> a discussion; we will not know how the discussion will go or where it >> will lead until we actually do it. >> >> 2. As I had mentioned earlier, discovery learning is not appropriate >> for all situations. One example they give here is trying to get >> students to discover a definition. >> >> 3. The idea of discovery learning is that it helps students find >> their >> own meaning in the mathematical concepts and their own connections of >> that concept with their previous knowledge and experiences. Previous >> experiences happen to be one reason why our thinking about a concept >> makes perfect sense to ourselves and other students but makes no >> sense >> to someone else; that baffled student might not have had those >> experiences >> to make that explanation meaningful to him or her. >> >> 4. Some ideas for prompting students to think more deeply >> (examples taken >> straight from this book): >> >> "Give me another example." >> "Do you believe that, Bill?" >> "How do you know that?" >> "Can anyone find a case for which John's rule does not work?" >> "That seems to work. Will it always?" >> "Have we forgotten any cases?" >> >> 5. The book points out some cautions to discovery learning (as >> quoted from >> the book): >> >> a. Be sure that the correct generalizations are the end result. >> b. Do not expect everybody to discover every generalization. >> c. Do not plan to discover all the ideas of your course. >> Discovery of >> some ideas is too inefficient. Sometimes students do not need an >> intuitive, >> emprical, discovery approach to understand an idea. >> d. Expect discoveries to take time. >> e. Do not expect the generalization to be verbalized as soon as it >> is >> discovered. >> f. Avoid overstructuring experiences. >> g. Avoid jumping to conclusions on the basis of too few samples. >> h. Do not be negative, critical, or unreceptive to unusual or off- >> beat >> questions or suggestions. However, incorrect responses must not be >> accepted as true; and disruptive, nonessential explorations must be >> eliminated. Students should know that their status is not threatened >> by incorrect answers. >> i. Keep the student aware of the progress he is making. >> j. If possible, have crucial ideas "discovered" repeatedly or by >> different methods. >> k. Finally, each student must recognize why his discoveries are >> significant >> and how the ideas are incorporated in the structure involved. >> >> 6. The book gives some examples of ideas that students can try to >> discover for themselves: >> >> a. The difference between the prime numbers 5 and 2 is 3. Why do no >> other prime numbers have this property? Here is a related one I have >> thought of: 3, 5, 7 are three consecutive odd natural numbers that >> are >> also prime numbers. Are there any other examples of three >> consecutive >> odd natural numbers where all three are prime numbers? If not, then >> why is this example the only one possible? >> >> b. What do we know about sums and products of odd integers? >> >> c. Why is 1.999....=2? >> >> d. What is the maximum number of pieces of pie if a round pie is >> divided by seven cuts? >> >> e. How are the slope and y-intercept of a line related to the >> equation >> of a line? >> >> f. How is the perimeter of a right triangle related to its area? >> >> g. What is the number of subsets of a finite set? (The book does >> not >> say "finite" but should.) >> >> h. How can the formulas for areas of geometric figures be related >> to the >> area of a rectangle? >> >> i. What equality properties apply to inequalities? For those that >> do >> not, can you find conditions for which these equality properties >> apply >> to inequalities? >> >> Here is one I thought of: >> >> j. Must we use the LCD to add or subtract fractions? Or will any >> common denominator work? If any common denominator works, can you >> see why? I like this one because I have seen many students who >> believe that adding or subtracting fractions using a common >> denominator >> besides the least common one is wrong simply because "that's not how >> I was taught to do that." >> >> >> A comment to Mike Dougherty: In some sense, asking students to >> discover >> the reasoning and logic behind mathematics is discovery teaching. >> Sometimes this term refers to getting students to discover ideas and >> the underlying logic for themselves such as discovering and proving >> a theorem, something similar to what a mathematician has to do when >> developing a theory. Other times it can refer to having students >> fill >> in the details of the reasoning after the teacher has presented the >> big >> ideas and some outline of the reasoning with the details omitted so >> that >> students can try to fill those in for themselves. In these cases, >> the >> student is not asked to discover theorems but is asked instead to >> discover the proofs of them. It is clear from the examples given >> above >> from the book I had cited that this book uses the word "discovery >> learning" or "discovery teaching" in both of these senses. >> >> I don't know if we explain too much, but I often question if we, >> including >> myself, explain too much too quickly before giving the students >> chances >> to think about and see these ideas for themselves. That is, if we >> explain >> too much up front, then we don't give students many chances to >> think for >> themselves. We also give students the impression that it is okay to >> take our word for it, especially permanently rather than just >> temporarily >> for convenience, even if they haven't the foggiest idea of why that >> is true. >> I don't see a problem with a student who wants to take our word for >> it for >> the time being, especially if they need to use that result >> immediately, >> if the student is willing to try later to see why that is true. Of >> course, >> if the proof of the result is beyond the scope of the course, then >> that is >> a completely different matter. >> >> >> >> >> Jonathan Groves >> >> >> >> >> On 10/8/2010 at 11:21 am, Michael Dougherty wrote: >> >>> To me, math is almost automatically "discovery >>> learning." Maybe all subjects are but I could argue >>> math is more so. It's just a matter of how much of >>> it you want them to discover on their own. If I >>> teach trigonometric substitution or partial fractions >>> decompositions, they will still have to "discover" >>> the logic of it as they go, even if I completely >>> explain the logic to them in my always brilliant >>> lectures. I suppose if I want to give these two >>> topics a month instead of a week (collectively), they >>> might be able to "discover" it from something closer >>> to first principles, but no matter how much I explain >>> things they still have to work the problems to >>> "discover" what works and what does not. >>> >>> As they say, give a man a fish and you feed him for a >>> day; teach him to fish and you feed him for a >>> lifetime. >>> >>> OK, but now they're asking us to let him discover for >>> himself how to fish, perhaps out of desperation? >>> He'll know some aspects of fishing better than if >>> f you teach him, but he'll miss out on a lot of >>> details you could have taught him. And a lot of time >>> will be consumed where it did not have to be. >>> >>> As he gets older, it's good if we can teach him how >>> to find the resources to "teach himself," but in the >>> beginning it's better to present a logical context >>> and let them work through it. >>> >>> But I submit it's still "discovery," that they will >>> make working through problems we give them. The rest >>> is arguing about what level we want them to start, >>> and how much guidance to give them. Also, how much >>> of it we want to be a group activity. >>> >>> So when I hear "discovery learning," I'm hearing that >>> they think we explain too much. In math, that's >>> almost impossible, if at some point you make them >>> work problems on their own. >>> >>> - --Mike D. > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sun Oct 10 04:08:21 2010 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 19:08:21 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] 'discovery learning' with Python... In-Reply-To: <60A7D147-8B5D-4A6E-87B6-7D9323B9556C@aol.com> References: <60A7D147-8B5D-4A6E-87B6-7D9323B9556C@aol.com> Message-ID: That's cool. I was hoping my bold assertion of being almost alone on the front lines would inspire protests from my comrades. Kirby On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 6:35 PM, Calcpage wrote: > I've been selling python, SAGE and the Litvin text to High School math and > compsci teachers for some time too! > > I've been talking up python on the AP Calculus, AP Physics and AP CompSci > listservs quite a lot actually. ?I also promote python on my blog! > > Regards, > A. Jorge Garcia > Applied Math & CS > Baldwin SHS & Nassau CC > http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com > http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 > Sent from my iPod > > On Oct 9, 2010, at 8:33 PM, kirby urner wrote: > >> Greetings edu-siggers -- >> >> The appended thread is from the Math Forum and my role is somewhat >> tangential i.e. I'm always the only one present quoting any Python. >> >> Complete thread in case anyone wants more context: >> http://www.mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2154964&tstart=0 >> >> No one else in the world has the job of promoting Python to K-12 math >> teachers so directly and publicly, except for the Litvins with their >> ground-breaking MFTDA (Math for the Digital Age and Programming >> in Python, Skylit publishing). >> >> Per my Grossology slides included in the presentation in Vilnius, >> there's a recognized way to gain some bandwidth among multi-tasking >> youth by including stuff that's "gross" or "demented" (see exhibit >> below). >> >> Cartoons often exploit this technique, with adults as well. ?There's >> a whole genre of cartoons considered "sick and twisted" (Bill Plympton >> an example contributor). ?Portland, Oregon has many festivals >> centering around such content. >> >> Such comedic material is apropos per the Monty Python genesis of >> the name Python. ?I've often though of Python's subculture as TV-14 >> and above, meaning we're not trying to compete with the Alan Kays >> of this world, or with Scratch (which is also fun for grownups, if given >> permission by their peers). >> >> Python takes typing, is not a visual language, takes some lexical >> sophistication. ?There's no reason to feature the same language at >> all levels or in all circumstances, obviously. >> >> Anyway, nothing below is especially "sick and twisted" besides the >> term "snake barf", which refers to the interpreter's coming back with >> traceback error messages (raising exceptions) when uninterpretable >> (inedible) expressions get offered. >> >> Thinking of the Python interpreter as this "creature" that responds >> in a kind of "chat window" is not a bad way to go, given the name. >> >> You'll also see more of my "everything is a python in Python", a variant >> on "everything is an object". ?The paradigm object, in having special >> names (if only __init__ and __repr__), i.e. a "rack of __ribs__" is >> somewhat snakelike in appearance. >> >> Relevant slides: >> >> http://www.4dsolutions.net/presentations/connectingthedots.pdf >> (slides 11, 12 re "everything is a snake", 23, 24 re Grossology). >> >> Exhibit: "demented cartoon" (Ren and Stimpy, Aqua Teenage >> Hunger Force, and Spongebob would be other examples). >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li5nMsXg1Lk >> >> Having such toons communicating more mathematical concepts, >> including Python (as one of many machine executable math >> languages, as Leibniz envisioned), would be a feature of Python.tv >> (which Holden Web is keeping safe for when the time comes). >> >> Kirby >> >> >> ======================== >> >> Date: Oct 8, 2010 4:27 PM >> Author: kirby urner >> Subject: Re: Mathematician >> >> On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Jonathan Groves >> wrote: >>> >>> Mike and Wayne and others, >>> >>> I did look up what Johnson and Rising's book "Guidelines for Teaching >>> Mathematics" (2nd edition) says about discovery learning, and the >>> book says more about discovery learning than what I remembered. >>> Here are some things the book does say about discovery learning. >>> I will not list everything, but here are some of the big ideas I find >>> that are worth mentioning. >> >> Like here's what I might call "discovery learning"... >> >> The teacher is projecting in front of the whole class, and enters the >> sequence below. ?She doesn't necessarily talk a lot during the >> demo, other than saying things like "lets see what this does", >> "how about this?" i.e. noises associated with doing some inquiry. >> >> Students have the ability to follow along and then branch off >> doing their own experiments. ?A time allotment is provided, say >> 15 minutes, at the end of which students volunteer to come in >> front of the room, take charge of the projector, and give up to >> 5 minutes elucidation of what they've learned and/or think is >> going on, for the benefit of the rest of the class. >> >> Here's the scroll (reading program), a real time demo in this >> case (frozen here): >> >> Python 3.1rc1 (r31rc1:73069, May 31 2009, 08:57:10) [MSC v.1500 32 bit >> (Intel)] on win32 >> Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information. >> >>>>> int >> >> >> >>>>> int('3') >> >> 3 >> >>>>> int('3', 2) >> >> Traceback (most recent call last): >> ?File "", line 1, in >> ? int('3', 2) >> ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 2: '3' >> >>>>> int(3, 2) >> >> Traceback (most recent call last): >> ?File "", line 1, in >> ? int(3, 2) >> TypeError: int() can't convert non-string with explicit base >> >>>>> int('3', '2') >> >> Traceback (most recent call last): >> ?File "", line 1, in >> ? int('3', '2') >> TypeError: an integer is required >> >>>>> int('3', 10) >> >> 3 >>>>> >>>>> int('3', ?9) >> >> 3 >> >>>>> int('3', ?2) >> >> Traceback (most recent call last): >> ?File "", line 1, in >> ? int('3', ?2) >> ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 2: '3' >> >>>>> int('1000101010100', ?2) >> >> 4436 >> >> New topic. ?The teacher enters the following in an editor window, >> saves to site-packages and then runs: >> >> def f(g): >> ? def anon(x): >> ? ? ? return g(x + 2) >> ? return anon >> >> @f >> def m(x): ?return 2 * x >> >> @f >> def k(x): return x + 2 >> >> print ( k(10) ) >> >> print ( m(10) ) >> >> Here is the output: >> >>>>> ================================ RESTART >>>>> ================================ >>>>> >> 14 >> 24 >>>>> >> >> >> Students regularly give lightning talks in this classroom. ?These are >> akin to "show and tell", which is a valuable institution at all levels. >> The standard feature of a lightning talk is it's no more than five minutes >> (points off for going over), but there's no requirement that it go for >> that >> long. ?Sometimes a student will come to the front of the room and >> address the class for a much shorter period. >> >> Having students come to the front and take control of the projector >> is a variation on a theme. ?In a standard Math Lab (does your school >> have one?) any student has the ability to switch what's on her or >> his workstation to the screen up front. ?The teacher may also have >> this capability, along with mixing controls. ?A Math Lab session will >> typically result in an output recording drawing from several workstations >> and edited in post production. ?Sound may be added. ?The growing >> database of clips is on the school intranet. Fractals alone might >> account for quite a few gigabytes of storage, with student projects >> aggregating. ?College admissions officers may be granted PIN >> numbers to view student records, with student permission. >> >> Anyway, the question is whether projecting content, not explaining >> everything, encouraging exploration, giving opportunities to elucidate, >> followed by some teacher explication, is a 'discovery learning' workflow. >> To the best of my knowledge, 'discovery learning' is not trademarked >> and so it could well be, without anyone taking serious objection. >> You may have noticed that the int function (above) wants you to say >> what base your number object is in, at which point it returns a base 10 >> result. ?int('3', 2) was asking for something the int function can't do >> (it's not about "converting" the decimal number '3' into base 2 here) >> whereas something like int('FF', 16) or int('10101', 2) would be perfectly >> OK, no "snake barf" for feedback (where Python spits back your >> "animal argument" i.e. raises an exception). >> >> Remember "everything is a python in Python" meaning a creaturely >> object (has behavior and internal state, a self / dictionary), potentially >> with lotsa __ribs__ (special names) and therefore a spine -- like a >> snake does. >> >> We use a lot of biological metaphors on purpose, given mega-trends in >> physics teaching these days (math teachers are also welcome to use >> this free technology, though we understand they're still mostly addicted >> to calculators). >> >> The "decorator syntax" (@) is about taking a function definition and >> sending it through a wringer of sorts, spitting out a new function of the >> same name.