Computer Science Summer Work 2025 APCSA (Java) & APCSP

Prepare For Ms. H. Miller's Advanced Placement Computer Science Courses

updated 5/27/2025

AP Computer Science and Web Development at Chamblee High School

Re: Summer Work for Computer Science Courses APCSA & APCSP

The Computer Science and Web Development Pathways are supposed to be taken in this order:

1st Intro to Software Technology (IST);

2nd APCSP (Principles); and finally

3rd/4th APCSA (Java); or 3rd/4th Web Development (WebDev)

If you take these 3 or 4 of these courses, and also pass the End of Pathway Assessment (EOPA) for each, you will earn 1 or 2 Pathway completers. You will get a Pathway Completion Seal (or 2) and a Medal (or 2) worn at Graduation. You should strongly consider joining TSA, competing at TSA Events (another medal). You should also consider joining the Computer Science Honor Society because there is a light blue honor cord involved.

QR Code for the Summer Work for APCSA and APCSP Courses

APCSA (Java)

You have several assignments.

Read this entire site for APCSA first.

Due Friday of the 2nd week of school.

APCSA (Java) is a level 3 pathway course for the State of Georgia. APCSA (Java) is an Object Oriented Programming (OOP) programming course with entrepreneurial, business, and employability skills embedded throughout. As a Level 3 class, you should definitely consider yourself an "employee of CHS Programming Company" and these additional skills make much more sense. APCSA is the harder of the two courses.

In this course, it is expected that you have some combination of the following:

(1) You have a very high interest in learning Java, a text-based object-oriented langauge, with little to no experience at all in programming;
(2)You have a high interest in learning Java, and have done some coding, even with blocks;
(3)You already know Java and want to take the class for the grade bump and possibly the AP Credit.
(4) Can touch-type to at least 30 WPM without looking at the keys for the letters. The touch-typing practice of the top row numbers and all keyboard symbols is highly recommended. ALL Students should be able to touch type at least the letters and shift key. Practice touch-typing here, Practice touch-typing here, or Practice touch-typing here, if you need the review.

You have several things to do before class. Read and complete all tasks on this website. Due within 2 weeks of enrolling in this course, or Friday of the second week of the semester.

APCSP (Principles)

You have several assignments.

Read this entire site for APCSP first.

Due Friday of the 2nd week of school.

APCSP is a college-level intro to computer science for non-majors type of course. It is a level 2 pathway course for the State of Georgia. APCSP is designed with equity in mind. You will learn beginning problem-solving, flowcharting, pseudocode, and beginning programming syntax in blocks and/or Python. There are a lot of projects, some are programming-based, while others are topical or skills-based projects. If you have taken CSP (not AP) then you should not take APCSP as both are level 2 courses in the pathways. Consider taking APCSA or PGAS, Cybersecurity, Engineering, Food Science, Health Science, AV/TV-Film, Art, JROTC, or Entrepreneurship Courses.

In this course, it is expected that you have some combination of the following:

(1) You don't need any experience programming;
(2) You have any interest in learning the basics of learning Python (text-based language). We start with blocks;
(3) You already know Python and want to take the class for the grade bump and possibly the AP Credit;
(4) Can touch-type to at least 30 WPM without looking at the keys for the letters. The touch-typing practice of the top row numbers and all keyboard symbols is highly recommended. ALL Students should be able to touch type at least the letters and shift key. Practice touch-typing here, Practice touch-typing here, or Practice touch-typing here, if you need the review.

You have several things to do before class. Read and complete all tasks on this website. Due within 2 weeks of enrolling in this course, or Friday of the second week of the semester.

General notes on these courses:

Both courses are doable if you work diligently during the school year and spend time on homework as needed.

The first thing, "Relax".
I want you to do over the summer is relax. This goes for both courses. Recharge your energy reserves. Go on the family vacation, read books for pleasure, watch a few movies, play some video games, or have a few all-nighters playing those RPGs. Whatever you find fun - truly fun - do that! Those things you have to put off until you get a four-day weekend - the summer is your time.

The second thing, "Adjust Your Thinking." adjust your thinking. Read this webpage in its entirety. Understand a few things about both of these Advanced Placement Computer Science courses. Understand how you must switch your thinking from a high school student to a collegiate student to get what you need out of these courses.

The third thing, "Imposter Syndrome."

