Workshop Descriptions

• Carla Neely "Integration is the Key" (Room 4006)

  • By using the micro: bit as the computer science tool, attendees will learn how integrate computer science into core subjects. This will be done using the project-based learning (PBL) format. Attendees will leave the presentation with a PBL lesson ready to use with their students. The objectives of the lesson are attendees brainstorm ways to improve the accessibility and usability of technology products for the diverse needs and wants of users. In addition, attendees will create procedures with parameters to organize code and make it easier to reuse.

• Chris Bell "Using AI to Enhance Learning" (Room 4002)

  • Learn how to integrate generative AI tools into your lesson planning. Create classroom activities that develop engaging and creative learning experiences for students. Through practical examples and activities, you will gain an understanding of how AI works, its capabilities, and how to use it in to enhance your teaching. Educators from all grade levels are welcome with no prior experience with AI necessary. Develop your confidence in using AI tools, and walk away with a newfound excitement and appreciation for the potential of AI in education, as well as several practical ways you can use it immediately. Designed for all grade levels.

• Nancy Reid "Micro:bits and Lego MindStorms" (Room 4006)

  • Showcase the combination of software and hardware through Micro:bits and Lego Mindstorm to a diverse group of student population. Demo lessons and resources for Microbits and Lego Minstorms. Demo some sample lessons Mircobits and Lego Mindstorms. Share some community service opportunity experiences.   Not only offer curriculum to students during the day, but also offer workshops for extra curricular, for example free robotics workshops to under served students and offer zoom session to Latina LEADS (part of Lulac organization).

• Mariana Hernandez "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" (Room 4002)

  • Are you looking for the connection between math and coding? In this session, we will use the Mathematical Practices to explore the need for coordinates, variables, and functions to create a snowman. We will use Pyret, a text-based language. Even if you are a beginner you will leave feeling confident that you can do this.

• Svea Anderson "Cracking the Code: Integrating Cybersecurity Into Your Curriculum" (Online)

  • Humans have needed to communicate clearly and selectively since the development of language and communication. As power struggles and politics emerged, the need for secret messages and coded language emerged.  One of the best known ancient codes are Egyptian hieroglyphics. In hieroglyphics, only a few trained scribes knew the code and were able to share the messages with the Kings.  As communication and technologies advanced from written symbols  to electronic files, more intensive codes and code-breaking skills evolved. These skills are now known as cryptography and cryptanalysis. In this session, educators will learn the history of code, as well as simple ways to integrate it into the curriculum through hands on activities.

• Kristy Manuel "Speak Your Mind...with Scratch Coding!" (Online)

  • No coding experience needed! Teachers K-8 will learn how to implement the various tools in Scratch to allow students to express themselves. Using Scratch coding tools, students can exercise their creativity, critical thinking skills & perseverance! Scratch also provides a safe place to express feelings and thoughts. Similar to “Puppet play” using Scratch coding can help aid student social and emotional development. Using coding as a place to express feelings and thoughts has the potential to improve language skills, creativity, social awareness, and more.  Workshop attendees will get hands-on experience using 3 different methods to express themselves, taking advantage of Scratch’s ability to leverage the written words, spoken words, and recorded words. Their imagination cups will be filled with ideas for fun and exciting coding projects to create with their students. They will leave with online resources and knowledge about Scratch coding that can be immediately used in their classrooms.

• Allen Antoine "Computational Thinking Classrooms" (Online)

  • I want my students to be excited about Computational Thinking and self-starters when tackling programming projects. And I am willing to bet that you feel the same way! Building Thinking Classrooms has been a transformative approach to teaching mathematics and science for years. So why aren’t we doing it in CS?? In this session, I will introduce proven strategies of collaboration and problem-solving that will unlock your student’s potential and build engaging classrooms where kids think computationally.

• Leticia Citizen "3D Quilt Codes" (Online)

  • During this hands-on workshop, participants will link 2D design and 3D modeling to collaborative quilting bees and the use of symbols and codes in hanging quilts that led enslaved people to freedom. This culturally responsive lesson nurtures a student-centered learning environment while exploring the use of quilts and quilting bees to guide enslaved people to safe houses along the Underground Railroad. Participants will use Google Drawings and Tinkercad to create a 3D quilt that reflects their own lives, identities, and personalities. Come prepared to personalize a coded quilt with symbols that represent your unique story and even remix quilt stories with other workshop participants.Participants will learn about the legend of how a safe house along the Underground Railroad was often indicated by a quilt hanging from a clothesline or windowsill.  Participants will design a three-dimensional quilt using personal symbols (as code), then import the symbols as SVG files into Tinkercad 3D Design to create 3D patterned quilts. Participants will create four symbols using Google Drawings, to download images as PNG files.

• Christine Bywater, Victoria Delaney, and Chris Mah "Learning Together: Building Ethical and Responsible AI Practices in Schools" (Online)

  • GenerativeAI is already changing the norms and expectations of schools, presenting both possibility and risks. Educators and students are on the front lines of shaping ethical and responsible use of AI in schools. In this interactive session, we will explore possible ways of working with students to develop guidelines for navigating a new technological landscape. Learning Goals: Recognize students as positively intentioned actors with AI Understand responsibilities, harms, and risks with AI - including bias, fairness (for creators and others), and misinformation Identify strategies for building supportive norms around AI use: such as transparency of instructional intent, thinking about equity, attribution, and an ethic of care for actual learning Identify deterrents for AI use such as: cost, privacy concerns, harms to relational trust.

• Sandra Myers "AI for All" (Online)

  • Code.org’s professional learning program is for educators who are embarking on the journey of teaching computer science.  Teachers will be introduced to the implementation and resources of the AI unit to teach lessons in Artificial intelligence. Teachers can effectively gain the confidence and expertise needed to successfully prepare the next generation of students and make a lasting impact in the world of computer science education.