** ? ?In this example, the input function is modified such >> that its input argument will get bumped up by 2, before a function's >> machinery is allowed to do its work. >> >> Kirby >> >> ** I can't help but think of 'Invasion' the TV science fiction soap opera, >> wherein people were eaten by creatures in the Florida swamp, then >> returned, almost themselves (but only almost): >> >> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460651/ >> >> - -- if these were beginners, I'd do more on the history of the decorator >> feature, starting with the idea of properties in classes. >> >> >>> >>> 1. ?Discovery learning is a difficult teaching method because it must >>> be continually adapted to students' questions and comments and what >>> progress they have made thus far. ?We cannot plan extensively for >>> discovery learning just as we cannot plan extensively in advance for >>> a discussion; we will not know how the discussion will go or where it >>> will lead until we actually do it. >>> >>> 2. ?As I had mentioned earlier, discovery learning is not appropriate >>> for all situations. ?One example they give here is trying to get >>> students to discover a definition. >>> >>> 3. ?The idea of discovery learning is that it helps students find their >>> own meaning in the mathematical concepts and their own connections of >>> that concept with their previous knowledge and experiences. ?Previous >>> experiences happen to be one reason why our thinking about a concept >>> makes perfect sense to ourselves and other students but makes no sense >>> to someone else; that baffled student might not have had those >>> experiences >>> to make that explanation meaningful to him or her. >>> >>> 4. ?Some ideas for prompting students to think more deeply (examples >>> taken >>> straight from this book): >>> >>> "Give me another example." >>> "Do you believe that, Bill?" >>> "How do you know that?" >>> "Can anyone find a case for which John's rule does not work?" >>> "That seems to work. ?Will it always?" >>> "Have we forgotten any cases?" >>> >>> 5. ?The book points out some cautions to discovery learning (as quoted >>> from >>> the book): >>> >>> a. ?Be sure that the correct generalizations are the end result. >>> b. ?Do not expect everybody to discover every generalization. >>> c. ?Do not plan to discover all the ideas of your course. ?Discovery of >>> some ideas is too inefficient. ?Sometimes students do not need an >>> intuitive, >>> emprical, discovery approach to understand an idea. >>> d. ?Expect discoveries to take time. >>> e. ?Do not expect the generalization to be verbalized as soon as it is >>> discovered. >>> f. ?Avoid overstructuring experiences. >>> g. ?Avoid jumping to conclusions on the basis of too few samples. >>> h. ?Do not be negative, critical, or unreceptive to unusual or off-beat >>> questions or suggestions. ?However, incorrect responses must not be >>> accepted as true; and disruptive, nonessential explorations must be >>> eliminated. ?Students should know that their status is not threatened >>> by incorrect answers. >>> i. ?Keep the student aware of the progress he is making. >>> j. ?If possible, have crucial ideas "discovered" repeatedly or by >>> different methods. >>> k. ?Finally, each student must recognize why his discoveries are >>> significant >>> and how the ideas are incorporated in the structure involved. >>> >>> 6. ?The book gives some examples of ideas that students can try to >>> discover for themselves: >>> >>> a. ?The difference between the prime numbers 5 and 2 is 3. ?Why do no >>> other prime numbers have this property? ?Here is a related one I have >>> thought of: 3, 5, 7 are three consecutive odd natural numbers that are >>> also prime numbers. ?Are there any other examples of three consecutive >>> odd natural numbers where all three are prime numbers? ?If not, then >>> why is this example the only one possible? >>> >>> b. ?What do we know about sums and products of odd integers? >>> >>> c. ?Why is 1.999....=2? >>> >>> d. ?What is the maximum number of pieces of pie if a round pie is >>> divided by seven cuts? >>> >>> e. ?How are the slope and y-intercept of a line related to the equation >>> of a line? >>> >>> f. ?How is the perimeter of a right triangle related to its area? >>> >>> g. ?What is the number of subsets of a finite set? ?(The book does not >>> say "finite" but should.) >>> >>> h. ?How can the formulas for areas of geometric figures be related to the >>> area of a rectangle? >>> >>> i. ?What equality properties apply to inequalities? ?For those that do >>> not, can you find conditions for which these equality properties apply >>> to inequalities? >>> >>> Here is one I thought of: >>> >>> j. ?Must we use the LCD to add or subtract fractions? ?Or will any >>> common denominator work? ?If any common denominator works, can you >>> see why? ?I like this one because I have seen many students who >>> believe that adding or subtracting fractions using a common denominator >>> besides the least common one is wrong simply because "that's not how >>> I was taught to do that." >>> >>> >>> A comment to Mike Dougherty: In some sense, asking students to discover >>> the reasoning and logic behind mathematics is discovery teaching. >>> Sometimes this term refers to getting students to discover ideas and >>> the underlying logic for themselves such as discovering and proving >>> a theorem, something similar to what a mathematician has to do when >>> developing a theory. ?Other times it can refer to having students fill >>> in the details of the reasoning after the teacher has presented the big >>> ideas and some outline of the reasoning with the details omitted so that >>> students can try to fill those in for themselves. ?In these cases, the >>> student is not asked to discover theorems but is asked instead to >>> discover the proofs of them. ?It is clear from the examples given above >>> from the book I had cited that this book uses the word "discovery >>> learning" or "discovery teaching" in both of these senses. >>> >>> I don't know if we explain too much, but I often question if we, >>> including >>> myself, explain too much too quickly before giving the students chances >>> to think about and see these ideas for themselves. ?That is, if we >>> explain >>> too much up front, then we don't give students many chances to think for >>> themselves. ?We also give students the impression that it is okay to >>> take our word for it, especially permanently rather than just temporarily >>> for convenience, even if they haven't the foggiest idea of why that is >>> true. >>> I don't see a problem with a student who wants to take our word for it >>> for >>> the time being, especially if they need to use that result immediately, >>> if the student is willing to try later to see why that is true. ?Of >>> course, >>> if the proof of the result is beyond the scope of the course, then that >>> is >>> a completely different matter. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Jonathan Groves >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On 10/8/2010 at 11:21 am, Michael Dougherty wrote: >>> >>>> To me, math is almost automatically "discovery >>>> learning." ?Maybe all subjects are but I could argue >>>> math is more so. ?It's just a matter of how much of >>>> it you want them to discover on their own. ?If I >>>> teach trigonometric substitution or partial fractions >>>> decompositions, they will still have to "discover" >>>> the logic of it as they go, even if I completely >>>> explain the logic to them in my always brilliant >>>> lectures. ?I suppose if I want to give these two >>>> topics a month instead of a week (collectively), they >>>> might be able to "discover" it from something closer >>>> to first principles, but no matter how much I explain >>>> things they still have to work the problems to >>>> "discover" what works and what does not. >>>> >>>> As they say, give a man a fish and you feed him for a >>>> day; teach him to fish and you feed him for a >>>> lifetime. >>>> >>>> OK, but now they're asking us to let him discover for >>>> himself how to fish, perhaps out of desperation? >>>> He'll know some aspects of fishing better than if >>>> f you teach him, but he'll miss out on a lot of >>>> details you could have taught him. ?And a lot of time >>>> will be consumed where it did not have to be. >>>> >>>> As he gets older, it's good if we can teach him how >>>> to find the resources to "teach himself," but in the >>>> beginning it's better to present a logical context >>>> and let them work through it. >>>> >>>> But I submit it's still "discovery," that they will >>>> make working through problems we give them. ?The rest >>>> is arguing about what level we want them to start, >>>> and how much guidance to give them. ?Also, how much >>>> of it we want to be a group activity. >>>> >>>> So when I hear "discovery learning," I'm hearing that >>>> they think we explain too much. ?In math, that's >>>> almost impossible, if at some point you make them >>>> work problems on their own. >>>> >>>> - --Mike D. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig at python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > From litvin at skylit.com Sun Oct 10 04:50:39 2010 From: litvin at skylit.com (Litvin) Date: Sat, 09 Oct 2010 22:50:39 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] 'discovery learning' with Python... In-Reply-To: References: <60A7D147-8B5D-4A6E-87B6-7D9323B9556C@aol.com> Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20101009224923.0401ea28@skylit.com> Thanks to both! Gary Litvin At 10:08 PM 10/9/2010, kirby urner wrote: >That's cool. > >I was hoping my bold assertion of being almost alone on the front >lines would inspire protests from my comrades. > >Kirby > >On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 6:35 PM, Calcpage wrote: > > I've been selling python, SAGE and the Litvin text to High School math and > > compsci teachers for some time too! > > > > I've been talking up python on the AP Calculus, AP Physics and AP CompSci > > listservs quite a lot actually. I also promote python on my blog! > > > > Regards, > > A. Jorge Garcia > > Applied Math & CS > > Baldwin SHS & Nassau CC > > http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com > > http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 From kirby.urner at gmail.com Sun Oct 10 18:25:12 2010 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:25:12 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] 'discovery learning' with Python... In-Reply-To: <7.0.1.0.2.20101009224923.0401ea28@skylit.com> References: <60A7D147-8B5D-4A6E-87B6-7D9323B9556C@aol.com> <7.0.1.0.2.20101009224923.0401ea28@skylit.com> Message-ID: Related links: http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-releases/2010/education-paradox http://www.acm.org/news/featured/acm-pcast-statement The idea of a new "digital math" track alongside the current "analog math" track (leading through calculus) is different language than CinC's rhetoric (Computing in the Core), but the goal is the same: raising topics in computing (not just keyboard/mouse and Internet skills) to the same level as the rest of mathematics in terms of counting as "core". That this acronym STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) is now explicitly including computer science is what the 2nd link is about. Some math teachers were ridiculing the acronym as more edu-speak **, but hey, everyone uses acronyms and abbreviations. Kirby ** http://www.mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2154964&tstart=0 My thanks to Bill Marsh for the above links (Math Forum debater) On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 7:50 PM, Litvin wrote: > Thanks to both! > Gary Litvin > > At 10:08 PM 10/9/2010, kirby urner wrote: >> >> That's cool. >> >> I was hoping my bold assertion of being almost alone on the front >> lines would inspire protests from my comrades. >> >> Kirby >> >> On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 6:35 PM, Calcpage wrote: >> > I've been selling python, SAGE and the Litvin text to High School math >> > and >> > compsci teachers for some time too! >> > >> > I've been talking up python on the AP Calculus, AP Physics and AP >> > CompSci >> > listservs quite a lot actually. ?I also promote python on my blog! >> > >> > Regards, >> > A. Jorge Garcia >> > Applied Math & CS >> > Baldwin SHS & Nassau CC >> > http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com >> > http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 > > From calcpage at aol.com Sun Oct 10 19:43:07 2010 From: calcpage at aol.com (A. Jorge Garcia) Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:43:07 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] 'discovery learning' with Python... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CD36B9BB7B5DC4-1580-14C2C@webmail-m097.sysops.aol.com> In fact, my kids just completed their first discrete math lab using SAGE! https://clemix.clemson.edu:34567/home/pub/139 HTH, A. Jorge Garcia http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 Teacher & Professor Applied Mathematics, Physics?