There is a huge risk of imposter syndrome (Wikipedia link) that impacts some students, especially if they have little programming experience and/or problem-solving experience. You can learn programming for the first time, if you work diligently, consistently, and attend tutoring as needed. APCSA spends the first-semester learning basic algorithms, data types, print statements, user input, loops, decisions, flowcharts, and introduction to classes. The first semester is fast-paced. You should expect 1 hour of homework a night if you are not comfortable at all with programming, or typing. Please keep the APCSA workload in mind as you add on additional AP courses. Students who had no programming experience, and 4 or more AP Courses, or 2 DE courses did find time management difficult. Read this article How to overcome impostor phenomenon.
On a related note to imposter syndrome is a feeling that women and minorities are "not a part of" the computer world, or that it is not built for them. While it is true that anyone can learn a computer langauge, does everyone feel like they belong in that world? There is an overlap and a gap in STEM in general, between girls and minorities participation long-term. It starts in education. APCSPrinciples is designed as an entry-course. APCSP is designed to show everyone that there are many layers to programming, and that there are benefits to everyone in having as many different types of people as possible included at all stages of development of computer systems. To learn why it is important for big and small companies to be as inclusive as possible, Listen to this short 4-min article by Laura Sydell, "Can Computer Programs Be Racist And Sexist?" NPR. March 15, 20167:01 AM ET.
Many kids come into both AP Courses without having completed the level 1 pathway course, Intro to Software Technology. Many students come into both classes with absolutely no programming experience, and that is fine. Some kids already have excellent programming skills. AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles are much more than just programming. The courses are NOT graded on a curve. You are NOT graded against the top programmer in the class. There are many paths to an "A" and yours may not look like another student's, but that is fine. Focus on the work and the grade will come.

The fourth thing, "Touch-Typing."

Third, Touch-type, with all 10 fingers the letters, at a minimum of 35 words per minute with 90% accuracy. If you don't already know - by touch (not looking at the keys) - the QWERTY keyboard letters using all 10 of your fingers, you must teach yourself this skill before taking APCSA or APCSP. I have seen some kids using 2 or 3 fingers on each hand and they do type relatively fast. I wonder how fast they'd type if they learned to touch-type? Ms. Miller expects that you have this minimum skill of typing faster than "hunt-n-peck" or "thumbs-only." If you only know the keyboard "hunt-n-peck" or with thumbs, you will need to teach yourself how to type on a laptop or desktop keyboard. Use a free program, online program, a typewriter with a book, and teach yourself the 26 letters and their matching finger. An example - your left-hand pointer finger handles r t f g v b keys in touch-typing and the right pointer finger handles y u h j n m. If you are using thumbs only or four fingers, then you will struggle to keep up and finish programming in the given time. Focus on using the Shift-key and the opposite hand. If you have time this summer, focus on the top-row and right pinky special keys.

The fifth thing, "Extra Credit."

APCSP and APCSA are similar to other Advanced Placement Courses. You are rewarded by completing the AP Exam Process for these classes even if you don't take the AP Exam.

You are rewarded for...
- ... thinking of yourself as a collegiate-level student in your collegiality and attitude towards the class and classmates
- ... joining the CTSO - Technology Student Association (TSA). This one is a huge differientiator for GaTech, MIT, and UGA admissions. Nearly every student applying for these two schools has a >4.0 GPA and a >1500 on the SAT, 100+ hours community service, etc. What is your extra? How will you stand out?
- ...competing in the CTSO competitions
- ...competing in VEX Robotics
- ... completing competition projects (live and prepared), offered throughout the year.
- ... keeping a notebook as defined in the first few weeks of class.
Optional/Extra Credit is NOT offered at the end of each semester. Extra Credit projects and competitions are offered over the summer and during the school year. You won't know you need it when it is offered.
These are front-loaded courses. After Spring Break, much of both courses moves to AP Classroom and review. There is typically one overriding unit and summative project with a presentation.
This class is NOT graded on a curve. There may be top programmers who score poorly because they fail to follow the notebook, homework, employability skills, or other things. DO NOT compare yourself to the "top programmers" and count yourself out of a CS Career. There are MANY MANY MANY CS-related careers that are beyond the reach of many programmers, but well within the reach of many other people. There are also many jobs not yet created. So, if you are brave enough to try these courses, you will have the support of Ms. Miller.
Focus on learning. Focus on doing the work. Your grade will come. You will have a lot of prompts that you will be expected to write code to solve the prompt. Then you may be asked to solve it again differently, or with different requirements. This iterative process is tough to deal with if you are used to being given everything up front, working towards the minimum of a rubric, and then you know your grade is before you turn it in. That's not how computer science works. You will use the iterative process. You may create the same overall program in several different ways, and you may do so without a pre-defined rubric. This is how the real world works. Do the work and the grade will come.

