PD, Curriculum & Resources
PD, Curriculum & Resources
Suggested Process & Considerations:
Who in the district decides on curriculum?
As much as possible, involve teachers who will be using it
Identify any district timelines or processes that need to be followed
Define criteria, including constraints
How it meets your districts CS learning goals, scope-and-sequence, fills a gap, etc.
Costs for materials, including how frequently they will need to be replaced
Costs per student -- how many students will use the materials each year?
Talk to your district IT about any permissions, security concerns, etc.
Other district constraints on purchasing
Identify potential options -- see below
Evaluate options: Use a tool to vet (i.e. avoid picking the first available or easiest)
Identify any internal district processes that need to be followed
Use the Teacher Accessibility, Equity, and Content (TEC) Rubric from Canon Lab: Northern Lights staff can help districts use to vet CS curriculum
Try the material/curriculum first if possible before committing to purchasing at scale (ask the group to borrow)
Select then purchase and implement
Suggested Considerations:
What are your district's goals for CS?
In a district's first year of establishing a CS Pathway, focus on raising awareness of CS and having a few teachers try activities in classrooms while you determine your scope and sequence. You might also include exploring curriculum options by trying different PD opportunities to inform the development of your scope-and-sequence.
Once you have a scope-and-sequence for CS, identify what teachers need what content aligned to the scope-and-sequence.
Elementary (grades K-5) -- will it be generalist teachers or specialists or some combination?
Middle school (grades 6-8) -- will it be a CS course or integrated in particular content areas? All grades or just 1 or 2 grades? Required or elective?
High school (grades 9-12) -- will it be one or more CS elective courses or integrated in particular content areas?
What are individual teacher goals for CS?
See CSTA's Guidance for Teachers to help determine goals
Teachers can complete the Self-Reflection Checklist included in the guidance and identify areas for improvement -- both content and pedagogy focused
What formats and timeline are teachers able to participate in PD? Will you needs subs to cover their classroom?
How do you allocate funding?
Prioritize PD aligned to district goals and the scope-and-sequence
Identify opportunities that meet teacher goals and needs
Select PD that focuses on CS content and pedagogy (i.e., not ed tech in general)
If your basic scope-and-sequence goals are met, then consider goals related to pedagogy and equity and opportunities to close gaps
Northern Lights Collaborative will fund the PD and curriculum listed below; all other PD (registration, travel, stipends, etc.) should follow your district processes.
Note: Northern Lights Collaborative does not need to review and approve PD opportunities as long as they support the district and teacher goals and are definitely CS. If you have questions about any of that, however, please contact one of us.
Northern Lights will issue stipends directly to educators for:
PLN meeting attendance - at the end of each school year in June (deadline by when we need this -- May 1st)
PD offered by Northern Lights (see below) -- deadline determined by each PD
Information needed:
Submit form with your information so we can set you up as a supplier
W-9 form and email to nlcollaborative@umn.edu with subject line "K12 CS Pathways W9"
Stipends are estimated at $50 / hour. If a set amount is being issued for a PD opportunity, it will be communicated with the opportunity.
Click here to view a brief three minute overview video of considerations for purchasing materials through the grant
The Northern Lights Collaborative staff offers free PD to participating districts in areas aligned with the grant outcomes, including:
What is CS and Why CS? (1-4 hours)
Build staff awareness + buy-in
Try hands on CS activities to build confidence, i.e. "I think I can teach CS"
UDL4CS Strategies
Universal Design for Learning strategies as applied to CS learning
Indigenous CS Lessons
Strategies to connect Indigenous knowledge to CS
Specific Lessons: Sugarbush, Three Sisters, Constellations & Seasons, and others will be developed in the future
K8 CS Integration (6 or more hours + implementation)
Includes an overview of computational thinking, computer science terms
Everyone completes an initial programming activity
Breakouts based on grades and subject areas with K-8 lesson repository (will be added to over the grant as well)
Counselors for Computing (with NCWIT)
1 day-long (~6 hours) + quarterly 1 hour meetings online
Targeting secondary (especially high school) counselors
Other PD:
Scratch using Creative Computing, Getting Unstuck, or CS First curriculum
Elementary literacy + Code and Go Mice
Particular technology such as Spheros, Microbits, e-textiles
Other needs? Reach out and discuss with the Northern Lights Collaborative team
Special community or family events can be great ways to build interest in your computer science program and get others involved. There are many factors to consider when planning for a special event, which may feel overwhelming and act as a barrier to hosting a computer science related event for your community. The Northern Lights Collaborative for Computing Education has put together a resource to help work through the planning process for a computer science night. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it was compiled through discussions with various schools and districts who have experience hosting similar events. Use this resource as a way to get started planning for your event, and feel free to reach out to nlcollaborative@umn.edu if you have any questions or could use any support!
Elementary School (grades K-5)
Scratch Action Fractions - (3rd & 4th grade math)
Experience CS (Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Act 1 is for students in grades 4-6
Encore has PD and is for students in grades 5-8
CS+Elementary (Art Lopez, Beth Simon, UCSD) -- 3rd, 4th, 5th grades
CS Unplugged (topics for ages 5-10)
Middle School (grades 6-8)
CS Unplugged (topics for ages 11-14)
Code.org CS Discoveries (grades 6-10)
High School (grades 9-12)
Code.org CS Discoveries (grades 6-10)
CS Principles - AP (College Board endorsed providers) or CITS through SMSU
CS A - AP (College Board endorsed providers) or CITS
Other
Events / Organizations:
EDC - I think there's more here, but this is an initial link
Minnesota:
Graduate courses:
Teaching AI
Teaching Cybersecurity
Teaching Data Science
Teaching Quantum