& Computer Science Baldwin Senior High School & Nassau Community College From vceder at canterburyschool.org Sun Oct 10 22:36:34 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:36:34 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] PyCon 2011 Poster Session CFP Now Open! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Here's hoping we get some edu-sig posters this year a PyCon... Vern ==== PyCon 2011 Call for Posters ==== PyCon 2011 will be held March 9th-17th, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Home of some of the best southern food you can possibly find on Earth!) The PyCon conference days will be March 11-13, preceded by two tutorial days (March 9-10), and followed by four days of development sprints (March 14-17). This is the second year that PyCon is offering a poster pession. A poster is a 4' x 4' graphical summary of the key points about your project, and a poster session provides another way of presenting that encourages more one-on-one communication between the presenter and the audience. Poster sessions are particularly suited for topics of interest to a subset of the community and/or presenters who are more comfortable interacting with smaller groups. Poster sessions also are a great incubator for further hallway track discussions. Poster proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis until January 19 or we reach the limit of 35 posters. For general information on the poster session visit the PyCon site at http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/posters/ , for a list of last year's posters go to http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/posters/accepted/, or see the full CFP for poster proposals at http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/posters/cfp/. To submit a poster proposal use the PyCon speaker submission system found at http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/ See you in Atlanta! =========================================================== -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kirby.urner at gmail.com Wed Oct 13 23:42:06 2010 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:42:06 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] a draft module (funky.py) -- digital math track Message-ID: """ non-axial: 10 FF + 2 is the classic CCP number sequence (OEIS A005901). Here we bring out the +2 associated with polar vertexes by means of function composition, applied using decorator syntax (@) [12, 42, 92, 162, 252, 362, 492, 642, 812, 1002] Note how a "double decorator" makes sense as well (the output function is fed back in to compose and output once again ala g(g(f(x)). [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13] brainstorming posters for Pycon / Havana; Pycon / Ukraine by 4dsolutions.net Bibliography: The King of Infinite Space (bio of HSM Coxeter) Proof of 10FF + 2 (NCLB project) Xtals 101 (4dsolutions.net/ocn/xtals101.html) """ def compose( f ): global g return lambda x: g( f (x) ) def g(x): return x + 2 @compose def nonaxial(n): return 10 * n * n @compose @compose def identity(x): return x def test(): print ( [ nonaxial(x) for x in range(1, 11) ] ) print ( [ identity(x) for x in range(10) ] ) if __name__ == "__main__": test() -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jurgis.pralgauskis at gmail.com Thu Oct 21 14:36:10 2010 From: jurgis.pralgauskis at gmail.com (Jurgis Pralgauskis) Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:36:10 +0300 Subject: [Edu-sig] Software Carpentry : video+slides = very nice Message-ID: Earlier it was like this http://osl.iu.edu/~lums/swc/ now I found it with videos and very nicely structured http://software-carpentry.org/4_0/python/ hope, could be useful for others From zmiller at gsc.edu Sun Oct 24 00:39:33 2010 From: zmiller at gsc.edu (Zac Miller) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:39:33 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG Message-ID: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA33@amp.gsc.edu> Hello! I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am currently teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I am looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be hard to find others using Python in this setting. I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. So far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I attended PyCon 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested PyCon talk on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or a summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a Panel proposal? Thanks! -J. Zachary Miller From andre.roberge at gmail.com Sun Oct 24 01:04:40 2010 From: andre.roberge at gmail.com (Andre Roberge) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:04:40 -0300 Subject: [Edu-sig] Fwd: Joining my first SIG In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA33@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Oops, used reply to user rather than to the whole list. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Andre Roberge Date: Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:04 PM Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG To: Zac Miller Welcome aboard Zac! On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 7:39 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > Hello! > > I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived > threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am currently > teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. > > I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I am > looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be > hard to find others using Python in this setting. > I know that there are a few at least, including some long time contributors (Andy Judkis and Jeff Elkner for instance). Hopefully they will chime in. > > I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. So > far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my > experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I attended PyCon > 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the > state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it > as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > > There's usually a meeting organized for one evening by edu-sig people during PyCon. I don't know if I'll be going to Pycon this year, but I would strongly encourage you to look up other edu-sig people at that meeting. Andr? Roberge > I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of > Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science > courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested PyCon talk > on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or a > summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind > sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a Panel > proposal? > > Thanks! > > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vceder at canterburyschool.org Sun Oct 24 01:55:37 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:55:37 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG In-Reply-To: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA33@amp.gsc.edu> References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA33@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Hi Zac, On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > Hello! > > I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived > threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am currently > teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. > > I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I am > looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be > hard to find others using Python in this setting. I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little Python to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well as offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board that Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a blast. I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school kids through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program ( http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), using Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead and raise your questions. > I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. So > far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my > experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I attended PyCon > 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the > state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it > as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > > I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of > Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science > courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested PyCon talk > on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or a > summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind > sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a Panel > proposal? > I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a proposal, but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... Also, as the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a talk or panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a poster proposal. Cheers, Vern Ceder > Thanks! > > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From calcpage at aol.com Sun Oct 24 02:52:57 2010 From: calcpage at aol.com (A. Jorge Garcia) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:52:57 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Fwd: Joining my first SIG In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CD412CEF48EB27-1EA0-E13D@webmail-d046.sysops.aol.com> As luck would have it, I just blogged about my High School Python class! See blogspot link below. HTH, A. Jorge Garcia http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 Teacher & Professor Applied Mathematics, Physics?& Computer Science Baldwin Senior High School & Nassau Community College From lognaturel at gmail.com Sun Oct 24 04:11:36 2010 From: lognaturel at gmail.com (Helene Martin) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:11:36 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG In-Reply-To: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA33@amp.gsc.edu> References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA33@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: You can see two versions of a Python course I've given in Seattle at a public high school linked from http://www.garfieldcs.com/creative-computing/ All resources are up for grabs if they interest you unless attributed to others. Happy to discuss with you or others if interested. It's been pretty popular and I look forward to having two sections of it next semester. On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 3:39 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > Hello! > > I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived threads from last few months. ?My name is Zac Miller and I am currently teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. > > I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? ?I am looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be hard to find others using Python in this setting. > > I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. ?So far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. ?I attended PyCon 2010 as student. ?Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > > I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science courses for the entire state. ?What would make for an interested PyCon talk on K12 education involving Python? ?Does anyone have similar data or a summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind sharing for me to use as comparison? ?Anyone interested in doing a Panel proposal? > > Thanks! > > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > From zmiller at gsc.edu Sun Oct 24 04:48:38 2010 From: zmiller at gsc.edu (Zac Miller) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:48:38 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Class Length Message-ID: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA36@amp.gsc.edu> I've just spent some time looking over your creative computing class. I really like the webpage. My first question would be how long are your classes? Some of my biggest questions for my middle school group are how far along should they be after X weeks or Y months? -J. Zachary Miller ________________________________________ From: Helene Martin [lognaturel at gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 10:11 PM To: Zac Miller Cc: edu-sig at python.org Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG You can see two versions of a Python course I've given in Seattle at a public high school linked from http://www.garfieldcs.com/creative-computing/ All resources are up for grabs if they interest you unless attributed to others. Happy to discuss with you or others if interested. It's been pretty popular and I look forward to having two sections of it next semester. On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 3:39 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > Hello! > > I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am currently teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. > > I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I am looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be hard to find others using Python in this setting. > > I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. So far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I attended PyCon 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > > I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested PyCon talk on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or a summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a Panel proposal? > > Thanks! > > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > From lognaturel at gmail.com Sun Oct 24 05:12:45 2010 From: lognaturel at gmail.com (Helene Martin) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:12:45 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Class Length In-Reply-To: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA36@amp.gsc.edu> References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA36@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Monday, Tuesday and Friday periods are 55 minutes long and Wednesday or Thursday periods are 110 minutes. It's going to depend so much on the students' motivation and general education level. If you compare my fall and spring offerings, you'll see that we got much farther in fall. The spring group was generally less energetic and had trouble keeping up so I took a little more time. I'm really grateful to have that flexibility! On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 7:48 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > I've just spent some time looking over your creative computing class. ?I really like the webpage. ?My first question would be how long are your classes? ?Some of my biggest questions for my middle school group are how far along should they be after X weeks or Y months? > > -J. Zachary Miller > > > > ________________________________________ > From: Helene Martin [lognaturel at gmail.com] > Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 10:11 PM > To: Zac Miller > Cc: edu-sig at python.org > Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG > > You can see two versions of a Python course I've given in Seattle at a > public high school linked from > http://www.garfieldcs.com/creative-computing/ ?All resources are up > for grabs if they interest you unless attributed to others. ?Happy to > discuss with you or others if interested. ?It's been pretty popular > and I look forward to having two sections of it next semester. > > On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 3:39 PM, Zac Miller wrote: >> Hello! >> >> I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived threads from last few months. ?My name is Zac Miller and I am currently teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. >> >> I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? ?I am looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be hard to find others using Python in this setting. >> >> I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. ?So far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. ?I attended PyCon 2010 as student. ?Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. >> >> I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science courses for the entire state. ?What would make for an interested PyCon talk on K12 education involving Python? ?Does anyone have similar data or a summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind sharing for me to use as comparison? ?Anyone interested in doing a Panel proposal? >> >> Thanks! >> >> -J. Zachary Miller >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig at python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> From zmiller at gsc.edu Sun Oct 24 05:24:38 2010 From: zmiller at gsc.edu (Zac Miller) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 23:24:38 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel Message-ID: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> Hello Vern, The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've been getting here. We bought one of the robots to experiment with and the students really enjoy working with it. How many of the robots do you use? What kind of robot to student ratio? I think that a panel discussion with an established program like yours and a start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third and work out the details in private email. Anyone else interested? I'm interested in doing a poster as well. I will be working it all out this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November. -J. Zachary Miller ________________________________ From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org] Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM To: Zac Miller Cc: edu-sig at python.org Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG Hi Zac, On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller > wrote: Hello! I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am currently teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I am looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be hard to find others using Python in this setting. I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little Python to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well as offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board that Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a blast. I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school kids through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), using Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead and raise your questions. I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. So far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I attended PyCon 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested PyCon talk on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or a summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a Panel proposal? I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a proposal, but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... Also, as the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a talk or panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a poster proposal. Cheers, Vern Ceder Thanks! -J. Zachary Miller _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig at python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW From lognaturel at gmail.com Sun Oct 24 05:39:25 2010 From: lognaturel at gmail.com (Helene Martin) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:39:25 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel In-Reply-To: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: I have 16 Scribblers and have students use them in pairs. I find I can get about two meaningful weeks using them. On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:24 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > Hello Vern, > > The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've been getting here. ?We bought one of the robots to experiment with and the students really enjoy working with it. ?How many of the robots do you use? ?What kind of robot to student ratio? > > I think that a panel discussion with an established program like yours and a start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third and work out the details in private email. ?Anyone else interested? > > I'm interested in doing a poster as well. ?I will be working it all out this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November. > > -J. Zachary Miller > > > ________________________________ > From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org] > Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM > To: Zac Miller > Cc: edu-sig at python.org > Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG > > Hi Zac, > > On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller > wrote: > Hello! > > I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived threads from last few months. ?My name is Zac Miller and I am currently teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. > > I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? ?I am looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be hard to find others using Python in this setting. > > I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little Python to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well as offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. > > Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board that Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a blast. I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school kids through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), using Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. > > As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead and raise your questions. > > I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. ?So far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. ?I attended PyCon 2010 as student. ?Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > > I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science courses for the entire state. ?What would make for an interested PyCon talk on K12 education involving Python? ?Does anyone have similar data or a summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind sharing for me to use as comparison? ?Anyone interested in doing a Panel proposal? > > I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a proposal, but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... Also, as the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a talk or panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a poster proposal. > > Cheers, > Vern Ceder > > Thanks! > > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > -- > This time for sure! > ? -Bullwinkle J. Moose > ----------------------------- > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > From vceder at canterburyschool.org Sun Oct 24 05:51:37 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 23:51:37 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel In-Reply-To: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 11:24 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > Hello Vern, > > The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've been > getting here. We bought one of the robots to experiment with and the > students really enjoy working with it. How many of the robots do you use? > What kind of robot to student ratio? I have seven students and each has their own scribbler and dedicated laptop (they're old, retired laptops running Debian Linux) since having a dedicated laptop cuts down on the hassle/time of pairing the bluetooth board. Most of those students are new to programming and we're using the scribblers for the whole semester, sort of following the same process as GA Tech does. A couple of the experienced programmers are moving on to more advanced projects, though. In working with the scribblers, they've learned if statements, functions, loops, how to create and use separate modules, share code, and now are getting to the point of using the camera to grab and process images and use that information to control the robots. A couple of the advanced kids have written multi-threaded apps to both drive the bot and have it automatically avoid obstacles. It depends on what you want to do, but scribbler/fluke combo has a lot of potential. I think that a panel discussion with an established program like yours and a > start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third and work > out the details in private email. Anyone else interested? > +1 > I'm interested in doing a poster as well. I will be working it all out > this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November. > Good. The final poster submission deadline is January 19, but we have a limit of 35 posters and are accepting them on a rolling basis. Acceptance of a poster is not tied to whether or not a talk is accepted. > -J. Zachary Miller > > Cheers, Vern > > ________________________________ > From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org] > Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM > To: Zac Miller > Cc: edu-sig at python.org > Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG > > Hi Zac, > > On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller zmiller at gsc.edu>> wrote: > Hello! > > I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the archived > threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am currently > teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. > > I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I am > looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to be > hard to find others using Python in this setting. > > I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a > private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little Python > to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well as > offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. > > Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board that > Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a blast. > I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school kids > through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program ( > http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), using > Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. > > As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead and > raise your questions. > > I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. So > far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my > experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I attended PyCon > 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss the > state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much of it > as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > > I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of > Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science > courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested PyCon talk > on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or a > summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind > sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a Panel > proposal? > > I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a proposal, > but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... Also, as > the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider > presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a talk or > panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a poster > proposal. > > Cheers, > Vern Ceder > > Thanks! > > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > -- > This time for sure! > -Bullwinkle J. Moose > ----------------------------- > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > vceder at canterburyschool.org; > 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ajudkis at verizon.net Sun Oct 24 13:09:46 2010 From: ajudkis at verizon.net (Andy Judkis) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 07:09:46 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4CC413FA.4000601@verizon.net> Hi Zac (et al), I teach 10th graders a course called Principles of Computer Technology that includes about 4 weeks of programming at the end, using Python. We always start with about 4 days using RUR-PLE, which I think is the cat's pajamas, and then go on to using IDLE to do some simple stuff. This year for the first time I did a 'getting to know you' project using Scratch, and I'll be interested to see if that exposure helps them grasp the basics of Python a little quicker. Also, last summer I took a seminar on Media Computing with Mark Guzdial (amazing guy, if he went into politics I'd vote for him in a heartbeat) and am considering introducing some of that material. For me, the tradeoff is that the media computing projects are really cool, but the Jython environment is not as friendly and I'm afraid it may be discouraging given the short time we have to work with. Anybody have an opinion on this? Thanks, Andy From vceder at canterburyschool.org Mon Oct 25 02:12:29 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:12:29 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 6:29 PM, Helene Martin wrote: > Hi Vern, > > I always have trouble with bluetooth interference, changing COM ports > (probably a Windows XP "feature"), low batteries and so on. Of > course, these issues are probably aggravated by having 60 students > working with them over 220 minutes in a day but I imagine they show up > at any scale. At first, the students find it quaint and put up with > it but I've found that their tolerance for the quirks is finite, as is > mine. I hesitate to teach Python basics using the platform for those > reasons. Do you share those problems? How do you address them? > The bluetooth problem is pretty much taken care of by using the dedicated Linux laptops - as long as I can set them up without the others on, it's no problem and we don't have any