The sixth thing, "Why not you?"

- Access the links on this website and read the articles or chapters. They are all over the place. Read the site once and then again. You'll find all sorts of nuggets. We will work with the articles throughout the semester. AS AP Courses, I don't give you comprehension exams. I assume you read what I gave you and you can discuss the content at a collegiate level.
- Read everything you can get your hands on. Build your vocabulary. Learn to use your smart phone to get you smarter. When I was in high school, we used to think it was lack of access to knowledge was what made people "smart" or "dumb." You now have access to unlimited information (Google is in your pocket) yet we find this generation is not Information Hungry. Research and discover what that means. What is meant by a digital pacifier or phubbing? What is meant by soft skills and hard skills? What is meant by transferable skills? What should you do if your teacher allows you to have a smart device, cell phone, or computer in class and you come across a term or word or concept you don't know, partially know, or thought you knew but were wrong? What does "Google It" mean? What does "Gargabe in; garbage out" mean? Article: Top 10 Skills High Students Need to Be Developing To Be Prepared For College
- Explore your interests NOW. Understand "Quality vs Quantity" in this article. Starting one quality organization or leading it, or competing and winning in it will show off you better than a scattered giant list of every organization offered to you. Build, Make, Organize, or Create something that is uniquely you. The colleges and universities you want to get into have a minimum and a suffienct quality they are looking for. If you are a student doing everything offered to you, but you are not leading anything, you may not doing enough to get in. Enough is not a measure of quantity here, but one of quality. This is how the students doing the one-off thing get in and you, who was president of band, honors society, captain of 12 sports, etc. don't get in. How do the most experienced programmers in the school get beat out by a group of students who used a drag-and-drop program for a Congressional App Challenge? How do students who are not experts yet, learn something deeply and win a variety of tech awards or Compete at Technical Student Association Tech Competitions? Google These...this is where extra credit is hiding in plain sight. Every kid applying to X university is top notch student and person, right? How are you different? Start thinking now -- What do I bring to their campus? Not what can they do for me? How can I leverage what I am already really good at and build bridges to other areas? Can I do layout and design, organize people, organize things, motivate people, write, draw, sing, make music, put everything together, program, network? What is Computer Science Honors Society at Chamblee and how can I run a Virtual Student Tech Fair or maintain websites?

The seventh thing, "Getting Ahead & What Am I Getting Into?"

With all this said so far, some of you may want to do a few things to "get ahead" or "really understand what you're getting into,"

You can do the following:

- This is a collegiate and employability course taught at a high school. I treat you like employees and like college students, while following the required rules of high school. I take roll, call home, will take your cell phone, and otherwise treat you like high school students who need that level of supervision. Academically, I treat you UNLIKE high school students. You are required to adjust your thinking about your education. These lessons will be painful for some of you. Understand collegiality and how you should come into the room. Learn what tardiness does to collegiality. Don't miss a day and come to me and ask what you missed. See collegiality.
  - Here is the best analogy I have: In high school, you're like a baby bird in a nest—your mouth open, waiting to be fed (knowledge). Teachers and adults give you knowledge directly, and you're in a safe, structured environment of the nest. You can see a bit of the world, but you're mostly expected to stay put and follow the routine.
  - In college, things change. You're still given access to the “food” (knowledge), but no one is putting it in your mouth anymore. You leave the nest and start figuring things out for yourself. Sometimes you work with others to get what you need; sometimes you don’t. As you move further through college, you determine what knowledge to feed yourself with and you go and get it youself.
- Do the little things well.
  - Take notes. Writing (or typing) and condensing notes will only help you.
  - Teach yourself touch-typing. Two-finger typing is going to slow you down.
  - Practice public speaking loudly and clearly. You will present your code and thinking process, a lot, in these two classes.
- Practice Collegiality & Navigate People
  - Look up and read what collegiality is. Practice Collegiality.
  - Be on time to class; early even. This allows you to sign in, sit down, and learn about your neighbors.
  - Talk face-to-face to your classmates. Learn everyone's name and a little about them. Get contact information for them and share yours. Then talk virtually. When given a choice, face-to-face is better than the alternative.
  - Be welcoming and open to hearing about different things and people. Pack your judgemental self away and be glad that there are different types of people in the room. Learn to work with all of them. Find value in everyone you possibly can. Learn to say, "That's interesting" instead of "That's so stupid." Learn to say, "I hadn't thought about that that way before" instead of "Your opinion is wrong." Learn to say, "Interesting way to look at that" and "I wonder where else that way of thinking can apply?" Your ability to navigate different types of people may be the job skill that transfers between all of your jobs. AI can and will do a lot, but navigating people is not a skill AI is well suited to yet.
  - Be flexible, adaptable, and never count anyone out.
- Do more than the minimum.
  - Read an article of your choosing on ethical programming.
  - Read the AP Course Exam Description for APCSP or the AP Course Exam Description for APCSA.
  - Read several web pages about the Software Development Life Cycle.
  - Read several web pages about Agile Scrum in software development.
- Be curious.
  - Learn how to put good quearies into Google - You are a digital native. You should wish to educate and train yourself out of, "Garbage in, garbage out". Relying on the first few things that Google spits back out to you will lead you astray. Read about quality searches and how to do them.
  - Research AI, Machine Learning, and SQL/NoSQL, etc.
  - Explore on W3Schools Java Tutorial, Methods, and Classes.
  - Explore on on W2 Schools other courses.
- Pay attention and...
  - You'll learn way more than programming or computer science in these courses.

The EIGHTH thing, be ready to Iterate...

What does iterate mean? Iterate means doing things over and over again, with slight changes each time. You've read this article already if you followed directions previously. If not, read it now. This time, think about why Ms. Miller layers everything? You're learning the target skills, but you're also being asked to link these things, ideas, skills, to other things you already know. Why did this kid's book (well 2 chapters of it) end up here, twice?
Also, look up what the Software Development Life Cycle is...and compare it to the Engineering Design Process . Why do you think a Computer Science and Engineering Teacher uses both, almost interchangeably? Why do Computer Science and Engineering go hand-in-hand for that manner?
Read this PDF. You are going to get into it during the beginning of the semester. If you haven't read it, your group members will know. Your group members knowing you are a slacker is not how you want to be known. Read it this summer.
Read these chapters. These chapters are part of a book written by a college student, whose attemptting to make programming fun and accessible. Elliot Lichtman was only a few years older than you are now when he wrote this book, so why not you, too? There is absolutely no reason why you can't write your own book about computer science or other topic. Elliot took where he was and was interested in, and merged the two. We need more scholarship and writing on you and your unique point of view. Why not you? Elliot Lichtman's THE COMPUTER ALWAYS WINS: A PLAYFUL INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS THROUGH PUZZLES AND STRATEGY GAMES. MIT Press. Dec 2024.

two chapters from THE COMPUTER ALWAYS WINS.pdf

The Ninth thing, and Almost Final Thing -- EMAIL in a Professional Setting.

Required for all APCSA and APCSP students.

AFTER July 7, 2025 - 😃- Using your school email account, email Ms. Miller a professional email before the first day of school. This email needs to be sent between July 7 and the first day of school. If you join the class after the first day of school, it is due that first Friday of school you enrolled in the course. For full credit. You will lose 10% each calendar day you are late. This is your first project grade.

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Your email should have:

Subject Line: Use the correct course:

"APCSA 25-26 - Professional Email from [your first and last name as it appears in Infinite Campus]"

"APCSP 25-26 - Professional Email from [your first and last name as it appears in Infinite Campus]"

Include a professional Salutation.

Good afternoon Ms. Miller,

Body: Answer the following statements in complete sentences.

What is your name in Infinite Campus? What would you like me to call you when I call roll? Is this the same name you want me to use with your parents/guardians/adults/other teachers? What grade will you be in this school year? What do you know about programming? What is your experience? Are you in TSA already? How are you involved at CHS? Do you play sports, if so what? What clubs, activities, band, and responsibilities are you in? What do you do outside of school -like jobs, volunteering, etc?

Why did you decide to take APCSA or APCSP? What is your biggest fear in taking APCSA or APCSP?

What courses are you taking this year? Are you a dual enrollment?

Include anything else you think would be appropriate for an introductory, professional email.

When using email, CC: your personal email address. This way you have Ms. Miller's email address in your personal email and your school email. Ms. Miller will also communicate with you occasionally on both email addresses.

My school email is __________________.

My personal email is _________________.

I check my _(personal or school)_____ email more often. By the way, as a college student (AP Student), you should be checking one or both email addresses daily.

Include a professional signature -

Sincerely,

[Your first name and last name] (optional pronouns)

APCSP Student or APCSA

Chamblee High School, Class of 202_ [your anticipated grad year]

If you have anything else you want me to know about you about you that you think is important, i.e. any special needs like seating requirements on a 504 plan, IEP, or anything else?

Email Heather_M_Miller@dekalbschoolsga.org

CC: your s9XXXXXX@dekalbschoolsga.org (your s number email address) AND

CC: your personal email address that you will actually be checking regularly and will keep after you graduate.

If you don't know what CC: and BCC: are, look those terms up in Google.

The 10th and Final Things about Ms. Miller and the CS Classes:

Ms. Miller did a lot of "talking" on this website, which you certainly read completely. 😀When Ms. Miller is talking in class, consider yourself responsible for that information. This is a multi-layered course of study and a lot goes on. Will it appear on the test? Yes. Life is the test, and it's all there. Sometimes I grade it for this course. Othertimes, I live by the proverb, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. You are the horse in this proverb.

Notetaking in APCSP is optional, but recommended. Notetaking in APCSA is required and must be in pencil or pen on notebook paper. A spiral notebook,3-ring to hold looseleaf, or some kind of notebook is required. This is low-haning fruit for this class.

All classes have assigned seats; Ms. Miller will switch your seat as needed.

For this summer assignment, there really wasn't a lot to this to turn in, was there? Welcome to a college-level class. Welcome to a work-centered class. The work here is on you to learn and do. In this class, work on this class. Bringing other classwork into computer science classes or being on your phones will cause you a lot of unnecessary trouble. Get into the mindset for success early. Treat our industry professionals as the professionals they are. They are a tremendous resource for all of us.

Grades will follow what you put into the course. There are due dates in the first days and the first week of school. Some assignments can be made up late; others cannot.

Extra Credit is offered when it is offered and not in the last 4.5 weeks (Not December or April/May).

Cheating: Cheating is a short term solution and it harms you long term. Don't do it. Cheating's consequences will hurt you. You will get a call home. You will get a 0 score. You will get marked CH for cheating. You will lose Ms. Miller's trust. Finally, you will never get a letter of recomendation from Ms. Miller or any of the industry professionals. If you have already recieved one, Ms. Miller will contact your university's and recind it. You don't know this yet, but the last thing listed is the most severe consequence of cheating. The good news is, cheating is not necessary.

What to Expect Next Year

How to be Successful in a high school Computer Science class

Computer Science learning is more like a marathon-length triathlon than a 5K run. What do I mean by comparing programming learning to a multi-sport event at great length?

First, pace yourself. A little work each day during the semester both at home during the week and on weekends, and working diligently in class every day will serve you well. In the 2021-2022 school year, the students who spent the time in class and at home, over time, and didn't cram or triage the class earned high Bs, or As. Some students had such a high A, that they could have scored a 0 on the final project and still earned an A for the course. Strive to be those students. They put in the work during the semesters, and they came to tutoring (virtually in the evenings and occasionally on the weekends when students asked for it).

Second, when preparing for class, watch the videos and take notes on traditional loose-leaf notebook paper. Leave about 2-3 inches empty on the right side. Then, in class, add any clarifying information from the class lecture and exercises. Store the notes in a 3-Ring binder that is dedicated to the class. Keep that notebook neat and organized. Not one person who seriously took notes by hand, kept up with their notebook and studied with it, earned lower than an A in either of the courses: APCSA or APCSP.

Third, in class and in tutoring, give 100% of your attention to the discussion at hand. Put up your cell phone, remove your earbuds, and close the extra tabs.

If at home, shut the door to your room. Set an alarm if needed, but do not use the TV or your gaming device, or your cell phone to "keep the time" as you will be distracted. Use YouTube or video tutorials as supplements after you have used the CodeHS videos or additional assigned videos.

Try not to study in the coffee shop, public places, unless you have to use their internet. In those cases, make sure you do use headphones or earbuds. Larger earphones or the little ones with cords send the message to passersby that you are plugged in, not available to chat, and "please do not disturb me" mode.

What kind of learning goes on in an APCSA or APCSP course?