real trouble with that. The battery issue is real - as the voltage goes down the bot's behavior changes, and I shudder to think of the number of batteries we've burned through. OTOH, I don't see such quirks as obstacles to programming, but rather factors that can be at least partly mitigated with code. So we acknowledge the frustration and try (not always successfully, which is in itself a lesson) to deal with it. All of my kids are used to reading the battery state frequently in their code, and they're experimenting to find what they can do within the limitations of the machines. And failure, (as they say on Mythbusters) is always and option. However, a "failure" that establishes just how far the robot can be pushed earns an A, as for example a pair of girls who tried to have their two robots perform a complex interactive dance. They did a good job - analyzing the problems, trying to code solutions, but in the end the hardware wasn't up to the task and they could tell you exactly why and how things didn't work. That's a success in my book and I let them know that. > That's one of the big reasons that I only do about two weeks with the > 'bots. That's also about the time it takes us to get through the > Georgia Tech exercises (with students already knowing Python basics). > That's impressive. We're just getting to the image processing stuff after 8 weeks, but then, most of them are new to programming. But as I said, we have covered creating modules, basic control structures, and the like, all in the context of programming the scribblers. Cheers, Vern On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:51 PM, Vern Ceder > wrote: > > On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 11:24 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > >> > >> Hello Vern, > >> > >> The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've > been > >> getting here. We bought one of the robots to experiment with and the > >> students really enjoy working with it. How many of the robots do you > use? > >> What kind of robot to student ratio? > > > > I have seven students and each has their own scribbler and dedicated > laptop > > (they're old, retired laptops running Debian Linux) since having a > dedicated > > laptop cuts down on the hassle/time of pairing the bluetooth board. > > Most of those students are new to programming and we're using the > scribblers > > for the whole semester, sort of following the same process as GA Tech > does. > > A couple of the experienced programmers are moving on to more advanced > > projects, though. In working with the scribblers, they've learned if > > statements, functions, loops, how to create and use separate modules, > share > > code, and now are getting to the point of using the camera to grab and > > process images and use that information to control the robots. A couple > of > > the advanced kids have written multi-threaded apps to both drive the bot > and > > have it automatically avoid obstacles. It depends on what you want to do, > > but scribbler/fluke combo has a lot of potential. > >> > >> I think that a panel discussion with an established program like yours > and > >> a start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third and > work > >> out the details in private email. Anyone else interested? > > > > +1 > > > >> > >> I'm interested in doing a poster as well. I will be working it all out > >> this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November. > > > > Good. The final poster submission deadline is January 19, but we have a > > limit of 35 posters and are accepting them on a rolling basis. Acceptance > of > > a poster is not tied to whether or not a talk is accepted. > > > >> > >> -J. Zachary Miller > >> > > Cheers, > > Vern > > > > > > > >> > >> ________________________________ > >> From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org] > >> Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM > >> To: Zac Miller > >> Cc: edu-sig at python.org > >> Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG > >> > >> Hi Zac, > >> > >> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller > >> > wrote: > >> Hello! > >> > >> I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the > archived > >> threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am currently > >> teaching Python programming to college and middle school level students. > >> > >> I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I am > >> looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems to > be > >> hard to find others using Python in this setting. > >> > >> I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a > >> private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little > Python > >> to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well as > >> offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. > >> > >> Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board that > >> Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a > blast. > >> I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school > kids > >> through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program > >> (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), > using > >> Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. > >> > >> As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead and > >> raise your questions. > >> > >> I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. > So > >> far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my > >> experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I attended > PyCon > >> 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to discuss > the > >> state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much > of it > >> as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > >> > >> I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of > >> Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer science > >> courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested PyCon > talk > >> on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or a > >> summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind > >> sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a Panel > >> proposal? > >> > >> I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a > proposal, > >> but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... Also, > as > >> the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider > >> presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a talk > or > >> panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a poster > >> proposal. > >> > >> Cheers, > >> Vern Ceder > >> > >> Thanks! > >> > >> -J. Zachary Miller > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Edu-sig mailing list > >> Edu-sig at python.org > >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> This time for sure! > >> -Bullwinkle J. Moose > >> ----------------------------- > >> Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > >> Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > >> vceder at canterburyschool.org; > >> 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > >> > >> The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > This time for sure! > > -Bullwinkle J. Moose > > ----------------------------- > > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Edu-sig mailing list > > Edu-sig at python.org > > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > > -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lognaturel at gmail.com Mon Oct 25 02:17:54 2010 From: lognaturel at gmail.com (Helene Martin) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:17:54 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Thanks for sharing your experience. You're right that dealing with limitations is a very important lesson. I envy your access to Linux machines! I like your story about the girls' complex dance. Sometimes the process is much, much more important than the result. > That's impressive. We're just getting to the image processing stuff after 8 > weeks, but then, most of them are new to programming. But as I said, we have > covered creating modules, basic control structures, and the like, all in the > context of programming the scribblers. To be clear, this is after 13 weeks or so of other programming! So really it's not all that different from the schedule you're describing. 8 weeks to image processing actually sounds pretty ambitious. Can you share with us how many days you see your students and for how many hours, what kind of homework you give them (I give none) and things like that? Apologies if you have before but I don't remember seeing it. Are you alone with the 7 or do you have to teach another class simultaneously? On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 5:12 PM, Vern Ceder wrote: > On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 6:29 PM, Helene Martin wrote: >> >> Hi Vern, >> >> I always have trouble with bluetooth interference, changing COM ports >> (probably a Windows XP "feature"), low batteries and so on. ?Of >> >> course, these issues are probably aggravated by having 60 students >> working with them over 220 minutes in a day but I imagine they show up >> at any scale. ?At first, the students find it quaint and put up with >> it but I've found that their tolerance for the quirks is finite, as is >> mine. ?I hesitate to teach Python basics using the platform for those >> reasons. ?Do you share those problems? ?How do you address them? > > The bluetooth problem is pretty much taken care of by using the dedicated > Linux laptops - as long as I can set them up without the others on, it's no > problem and we don't have any real trouble with that. The battery issue is > real - as the voltage goes down the bot's behavior changes, and I shudder to > think of the number of batteries we've burned through. OTOH, I don't see > such quirks as obstacles to programming, but rather factors that can be at > least partly mitigated with code. > > So we acknowledge the frustration and try (not always successfully, which is > in itself a lesson) to deal with it.? All of my kids are used to reading the > battery state frequently in their code, and they're experimenting to find > what they can do within the limitations of the machines. And failure, (as > they say on Mythbusters) is always and option. However, a "failure" that > establishes just how far the robot can be pushed earns an A, as for example > a pair of girls who tried to have their two robots perform a complex > interactive dance. They did a good job - analyzing the problems, trying to > code solutions, but in the end the hardware wasn't up to the task and they > could tell you exactly why and how things didn't work. That's a success in > my book and I let them know that. > >> >> That's one of the big reasons that I only do about two weeks with the >> 'bots. ?That's also about the time it takes us to get through the >> Georgia Tech exercises (with students already knowing Python basics). > > That's impressive. We're just getting to the image processing stuff after 8 > weeks, but then, most of them are new to programming. But as I said, we have > covered creating modules, basic control structures, and the like, all in the > context of programming the scribblers. > > Cheers, > Vern > >> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:51 PM, Vern Ceder >> wrote: >> > On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 11:24 PM, Zac Miller wrote: >> >> >> >> Hello Vern, >> >> >> >> The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've >> >> been >> >> getting here. ?We bought one of the robots to experiment with and the >> >> students really enjoy working with it. ?How many of the robots do you >> >> use? >> >> ?What kind of robot to student ratio? >> > >> > I have seven students and each has their own scribbler and dedicated >> > laptop >> > (they're old, retired laptops running Debian Linux) since having a >> > dedicated >> > laptop cuts down on the hassle/time of pairing the bluetooth board. >> > Most of those students are new to programming and we're using the >> > scribblers >> > for the whole semester, sort of following the same process as GA Tech >> > does. >> > A couple of the experienced programmers are moving on to more advanced >> > projects, though. In working with the scribblers, they've learned if >> > statements, functions, loops, how to create and use separate modules, >> > share >> > code, and now are getting to the point of using the camera to grab and >> > process images and use that information to control the robots. A couple >> > of >> > the advanced kids have written multi-threaded apps to both drive the bot >> > and >> > have it automatically avoid obstacles. It depends on what you want to >> > do, >> > but scribbler/fluke combo has a lot of potential. >> >> >> >> I think that a panel discussion with an established program like yours >> >> and >> >> a start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third and >> >> work >> >> out the details in private email. ?Anyone else interested? >> > >> > +1 >> > >> >> >> >> I'm interested in doing a poster as well. ?I will be working it all out >> >> this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November. >> > >> > Good. The final poster submission deadline is January 19, but we have a >> > limit of 35 posters and are accepting them on a rolling basis. >> > Acceptance of >> > a poster is not tied to whether or not a talk is accepted. >> > >> >> >> >> -J. Zachary Miller >> >> >> > Cheers, >> > Vern >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> >> From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org] >> >> Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM >> >> To: Zac Miller >> >> Cc: edu-sig at python.org >> >> Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG >> >> >> >> Hi Zac, >> >> >> >> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller >> >> > wrote: >> >> Hello! >> >> >> >> I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the >> >> archived >> >> threads from last few months. ?My name is Zac Miller and I am currently >> >> teaching Python programming to college and middle school level >> >> students. >> >> >> >> I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? ?I >> >> am >> >> looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems >> >> to be >> >> hard to find others using Python in this setting. >> >> >> >> I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a >> >> private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little >> >> Python >> >> to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well as >> >> offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. >> >> >> >> Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board >> >> that >> >> Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a >> >> blast. >> >> I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school >> >> kids >> >> through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program >> >> (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), >> >> using >> >> Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. >> >> >> >> As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead and >> >> raise your