FRQs are on the APCSA exam. You will hand-write in pencil Java Programming Code snippets that address the scenario or question prompt. The AP Exam no longer reuires pencil written code (as of 2025). There is still SOME pencil written code in the first semester of class, and if cheating becomes an issue for particular students.

MCQs are on the APCSA and APCSP exam.

In class, we write a lot of programs in APCSA-Java a lot. We use a variety of IDEs.

In APCSP, we have one Python Bootcamp. APCSP is a general Computer Science Course. We have more units on general CS stuff than some students woudl like. It is NOT considered a "programming course" while APCSA is considered a "programming course."

We have at least two units on programming with blocks or without in APCSP.

What to Expect in both APCSA and APCSP? In both courses, you are expected to be taking an Advanced Placement course. This means you will need to shift your student preparation and thinking from a high school (relatively passive) to a collegiate level (relatively active).

In high school level courses that are not AP level, the teacher does a lot of the work for you, and you get to come to class, do what is said, memorize a bunch of stuff, and take the tests. Everything on the rest is presented to you in class.

In these AP courses, because it is college level, the teacher is not going to spoon-feed you little chunks of information, tell you if you're right or wrong, and find your mistakes for you. In an AP college-level course, you are expected to take the information, practice it, apply it, and problem-solve with it. AP Courses often teach the skills early on, then there is a lot of practice, application, and synthesizing that you must do on your own. In college-level courses, you must ask yourself, "Do I know what I need to know to do this? Do I need to research more? ... practice more ... problem-solve more?" "And the ultimate question at the collegiate level, do I know it enough so I could teach it to a junior programmer?"

You need to recognize if you need to supplement your practice, background information, or ask for additional tutoring.

You will be graded both on rubrics, where many answers are possible, as well as mastery of skills-based tasks with one right answer, such as MCQs. You arealready comfortable with some MCQ type of questions where A, B, C, or D are correct. CS MCQs are a little different than other AP Courses, and we will practice them using AP Classroom and other resources. Even college-level MCQs can be different, and harder than high school-level MCQs. The answer to a question might be A only, B only, C only, D, only, A, B, and C, A and B, C and B, A and C, All of the Above, or None of the Above. You might have a question where 1 in 10 answer choices is correct. In other words, college-level course MCQs can be simple True/False questions where 1 of 2 is correct ( a 50% chance of guessing the right answer), or traditional MCQs where 1 of 4 answers are right (a 25% chance of guessing the right answer), or 1 in 10 choices are correct (a 10% chance of guessing the right answer). College-level MCQs often have half-page question stems and have one to five questions, spanning two pages, based on that original question.

What to Expect in APCSA or APCSP?

What to Expect in APCSA specifically? APCSA is front-loaded. The first semester is the learning of Java: the problem-solving, syntax, programming fundamentals, and syntax in Java. The programming assignments are specific skills-based, and they build on each other. Do not get behind first semester. The second semester is applying those skills to real world problems, team-work situations, and the AP Exam. YOu will still have some content to learn, but you will write a lot of programs second semester.

We also work all year in AP Classroom. I grade AP Classroom for completion, not a score. YOU are expected to be collegiate level learning and learn from your own efforts from AP Classroom.

We offer tutoring is bigger than the AP College Board's requirements. You will have some entrepreneurship and employment skills embedded and graded during the school year, CTSOs, and the ability to get hired and promoted in CS industry -- way more than just an AP class, right? You leave this class knowing you know how to program.

The final exam is actually a project and an exam.

What to Expect in APCSP specifically? APCSP is a split class because the AP Exam is split into an in-class project and a traditional paper exam.

We cover IT principles, problem-solving, employment skills, entrepreneurship skills, and product design cycles.

We move into teamwork projects that focus on problem-solving and team negotiating. Their focus is on how to work in teams quickly and efficiently, with accountability, and some presentation skills.

TWe begin our first programming unit in Python. It is text-based, but beginner-friendly. This is a fundamental skills unit and for those who already know Python, they must still test in Python, but may also spend time working on an unknown-to-them language.

We work on coding real programming projects that lead up to building a mock "Create Performance Task." We will build several smaller CPTs before the actual AP CPT. Some students submit a technology fair project in any category, for extra credit.

We review the rules, and expectations, and focus on meeting the goals of the AP rubric. The AP CPT score is 30-40% of the total AP score, with 60-70% of the score coming from the MCQs.

We work on the CPT in-class and turn it in by spring break.

We work the rest of the semester we work on a negotiated passion project, and presentations.

We take a classroom final exam.

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