questions. >> >> >> >> I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon 2011. >> >> ?So >> >> far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and my >> >> experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. ?I attended >> >> PyCon >> >> 2010 as student. ?Beyond that brief introduction I would like to >> >> discuss the >> >> state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as much >> >> of it >> >> as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. >> >> >> >> I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department of >> >> Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer >> >> science >> >> courses for the entire state. ?What would make for an interested PyCon >> >> talk >> >> on K12 education involving Python? ?Does anyone have similar data or a >> >> summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind >> >> sharing for me to use as comparison? ?Anyone interested in doing a >> >> Panel >> >> proposal? >> >> >> >> I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a >> >> proposal, >> >> but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... Also, >> >> as >> >> the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider >> >> presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a talk >> >> or >> >> panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a poster >> >> proposal. >> >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> Vern Ceder >> >> >> >> Thanks! >> >> >> >> -J. Zachary Miller >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Edu-sig mailing list >> >> Edu-sig at python.org >> >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> This time for sure! >> >> ? -Bullwinkle J. Moose >> >> ----------------------------- >> >> Vern Ceder, Director of Technology >> >> Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 >> >> vceder at canterburyschool.org; >> >> 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 >> >> >> >> The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW >> >> >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > This time for sure! >> > ?? -Bullwinkle J. Moose >> > ----------------------------- >> > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology >> > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 >> > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 >> > >> > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed -?http://bit.ly/bRsWDW >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Edu-sig mailing list >> > Edu-sig at python.org >> > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> > >> > > > > > -- > This time for sure! > ?? -Bullwinkle J. Moose > ----------------------------- > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed -?http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > From vceder at canterburyschool.org Mon Oct 25 03:28:30 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:28:30 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 8:17 PM, Helene Martin wrote: > Thanks for sharing your experience. You're right that dealing with > limitations is a very important lesson. I envy your access to Linux > machines! I like your story about the girls' complex dance. > Sometimes the process is much, much more important than the result. > > > That's impressive. We're just getting to the image processing stuff after > 8 > > weeks, but then, most of them are new to programming. But as I said, we > have > > covered creating modules, basic control structures, and the like, all in > the > > context of programming the scribblers. > > To be clear, this is after 13 weeks or so of other programming! So > really it's not all that different from the schedule you're > describing. 8 weeks to image processing actually sounds pretty > ambitious. Can you share with us how many days you see your students > and for how many hours, what kind of homework you give them (I give > none) and things like that? Apologies if you have before but I don't > remember seeing it. Are you alone with the 7 or do you have to teach > another class simultaneously? > I have the 7 for about 40 minutes a day, with nothing else going on. I realize this is a huge luxury. That means I can have them all working on projects in pairs or individually and still give pretty close attention to everyone, which makes a free-er form, project based approach possible. So while we started the year with me setting them specific challenges, they started picking their own projects (at first from my suggestions, now increasingly from their own ideas) a couple of weeks ago. So while we're talking about image processing in class, I'm pretty sure that they won't all be doing the exact same thing. Right now several of them are experimenting with looping over the pixels and changing the color values, so I expect picking up particular colored shapes will be next. We've discussed the idea of homing in on yellow tennis ball, for example, to see if we can make a bot push the ball (we're a big soccer school ;) ) and things like that. The other thing I want to try with them is seeing what behaviors we can get going, things like hiding from light (or homing in on light), etc, or maybe having them seek other blue robots, and seeing what might happen. Of course, if someone gets an interesting project idea, I let them keep working on it. At the moment one kid has the idea of using the turtle module to draw a pattern, storing it, and then having the robot follow that pattern. He knows that the bots are unreliable, but he wants to see how well he can make it work, so I said OK. What he'll learn about user interfaces, program flow, queues, namespaces, etc will probably be deeper than anything I would do in a traditional beginning programming class. So to be honest, this is the most undisciplined, free form, do-it-just-cuz-you're-curious-about-it programming class I've ever taught. And what I've lost in covering the details and in keeping everyone together, I feel I (and the kids) have more than gained back in engagement, understanding and sheer joy of discovery. At least that's how it feels so far. :) Cheers, Vern > On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 5:12 PM, Vern Ceder > wrote: > > On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 6:29 PM, Helene Martin > wrote: > >> > >> Hi Vern, > >> > >> I always have trouble with bluetooth interference, changing COM ports > >> (probably a Windows XP "feature"), low batteries and so on. Of > >> > >> course, these issues are probably aggravated by having 60 students > >> working with them over 220 minutes in a day but I imagine they show up > >> at any scale. At first, the students find it quaint and put up with > >> it but I've found that their tolerance for the quirks is finite, as is > >> mine. I hesitate to teach Python basics using the platform for those > >> reasons. Do you share those problems? How do you address them? > > > > The bluetooth problem is pretty much taken care of by using the dedicated > > Linux laptops - as long as I can set them up without the others on, it's > no > > problem and we don't have any real trouble with that. The battery issue > is > > real - as the voltage goes down the bot's behavior changes, and I shudder > to > > think of the number of batteries we've burned through. OTOH, I don't see > > such quirks as obstacles to programming, but rather factors that can be > at > > least partly mitigated with code. > > > > So we acknowledge the frustration and try (not always successfully, which > is > > in itself a lesson) to deal with it. All of my kids are used to reading > the > > battery state frequently in their code, and they're experimenting to find > > what they can do within the limitations of the machines. And failure, (as > > they say on Mythbusters) is always and option. However, a "failure" that > > establishes just how far the robot can be pushed earns an A, as for > example > > a pair of girls who tried to have their two robots perform a complex > > interactive dance. They did a good job - analyzing the problems, trying > to > > code solutions, but in the end the hardware wasn't up to the task and > they > > could tell you exactly why and how things didn't work. That's a success > in > > my book and I let them know that. > > > >> > >> That's one of the big reasons that I only do about two weeks with the > >> 'bots. That's also about the time it takes us to get through the > >> Georgia Tech exercises (with students already knowing Python basics). > > > > That's impressive. We're just getting to the image processing stuff after > 8 > > weeks, but then, most of them are new to programming. But as I said, we > have > > covered creating modules, basic control structures, and the like, all in > the > > context of programming the scribblers. > > > > Cheers, > > Vern > > > >> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:51 PM, Vern Ceder < > vceder at canterburyschool.org> > >> wrote: > >> > On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 11:24 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > >> >> > >> >> Hello Vern, > >> >> > >> >> The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've > >> >> been > >> >> getting here. We bought one of the robots to experiment with and the > >> >> students really enjoy working with it. How many of the robots do you > >> >> use? > >> >> What kind of robot to student ratio? > >> > > >> > I have seven students and each has their own scribbler and dedicated > >> > laptop > >> > (they're old, retired laptops running Debian Linux) since having a > >> > dedicated > >> > laptop cuts down on the hassle/time of pairing the bluetooth board. > >> > Most of those students are new to programming and we're using the > >> > scribblers > >> > for the whole semester, sort of following the same process as GA Tech > >> > does. > >> > A couple of the experienced programmers are moving on to more advanced > >> > projects, though. In working with the scribblers, they've learned if > >> > statements, functions, loops, how to create and use separate modules, > >> > share > >> > code, and now are getting to the point of using the camera to grab and > >> > process images and use that information to control the robots. A > couple > >> > of > >> > the advanced kids have written multi-threaded apps to both drive the > bot > >> > and > >> > have it automatically avoid obstacles. It depends on what you want to > >> > do, > >> > but scribbler/fluke combo has a lot of potential. > >> >> > >> >> I think that a panel discussion with an established program like > yours > >> >> and > >> >> a start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third > and > >> >> work > >> >> out the details in private email. Anyone else interested? > >> > > >> > +1 > >> > > >> >> > >> >> I'm interested in doing a poster as well. I will be working it all > out > >> >> this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November. > >> > > >> > Good. The final poster submission deadline is January 19, but we have > a > >> > limit of 35 posters and are accepting them on a rolling basis. > >> > Acceptance of > >> > a poster is not tied to whether or not a talk is accepted. > >> > > >> >> > >> >> -J. Zachary Miller > >> >> > >> > Cheers, > >> > Vern > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> >> > >> >> ________________________________ > >> >> From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org] > >> >> Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM > >> >> To: Zac Miller > >> >> Cc: edu-sig at python.org > >> >> Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG > >> >> > >> >> Hi Zac, > >> >> > >> >> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller > >> >> > wrote: > >> >> Hello! > >> >> > >> >> I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the > >> >> archived > >> >> threads from last few months. My name is Zac Miller and I am > currently > >> >> teaching Python programming to college and middle school level > >> >> students. > >> >> > >> >> I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? I > >> >> am > >> >> looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it seems > >> >> to be > >> >> hard to find others using Python in this setting. > >> >> > >> >> I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a > >> >> private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a little > >> >> Python > >> >> to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well > as > >> >> offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. > >> >> > >> >> Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board > >> >> that > >> >> Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a > >> >> blast. > >> >> I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle school > >> >> kids > >> >> through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program > >> >> (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), > >> >> using > >> >> Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. > >> >> > >> >> As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead > and > >> >> raise your questions. > >> >> > >> >> I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon > 2011. > >> >> So > >> >> far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and > my > >> >> experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. I > attended > >> >> PyCon > >> >> 2010 as student. Beyond that brief introduction I would like to > >> >> discuss the > >> >> state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as > much > >> >> of it > >> >> as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. > >> >> > >> >> I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department > of > >> >> Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer > >> >> science > >> >> courses for the entire state. What would make for an interested > PyCon > >> >> talk > >> >> on K12 education involving Python? Does anyone have similar data or > a > >> >> summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't mind > >> >> sharing for me to use as comparison? Anyone interested in doing a > >> >> Panel > >> >> proposal? > >> >> > >> >> I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a > >> >> proposal, > >> >> but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... > Also, > >> >> as > >> >> the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to consider > >> >> presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a > talk > >> >> or > >> >> panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a > poster > >> >> proposal. > >> >> > >> >> Cheers, > >> >> Vern Ceder > >> >> > >> >> Thanks! > >> >> > >> >> -J. Zachary Miller > >> >> _______________________________________________ > >> >> Edu-sig mailing list > >> >> Edu-sig at python.org > >> >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> -- > >> >> This time for sure! > >> >> -Bullwinkle J. Moose > >> >> ----------------------------- > >> >> Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > >> >> Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > >> >> vceder at canterburyschool.org; > >> >> 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > >> >> > >> >> The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > >> >> > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > -- > >> > This time for sure! > >> > -Bullwinkle J. Moose > >> > ----------------------------- > >> > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > >> > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > >> > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > >> > > >> > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Edu-sig mailing list > >> > Edu-sig at python.org > >> > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > -- > > This time for sure! > > -Bullwinkle J. Moose > > ----------------------------- > > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lognaturel at gmail.com Mon Oct 25 03:30:49 2010 From: lognaturel at gmail.com (Helene Martin) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:30:49 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG - Panel In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA38@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Wow -- what a great opportunity for you and the students! That sounds like so much fun. Cool to hear about the ideas they're coming up with. Keep us posted on what they do over the rest of the semester/year! H?l?ne. On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 6:28 PM, Vern Ceder wrote: > On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 8:17 PM, Helene Martin wrote: >> >> Thanks for sharing your experience. ?You're right that dealing with >> limitations is a very important lesson. ?I envy your access to Linux >> machines! ?I like your story about the girls' complex dance. >> Sometimes the process is much, much more important than the result. >> >> > That's impressive. We're just getting to the image processing stuff >> > after 8 >> > weeks, but then, most of them are new to programming. But as I said, we >> > have >> > covered creating modules, basic control structures, and the like, all in >> > the >> > context of programming the scribblers. >> >> To be clear, this is after 13 weeks or so of other programming! ?So >> really it's not all that different from the schedule you're >> describing. ?8 weeks to image processing actually sounds pretty >> ambitious. ?Can you share with us how many days you see your students >> and for how many hours, what kind of homework you give them (I give >> none) and things like that? ?Apologies if you have before but I don't >> remember seeing it. ?Are you alone with the 7 or do you have to teach >> another class simultaneously? > > I have the 7 for about 40 minutes a day, with nothing else going on. I > realize this is a huge luxury. That means I can have them all working on > projects in pairs or individually and still give pretty close attention to > everyone, which makes a free-er form, project based approach possible. So > while we started the year with me setting them specific challenges, they > started picking their own projects (at first from my suggestions, now > increasingly from their own ideas) a couple of weeks ago. So while we're > talking about image processing in class, I'm pretty sure that they won't all > be doing the exact same thing. Right now several of them are experimenting > with looping over the pixels and changing the color values, so I expect > picking up particular colored shapes will be next. We've discussed the idea > of homing in on yellow tennis ball, for example, to see if we can make a bot > push the ball (we're a big soccer school ;) ) and things like that. > > The other thing I want to try with them is seeing what behaviors we can get > going, things like hiding from light (or homing in on light), etc, or maybe > having them seek other blue robots, and seeing what might happen. > > Of course, if someone gets an interesting project idea, I let them keep > working on it. At the moment one kid has the idea of using the turtle module > to draw a pattern, storing it, and then having the robot follow that > pattern. He knows that the bots are unreliable, but he wants to see how well > he can make it work, so I said OK. What he'll learn about user interfaces, > program flow, queues, namespaces, etc will probably be deeper than anything > I would do in a traditional beginning programming class. > > So to be honest, this is the most undisciplined, free form, > do-it-just-cuz-you're-curious-about-it programming class I've ever taught. > And what I've lost in covering the details and in keeping everyone together, > I feel I (and the kids) have more than gained back in engagement, > understanding and sheer joy of discovery. At least that's how it feels so > far. :) > > Cheers, > Vern > >> >> On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 5:12 PM, Vern Ceder >> wrote: >> > On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 6:29 PM, Helene Martin >> > wrote: >> >> >> >> Hi Vern, >> >> >> >> I always have trouble with bluetooth interference, changing COM ports >> >> (probably a Windows XP "feature"), low batteries and so on. ?Of >> >> >> >> course, these issues are probably aggravated by having 60 students >> >> working with them over 220 minutes in a day but I imagine they show up >> >> at any scale. ?At first, the students find it quaint and put up with >> >> it but I've found that their tolerance for the quirks is finite, as is >> >> mine. ?I hesitate to teach Python basics using the platform for those >> >> reasons. ?Do you share those problems? ?How do you address them? >> > >> > The bluetooth problem is pretty much taken care of by using the >> > dedicated >> > Linux laptops - as long as I can set them up without the others on, it's >> > no >> > problem and we don't have any real trouble with that. The battery issue >> > is >> > real - as the voltage goes down the bot's behavior changes, and I >> > shudder to >> > think of the number of batteries we've burned through. OTOH, I don't see >> > such quirks as obstacles to programming, but rather factors that can be >> > at >> > least partly mitigated with code. >> > >> > So we acknowledge the frustration and try (not always successfully, >> > which is >> > in itself a lesson) to deal with it.? All of my kids are used to reading >> > the >> > battery state frequently in their code, and they're experimenting to >> > find >> > what they can do within the limitations of the machines. And failure, >> > (as >> > they say on Mythbusters) is always and option. However, a "failure" that >> > establishes just how far the robot can be pushed earns an A, as for >> > example >> > a pair of girls who tried to have their two robots perform a complex >> > interactive dance. They did a good job - analyzing the problems, trying >> > to >> > code solutions, but in the end the hardware wasn't up to the task and >> > they >> > could tell you exactly why and how things didn't work. That's a success >> > in >> > my book and I let them know that. >> > >> >> >> >> That's one of the big reasons that I only do about two weeks with the >> >> 'bots. ?That's also about the time it takes us to get through the >> >> Georgia Tech exercises (with students already knowing Python basics). >> > >> > That's impressive. We're just getting to the image processing stuff >> > after 8 >> > weeks, but then, most of them are new to programming. But as I said, we >> > have >> > covered creating modules, basic control structures, and the like, all in >> > the >> > context of programming the scribblers. >> > >> > Cheers, >> > Vern >> > >> >> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 8:51 PM, Vern Ceder >> >> >> >> wrote: >> >> > On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 11:24 PM, Zac Miller wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> Hello Vern, >> >> >> >> >> >> The scribbler robots seem to be pretty popular from the replies I've >> >> >> been >> >> >> getting here. ?We bought one of the robots to experiment with and >> >> >> the >> >> >> students really enjoy working with it. ?How many of the robots do >> >> >> you >> >> >> use? >> >> >> ?What kind of robot to student ratio? >> >> > >> >> > I have seven students and each has their own scribbler and dedicated >> >> > laptop >> >> > (they're old, retired laptops running Debian Linux) since having a >> >> > dedicated >> >> > laptop cuts down on the hassle/time of pairing the bluetooth board. >> >> > Most of those students are new to programming and we're using the >> >> > scribblers >> >> > for the whole semester, sort of following the same process as GA Tech >> >> > does. >> >> > A couple of the experienced programmers are moving on to more >> >> > advanced >> >> > projects, though. In working with the scribblers, they've learned if >> >> > statements, functions, loops, how to create and use separate modules, >> >> > share >> >> > code, and now are getting to the point of using the camera to grab >> >> > and >> >> > process images and use that information to control the robots. A >> >> > couple >> >> > of >> >> > the advanced kids have written multi-threaded apps to both drive the >> >> > bot >> >> > and >> >> > have it automatically avoid obstacles. It depends on what you want to >> >> > do, >> >> > but scribbler/fluke combo has a lot of potential. >> >> >> >> >> >> I think that a panel discussion with an established program like >> >> >> yours >> >> >> and >> >> >> a start up like mine may be interesting, maybe we could add a third >> >> >> and >> >> >> work >> >> >> out the details in private email. ?Anyone else interested? >> >> > >> >> > +1 >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> I'm interested in doing a poster as well. ?I will be working it all >> >> >> out >> >> >> this week since the talk proposal deadline is 1 November. >> >> > >> >> > Good. The final poster submission deadline is January 19, but we have >> >> > a >> >> > limit of 35 posters and are accepting them on a rolling basis. >> >> > Acceptance of >> >> > a poster is not tied to whether or not a talk is accepted. >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> -J. Zachary Miller >> >> >> >> >> > Cheers, >> >> > Vern >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> >> >> From: Vern Ceder [vceder at canterburyschool.org] >> >> >> Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:55 PM >> >> >> To: Zac Miller >> >> >> Cc: edu-sig at python.org >> >> >> Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG >> >> >> >> >> >> Hi Zac, >> >> >> >> >> >> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 6:39 PM, Zac Miller >> >> >> > wrote: >> >> >> Hello! >> >> >> >> >> >> I've just joined this SIG, my first, and looked over a few of the >> >> >> archived >> >> >> threads from last few months. ?My name is Zac Miller and I am >> >> >> currently >> >> >> teaching Python programming to college and middle school level >> >> >> students. >> >> >> >> >> >> I am curious if there are many K12 educators involved in this SIG? >> >> >> ?I >> >> >> am >> >> >> looking for people to discuss my student's progress with and it >> >> >> seems >> >> >> to be >> >> >> hard to find others using Python in this setting. >> >> >> >> >> >> I'm the technology director and programming teacher at Canterbury, a >> >> >> private school in Ft Wayne, IN. We've been teaching at least a >> >> >> little >> >> >> Python >> >> >> to every single 8th and 9th grader in the school since 2001, as well >> >> >> as >> >> >> offering electives in Python, Java, C, etc. >> >> >> >> >> >> Right now, our Python class is using the same robot/bluetooth board >> >> >> that >> >> >> Georgia Tech uses (http://wiki.roboteducation.org) which has been a >> >> >> blast. >> >> >> I'm also teaching an online Python enrichment course to middle >> >> >> school >> >> >> kids >> >> >> through Northwestern University's Gifted Learning Links program >> >> >> (http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/gll/courses/enrichment/courses/), >> >> >> using >> >> >> Warren and Carter Sande's _Hello, World!_. >> >> >> >> >> >> As Andr? mentioned there are a few of us on this list, so go ahead >> >> >> and >> >> >> raise your questions. >> >> >> >> >> >> I am also considering putting together a talk proposal for PyCon >> >> >> 2011. >> >> >> ?So >> >> >> far my ideas for a talk would be a brief introduction of myself and >> >> >> my >> >> >> experiences learning and teaching Python in the past year. ?I >> >> >> attended >> >> >> PyCon >> >> >> 2010 as student. ?Beyond that brief introduction I would like to >> >> >> discuss the >> >> >> state of programming in K12 education in the state of Georgia, as >> >> >> much >> >> >> of it >> >> >> as I have been able to untangle, and ideas for improving it. >> >> >> >> >> >> I've completed a few open record requests to the Georgia Department >> >> >> of >> >> >> Education pulling enrollment number for programming and computer >> >> >> science >> >> >> courses for the entire state. ?What would make for an interested >> >> >> PyCon >> >> >> talk >> >> >> on K12 education involving Python? ?Does anyone have similar data or >> >> >> a >> >> >> summary of programming education for another state they wouldn't >> >> >> mind >> >> >> sharing for me to use as comparison? ?Anyone interested in doing a >> >> >> Panel >> >> >> proposal? >> >> >> >> >> >> I'd be available for a panel, and would be willing to work on a >> >> >> proposal, >> >> >> but don't think I have the time to be a main organizer of one... >> >> >> Also, >> >> >> as >> >> >> the chair of PyCon's poster session, let me encourage you to >> >> >> consider >> >> >> presenting some of your findings as a poster. Even if you submit a >> >> >> talk >> >> >> or >> >> >> panel (and even if they get turned down) you can still submit a >> >> >> poster >> >> >> proposal. >> >> >> >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> >> Vern Ceder >> >> >> >> >> >> Thanks! >> >> >> >> >> >> -J. Zachary Miller >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> >> Edu-sig mailing list >> >> >> Edu-sig at python.org >> >> >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> >> This time for sure! >> >> >> ? -Bullwinkle J. Moose >> >> >> ----------------------------- >> >> >> Vern Ceder, Director of Technology >> >> >> Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 >> >> >> vceder at canterburyschool.org; >> >> >> 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 >> >> >> >> >> >> The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > -- >> >> > This time for sure! >> >> > ?? -Bullwinkle J. Moose >> >> > ----------------------------- >> >> > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology >> >> > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 >> >> > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 >> >> > >> >> > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed -?http://bit.ly/bRsWDW >> >> > >> >> > _______________________________________________ >> >> > Edu-sig mailing list >> >> > Edu-sig at python.org >> >> > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> >> > >> >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > This time for sure! >> > ?? -Bullwinkle J. Moose >> > ----------------------------- >> > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology >> > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 >> > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 >> > >> > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed -?http://bit.ly/bRsWDW >> > > > > > -- > This time for sure! > ?? -Bullwinkle J. Moose > ----------------------------- > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed -?http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > From kirby.urner at gmail.com Mon Oct 25 03:36:54 2010 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:36:54 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG In-Reply-To: <4CC413FA.4000601@verizon.net> References: <4CC413FA.4000601@verizon.net> Message-ID: Hi Zak -- Glad you've joined us. I used to be a full time high school math teacher in the 1980s (Jersey City), then worked at McGraw-Hill. We all though Logo and BASIC might be getting a mind-slice in pre-college math, but Texas Instruments won with math wars. These days, I sometimes get to field test through Saturday Academy. Martian Math was the latest such prototype (ongoing in other formats). http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2102469&tstart=0 Portland Public has also used my services (GIS / GPS a focus -- big on geography around here). I tend to think Python + Polyhedra could be a real sweet spot in the curriculum because Polyhedra are "objects" in literal sense yet also in a mathematical sense. Learning about "math objects" starting with Polyhedra, other geometric concepts, seems an ideal application of an OO language. I tend to use VPython quite a bit. I was sorry to miss Ruth Chabay's demo of Vpython at the recent American Association of Physics Teachers conference at the downtown Hilton. http://www.physics.ncsu.edu/people/faculty_chabay.html Kirby From zmiller at gsc.edu Mon Oct 25 04:55:07 2010 From: zmiller at gsc.edu (Zac Miller) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:55:07 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Robots for Teaching Python Message-ID: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3A@amp.gsc.edu> It seems as if the Scribbler robots are fairly popular for teaching Python. I also have to confess that even with just one robot my students are blowing through large numbers of AA batteries. Has anyone tried any of the more complex robots such as the SRV-1 or the robotic blimp from Surveyor? http://www.surveyor.com/YARB.html I also teach middle school and college students in some Geographic Information Systems (GIS) courses. I'd love to link the programming and GIS students together eventually if I could get a python controlled blimp to take aerial photos that could be georeferenced and used for GIS problems. -J. Zachary Miller From vceder at canterburyschool.org Mon Oct 25 05:07:35 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 23:07:35 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Robots for Teaching Python In-Reply-To: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3A@amp.gsc.edu> References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3A@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 10:55 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > It seems as if the Scribbler robots are fairly popular for teaching Python. > I also have to confess that even with just one robot my students are > blowing through large numbers of AA batteries. Has anyone tried any of the > more complex robots such as the SRV-1 or the robotic blimp from Surveyor? > http://www.surveyor.com/YARB.html > > I also teach middle school and college students in some Geographic > Information Systems (GIS) courses. I'd love to link the programming and GIS > students together eventually if I could get a python controlled blimp to > take aerial photos that could be georeferenced and used for GIS problems. > That strikes me as a really interesting idea. Hack-a-day has published some aerial camera mods... www.hackaday.com ... you might check them out. Vern > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lognaturel at gmail.com Mon Oct 25 06:56:11 2010 From: lognaturel at gmail.com (Helene Martin) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:56:11 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Robots for Teaching Python In-Reply-To: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3A@amp.gsc.edu> References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3A@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: The blimp idea sounds so fantastic! I would love to hear about someone's experience with that. I have a few big battery chargers (6 AAs) and a bunch of rechargeable batteries. The upfront cost is pretty big but it gets amortized quickly. Places like Walgreen's sometimes have ridiculously good sales on chargers + batteries. On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 7:55 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > It seems as if the Scribbler robots are fairly popular for teaching Python. ?I also have to confess that even with just one robot my students are blowing through large numbers of AA batteries. ?Has anyone tried any of the more complex robots such as the SRV-1 or the robotic blimp from Surveyor? ?http://www.surveyor.com/YARB.html > > I also teach middle school and college students in some Geographic Information Systems (GIS) courses. ?I'd love to link the programming and GIS students together eventually if I could get a python controlled blimp to take aerial photos that could be georeferenced and used for GIS problems. > > -J. Zachary Miller > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > From zmiller at gsc.edu Tue Oct 26 18:58:52 2010 From: zmiller at gsc.edu (Zac Miller) Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:58:52 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Last call for K12 Python education panel Message-ID: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3F@amp.gsc.edu> I'm still looking for a 3rd person if anyone is interested in doing a panel at PyCon about teaching Python in K12. Anyone interested? The deadline is coming up on the 1st for proposals. -J. Zachary Miller From vceder at canterburyschool.org Tue Oct 26 19:03:13 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:03:13 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Last call for K12 Python education panel In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3F@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Jeff? Kirby? Either of you going to make it to Atlanta? Anyone else? If not, I have one non-EduSig option I might try, so please speak up soon. Vern On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 12:58 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > I'm still looking for a 3rd person if anyone is interested in doing a panel > at PyCon about teaching Python in K12. Anyone interested? The deadline is > coming up on the 1st for proposals. > > -J. Zachary Miller > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vceder at canterburyschool.org Tue Oct 26 19:52:25 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:52:25 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] PyCon 2011 Reminder: Call for Proposals, Posters and Tutorials - us.pycon.org Message-ID: PyCon 2011 Reminder: Call for Proposals, Posters and Tutorials - us.pycon.org =============================================== Well, it's October 25th! The leaves have turned and the deadline for submitting main-conference talk proposals expires in 7 days (November 1st, 2010)! We are currently accepting main conference talk proposals: http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/proposals/ Tutorial Proposals: http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/proposals/tutorials/ Poster Proposals: http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/posters/cfp/ PyCon 2011 will be held March 9th through the 17th, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Home of some of the best southern food you can possibly find on Earth!) The PyCon conference days will be March 11-13, preceded by two tutorial days (March 9-10), and followed by four days of development sprints (March 14-17). We are also proud to announce that we have booked our first Keynote speaker - Hilary Mason, her bio: "Hilary is the lead scientist at bit.ly, where she is finding sense in vast data sets. She is a former computer science professor with a background in machine learning and data mining, has published numerous academic papers, and regularly releases code on her personal site, http://www.hilarymason.com/. She has discovered two new species, loves to bake cookies, and asks way too many questions." We're really looking forward to having her this year as a keynote speaker! Remember, we've also added an "Extreme" talk track this year - no introduction, no fluff - only the pure technical meat! For more information on "Extreme Talks" see: http://us.pycon.org/2011/speaker/extreme/ We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta! Please also note - registration for PyCon 2011 will also be capped at a maximum of 1,500 delegates, including speakers. When registration opens (soon), you're going to want to make sure you register early! Speakers with accepted talks will have a guaranteed slot. We have published all registration prices online at: http://us.pycon.org/2011/tickets/ Important Dates November 1st, 2010: Talk proposals due. December 15th, 2010: Acceptance emails sent. January 19th, 2011: Early bird registration closes. March 9-10th, 2011: Tutorial days at PyCon. March 11-13th, 2011: PyCon main conference. March 14-17th, 2011: PyCon sprints days. Contact Emails: Van Lindberg (Conference Chair) - van at python.org Jesse Noller (Co-Chair) - jnoller at python.org PyCon Organizers list: pycon-organizers at python.org -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kirby.urner at gmail.com Thu Oct 28 00:53:30 2010 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:53:30 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Last call for K12 Python education panel In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3F@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Doing some serious wheel spinning about it Vern. Lots of Venn Diagram considerations about where education and the business world intersect. I'm working with Holden Web again this week, as GOSCON is in town. Only like 130 registrants, which seems crazy-small. Some days it feels like Portland, Oregon is on life support and I shouldn't be off galavanting around Georgia. Other times, I think Georgia is the genesis of some geniuses, like this corporate refugee I know, from Savannah. Georgia-Pacific has taken over a lot of the wood business. Are we sister states then? Barcamp 4 just recently completed (this Saturday) and I met the punkmathematics.com guy. http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2010/10/barcamp-4.html Must write to him next. Ignite dot gov is this evening. I'm toting the totem (PSF snake). Kirby On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 10:03 AM, Vern Ceder wrote: > > Jeff? Kirby? Either of you going to make it to Atlanta? Anyone else? If not, > I have one non-EduSig option I might try, so please speak up soon. > Vern > > On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 12:58 PM, Zac Miller wrote: >> >> I'm still looking for a 3rd person if anyone is interested in doing a >> panel at PyCon about teaching Python in K12. ?Anyone interested? ?The >> deadline is coming up on the 1st for proposals. >> >> -J. Zachary Miller >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig at python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > -- > This time for sure! > ?? -Bullwinkle J. Moose > ----------------------------- > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed -?http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > > -- > This time for sure! > ?? -Bullwinkle J. Moose > ----------------------------- > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed -?http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > From vceder at canterburyschool.org Thu Oct 28 03:05:39 2010 From: vceder at canterburyschool.org (Vern Ceder) Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:05:39 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Last call for K12 Python education panel In-Reply-To: References: <1DECD34B57C2C44A8F3374D034E6735A02A795AFDA3F@amp.gsc.edu> Message-ID: Well, I hope the wheels spin you to Atlanta in March. You should see the poster session, since you were in on the discussions that lead to its conception. ;) Vern On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 6:53 PM, kirby urner wrote: > Doing some serious wheel spinning about it Vern. > > Lots of Venn Diagram considerations about where education and the > business world intersect. > > I'm working with Holden Web again this week, as GOSCON is in town. > > Only like 130 registrants, which seems crazy-small. > > Some days it feels like Portland, Oregon is on life support and I > shouldn't be off galavanting around Georgia. > > Other times, I think Georgia is the genesis of some geniuses, like > this corporate refugee I know, from Savannah. > > Georgia-Pacific has taken over a lot of the wood business. Are we > sister states then? > > Barcamp 4 just recently completed (this Saturday) and I met the > punkmathematics.com guy. > > http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2010/10/barcamp-4.html > > Must write to him next. > > Ignite dot gov is this evening. I'm toting the totem (PSF snake). > > Kirby > > > > On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 10:03 AM, Vern Ceder > wrote: > > > > Jeff? Kirby? Either of you going to make it to Atlanta? Anyone else? If > not, > > I have one non-EduSig option I might try, so please speak up soon. > > Vern > > > > On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 12:58 PM, Zac Miller wrote: > >> > >> I'm still looking for a 3rd person if anyone is interested in doing a > >> panel at PyCon about teaching Python in K12. Anyone interested? The > >> deadline is coming up on the 1st for proposals. > >> > >> -J. Zachary Miller > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Edu-sig mailing list > >> Edu-sig at python.org > >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > > > > > -- > > This time for sure! > > -Bullwinkle J. Moose > > ----------------------------- > > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > > > > > > -- > > This time for sure! > > -Bullwinkle J. Moose > > ----------------------------- > > Vern Ceder, Director of Technology > > Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 > > vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 > > > > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Edu-sig mailing list > > Edu-sig at python.org > > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > > -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137 The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chuy at google.com Sat Oct 30 01:10:54 2010 From: chuy at google.com (Jessie 'Chuy' Chavez) Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:10:54 -0500 Subject: [Edu-sig] Exploring Computational Thinking curriculum Message-ID: FYI Tthe Exploring Computational Thinking curriculum was announced this week. Most of the exercises utilize python. http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2010/10/exploring-computational-thinking.html Thanks, Jessie 'Chuy' Chavez Software Engineer, Feedburner Google, Inc. - Chicago -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: