Showing posts with label general. Show all posts
Showing posts with label general. Show all posts

Saturday, November 29, 2014

What are you doing for Grace Hopper Day???

UPDATE-01 (11/29/14): Originally posted 12/14/13, what follows is a description of what we did for CS ED Week, aka The Hour Of Code, aka Admiral Grace Murray Hopper Day, aka Lady Ada Lovelace's Birthday last year. This year we are doing much the same thing. Our goal here is twofold. (1) Promote Computer Science Education in general. (2) Recruit more students for the APCS class next year!

UPDATE-02 (12/1/14): Last year was based on this Hour Of Code Tutorial from codehs.com. This year I'd like to try this or this tutorial from code.org. I'm having a problem with the new tutorials. They load fine at home, but take forever to load in school. So, I'm downloading the whole thing to run locally on each of my student PCs! I used the following commandline to download the webste recursively, 
wget -mirror -r --html-extension -convert-links http://studio.code.org/hoc/1

UPDATE-03 (12/5/14): I'm not getting very far with code.org as yet. I'd like to do the code.org tutorials with my AP classes as they saw the codehs.com tutorials last year. Also, code.org has an Angry Birds tutorial and and a Disney's Frozen tutorial. So, I can do one in the morning with AP Calculus and the other in the afternoon with AP Computer Science as I have some of the same students in each. For students who have not done The Hour of Code with me, codehs.com's Karel the Dog is an easier intro. Codehs.com has two new tutorials. One is on mySQL and Harry Potter which is a little dry. The other is on making graphics with JavaScript which is a little challenging. I also like the code.org tutorials because they feature experts in the video tutorials like Bill Gates and Mark Zukerburg teaching about if/then/else branches and repeat/until loops! Here's some videos from code.org:

UPDATE-04 (12/8/14): Here's what we did today!

(original post from 12/14/13:)
Here's what I did for the #HourOfCode: 
(1) I registered myself as a presenter of an Hour Of Code, http://csedweek.org
(2) I registered all my classes for a tutorial do be done during said hour, http://code.org
(3) I presented the following info during that hour on Monday 12/9/2013:
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-captain-is-a-lady/


Admiral Grace Murray Hopper is one of my personal idols! Not only did she usher in the entire industry of Software Engineering but she single handedly invented Computer Programming Languages and Compilers! She was a Math Professor, a Naval Officer, the developer of COBOL and an all around class act! 


Grace Hopper's birthday was Monday 12/9. To honor her memory, I registered all my classes for an Hour Of Code. Maybe you'd like to participate as well? The Hour Of Code is about exposing as many students as possible to Computer Science in all disciplines. I'm making this presentation during course selection week as well to encourage students to take Computer Science at my High School! Due to budget cuts, teacher layoffs, large class sizes and canceled electives, I'm recommending Honors 9th Graders take AP Computer Science next year. I used to recommend an intro course, but I can't anymore.... 





CSEDWEEK was an unprecedented international effort. Over 15,000,000 students at more than 30,000 locations (mostly schools) in nearly 200 countries were registered to participate sometime during last week and wrote more than 500,000,000 lines of code!


I teach Computer Science and see it as a great tool in all disciplines. It's a shame that more students don't take Computer Science in High School. Taking Computer Science can lead to a great major in college and a great profession! I also use Computer Science in all my Math and Science courses in High School and College! 


I've been teaching people how to code since 1975. I've also been teaching AP Computer Science at the High School level since 1984. Finally, I've been teaching computing at the College level since 1993. Needless to say, I'm a vehement advocate for a strong Computer Science Education in particular and a challenging STEM curriculum in general for every High School student. 
In fact, every single class I teach, every single day of the week, is devoted to some aspect of STEM! STEM stands for "Science, Technology, Engineering and Math." Actually, I try to incorporate STEAM into my classroom: "Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math." By Arts I do mean Art (fractals, 3D graphics, animation) but I also try to tie in plenty of History, Literature and Culture. 


Mine is one of the few High Schools in the USA to offer a Computer Science curriculum! CS50 at Harvard, see playlist above, covers a lot of the same material we cover here at Baldwin Senior High in my AP Computer Science class. They use Scratch, C, php and JavaScript whereas we use Python, SAGE, MPI and Java, but the concepts are the same!
Sadly, the United States is falling far behind other countries in training professionals for jobs in the 21st Century that will require this skill more and more! So, in answer to this growing demand, here's what I teach (in addition to Math and Science):

Intro to Computer Science (python):


AP Computer Science A (java):


CIS: Computing Independent Study 
(MPI with FORTRAN, C, C++ and python):


Calculus Research Lab (SAGE):
aka Scientific Computing Lab (Octave):
aka Computing Science Lab (R): 


HOUR OF CODE Instructions for Monday's tutorial:
(1) Each student should go to http://codehs.com/hourofcode
(2) Sign up for CodeHS using this code: F2B9
(3) Start learning!

You will be completing a tutorial on programming for beginners. Fun will be had by all!

Course Selection Week DropBox!

Well, that's all folks.


Generally Speaking,
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Sunday, October 19, 2014

Let's celebrate Ada Lovelace Day even if it's a day late and a dollar short!

Let's celebrate Ada Lovelace Day even if it's a day late and a dollar short!
UPDATED BLOG POST (10/8/2011) - BUMP!
It was Ada Lovelace Day yesterday (10/7)! Sorry, I missed it due to the Steve Jobs (2/24/1955-10/5/2011) tragedy. Ada was the daughter of Baron Lord Byron (1/22/1788-4/19/1824) the famed poet. There's talk of making this Admiral Grace Murray Hopper day too as both Gracey and Ada were born nearly the same day (12/9/1906-1/1/1992 vs 12/10/1815-11/27/1852) if not the same date!


Ada Byron was the world's first programmer. Ada tried to program Charles Babbage's (12/26/1791-10/18/1871) Folly. Recently, a team at Carnegie Mellon built a working model of Babbage's Analytical Engine and confirmed that his design and Ada's programs worked! Modern day technology was necessary to make Babbage's dream come true. The gears of the day were not as accurate as was needed.

Babbage's machine was supposed to be the first programmable computer even though it was made of mechanical gears and pulleys as opposed to today's electro-mechanical PCs! 
Unfortunately, Babbage died destitute in an insane asylum before perfecting his machine. There's even a programming language called Ada! Lady Lovelace, though long estranged from her father, assumed the Barony herself later in life. 


Babbage did succeed in creating the Difference Engine, among several other inventions, which could calculate trig tables and ocean tides. The Difference Engine was such a marvel for its time, it even inspired this scifi novel by Willam Gibson of Cyber Punk fame. 


Many people wrote blogs yesterday in Ada's honor. I suppose this one is my contribution! Take a look at some more,
Generally Speaking,


A. Jorge Garcia
Applied Math, Physics and CS
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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

21st Century Multimedia: Extreme Video Edition!

21st Century Multimedia: 
Extreme Video Edition!

OK, I have to admit it, I've probably been a massive media maven since birth! I probably had the first VCR on the block! I remember recording every episode of ST:TNG starting with the very first episode September 1987! You couldn't do that with The Original Series in the 1960s. You had to watch everything live back then, they hadn't even invented reruns yet.

I've used them all: VCRs, DVRs and even a DVDR for recording directly to DVD instead of VHS tape. DVDRs are great for converting VHS tapes to DVDs too. I even use my DVDR to make mp4s for YouTube of old VHS video.

Anyway, this post is supposed to be an update to this post. That was back in July of 2012. My arguement then was that the best way to watch your fave SciFi TV shows (old and new) was via online streaming to you PC, tablet of cellphone ie: not on TV! You could use NetFlix, Hulu or Amazon Prime with your device of choice. I used my WiFi Kindle Fire HD 7" with Amazon Prime. 

Don't forget your fave webseries! Many of mine a Star Trek related like ST:Continues, ST:Phase2 and ST:Renegades. BTW, ST:Axanar is a new series that looks really promising! Webseries such as these are great to watch on your tablet or cellphone using an App called YouTube Downloader (not to be confused with the FireFox add-on) whereby you can download the next episode of your fave webseries from YouTube when you are near a WiFi Hot Spot and watch it whenever and wherever you want. Other webseries on YouTube you may want to look for are: HISHE, TED, Ignite, ViHart, Kahn Academy, Geek & Sundry, Table Top, Nerdist! 


BTW, it's such a shame that the SyFy Channel is no longer the SiFi Channel! Now we get to watch WWF on SyFy, TNG on BBCA and FireFly on History Channel?


So, here's what's new. Now, most TV channels have an App. So, download the App for the channel that runs your fave series and watch it on the road! You're no longer relegated to just the YouTube Downloader app. So, you have a lot more choices for content. You do need WiFi or 4G. BTW, in a pinch, you could always setup a WiFi hot spot on your cellphone! I'm using my WiFi Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" now. 

FYI: I refuse to get a tablet with 4G. Why pay extra for such hardware when WiFi Hot Spots are so prevalent now? Remember the early days of the iPhone and iPad? That's Steve Job's legacy. You had to get 2 devices each with it's own data plan. So, you pay Apple twice as much as should be necessary. That was the business model that made Jobs rich! Ever hear of a phablet? It's a large cellphone with apps or a small tablet with cellphone capability. Let's cut to the chase: I want a large tablet (like this) with cell access! That's one device with one data plan, done!

Note, TV seasons used to be Fall-Spring with repeats in the Summer. Some series went Winter-Summer. Maybe they'd break for XMas or Easter. Maybe you'd get a Halloween or Thanksgiving special and that was it! Now you get 1/2 season shows in the Fall and Spring with 12-13 episodes per calendar season like Supernatural. Some shows are only one calendar season like Vikings, Defiance, Falling Skies and Last Ship!

So, what follows are my genre related picks for 2014 to give you examples of this new way of keeping up with your fave shows:

WINTER 2014:
APP: PBS
SHOW: Downton

SPRING 2014:
APP: History
SHOW: Vikings

SUMMER 2014:
APP: TNT
SHOW: Falling Skies

APP: TNT
SHOW: Last Ship

APP: TNT
SHOW: Legends

APP: SyFy (not for streaming - extra content)
SHOW: Defiance

APP: SyFy (not for streaming - extra content)
SHOW: Dominion

FALL 2014:
APP: AMC
SHOW: Walking Dead

APP: CBS
SHOW: Big Bang Theory

APP: ABC
SHOW: Marvel

APP: ABC
SHOW: Forever

APP: CW
SHOW: Supernatural

APP: CW
SHOW: Flash

APP: CW
SHOW: Reign

APP: BBCA (no app, sorry)
SHOW: Dr. Who

NOTE ON LEGENDS:
I was really looking forward to Sean Bean in Legends but I was disappointed. His is the only good character. They don't really flesh out the other characters and the other actors don't have much to do. But you gotta love Sean in LOTR and an old BBC series called Sharpe based on the Bernard Cornwell novels!

NOTE ON DOMINION:
Dominion was another diappointment! I love Anthony Head from Buffy and BBCA's Merlin. However, the plot was slow and Head was not the main character. He couldn't carry the whole show on his shoulders all by himself, I'm afraid.

NOTE ON FOREVER:
By contrast, I'm really liking Ioan Gruffudd in Forever! All the characters are nicely fleshed out and work well together. I remember the first season of ST:TNG. The actors were so stiff and fake! I'm a big fan of Ioan since the film Titanic and an old BBC series called HornBlower based on the C.S. Forrester novels. BTW, in a similar vein, I also love what they did with the Patrick O'Brien novels in the movie Master and Commander!

Now go enjoy some of your own Extreme Video Streaming adventures!

Generally Speaking,

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Friday, June 27, 2014

Gratz Baldwin SHS Class of 2014!


Good luck, class of 2014, you will be missed!

This is how they made me dress up for today's Baldwin SHS Graduation 6/27/2014! 

PS: Red = Cornell
PPS: Gold = Physics
PPPS: Black = Masters

Generally Speaking,
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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Goto DonorsChoose.org! Hurry, run, don't walk!




Recently, I received an email from DonorsChoose about a Google Challenge for my students on Codecademy! Kindly allow me to explain:

(1) DonorsChoose is like KickStarter for teachers. You can propose a project for your classroom, say some new textbooks. Then anyone who likes your project can come along and donate to your cause. When you make a teacher account on DonorsChoose, you start with 2 points worth $1000 each to select items from their vendors. DonorsChoose has several school materials vendors, but recently added Amazon so you can get just about anything you need! If your project is funded, you can get your points back plus 1 more if you send out a thank you package to each of your donors.

(2) Codecademy is an online school of sorts. It has tons of free courses for students to learn programming. This challenge has the students complete a short introduction to Computer Science learning JavaScript, http://www.codecademy.com/donors-choose

(3) Google is offering $100 gift cards for DonorsChoose to female students that complete the Codecademy course. I get an extra $500 bonus gift card for each group of 4 students that complete the online course. The challenge encourages girls to learn Computer Science.

I'm trying to raise the money to get a class set of TI Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculators as described below.

Please contribute to my project (text below). If you want to donate, go the link below and use promo code 100WOMEN to double your donation!
http://www.donorschoose.org/calcpage2010

My Students: Everyday, in Calculus class, the first thing we do is take out our homework, notebook, textbook and calculator. Many questions can be done analytically and verbally. However, the graphing calculator has become a focal point in class since many problems now require a graphical and numerical approach.
I have been teaching Calculus to gifted students at my High School every year since 1993. Many of my students take the AP Calculus BC exam each May and do very well. As a result, some of my students go on to major in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics at some of our nation's top Ivy League and Technical Colleges.
I try to keep in touch with my students after graduation to see what professional and career goals they may have met over the years. I am happy to report that I have found that some of my students have gone on to become teachers, professors, engineers, doctors and scientists in their own right.
I am very proud of my students, I am privileged to be their teacher and I have been blessed with the opportunity to help them fulfill their dreams.
This project is all about helping my students succeed in my class, in their college majors and in their chosen professions or careers to the best of my ability and to the best of their ability. Will you please help?
My Project: For as long as I can remember, we've been using the TI-89 Graphing Calculator. This calculator was state of the art in the early 1990s, but now it's time for a change!
The TI Nspire CX CAS is a more modern graphing calculator with several advantages:
The Nspire has a high resolution color screen making our graphs much easier to view, manipulate, color code, and label. Both the 89 and the Nspire include a Computer Algebra Systems aka CAS. This means that they can actually handle Algebra and Calculus expressions symbolically. However, the Nspire has many more such functions available. These calculators are actually programmable computers. The 89 uses a form of BASIC combined with graphing and CAS functions. The Nspire also has a new language called LUA which is perfect for GUI programming on the calculator. The Nspire is a lot like a laptop PC in that it has an operating system, file directories and several apps. Using these apps, we can save our work as documents.
The best technology for teaching and learning Calculus is a PC or Tablet running a CAS. However, the TI Nspire CX CAS has many of the same features. Also, since the AP Calculus exam requires the use of a Graphing Calculator, using the Nspire will give us access to the best of both worlds. We can still solve problems numerically and graphically. However, now we can check all our work Algebraically as well. With the Nspire I will be able to prepare my students for the AP exam and for college too! 

HTH, 
A. Jorge Garcia

Generally Speaking,
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Friday, March 14, 2014

Calling all attendees of LIMACON 2014 at SUNY Old Westbury


Calling all attendees of LIMACON 2014 at SUNY Old Westbury
Please let me know if you find any of the following info useful.

If you were at LIMACON today (http://www.limathconference.org) here's the answers to the questions I was asked:
(1) Can you crash the new SAGECELL?
The answer is no!
See my attempt to crash it here. Here's another attempt inspired by PI Day. See SAGE documentation here. Also, this is the original SAGE NoteBook server. If you need even more horsepower, try https://cloud.sagemath.com which is based on a huge supercomputer at the University of Washington with 288 cores, 1.2TB RAM and 50TB disk space. 
(2) Are Camtasia and Jing the only game in town if you want to screencast for your flipped classroom?
The answer is no!
Take a look at http://screencast-o-matic.com or use Screen Recorder in Smart NoteBook or use a desktop recorder like avconv or ffmpeg. One problem you have to watch out for is that Screen Recorder creates large *.wav files that use up a lot of disk space really fast! Also, Screencast-o-matic takes a while to render an *.mp4 file after you are done recording!
(3) In a flipped classroom, when the students are working in groups, do you have to go old school and stop group work to lecture in front of the room when one or more groups are struggling?
The answer is no!
Goto http://www.whiteboardsusa.com so you can give each group a portable whiteboard to do their work. Then, if one group has a good solution, they can share it with the rest of the class!
(4) Do your screencasts have to be only 5-10 minutes long and only on simple skills?
The answer is no!
If you are teaching preCalculus, Calculus, preCompSci or CompSci like me, I think your videos need to be a bit more in depth. I do what I call a modified flip. When I cover something new in class, I record the whole 40 minutes. Students can use the recording to help with that night's homework. Students can use the screencast to review later in the year or to make up work missed. Students can fast forward and rewind as needed!


(5) In this day and age of Budget Cuts, Teacher Lay Offs and Huge Class Sizes, do you have to cancel AP Computer Science?
The answer is no!
My intro CS course did not have enough enrollment this year to meet the new class size minimum. So, my intro course was cancelled. What did Guidance do? They rescheduled the intro kids into AP CS! This would not have been my first choice, now I have 10th, 11th and 12th graders in AP and they are doing great!
Please note:

I'm usually a speaker at LIMACON, but this year I took a break! In fact, I spoke last year after an imposed 2 year break. Now LIMACON is imposing a 3 year period before you can speak again. So, I won't speak at LIMACON again until 2016 somewhere near PI Day! BTW, I also spoke for T^3 at Molloy College last November. That conference is held only every 3 years, so I suppose that 2016 will a busy year for me.

As you can tell, I went to lots of presentations about flipping the classroom. The motto seems to be: "You don't have to be the Sage on Stage anymore! Be the facilitator and let the students do their work!" ... no pun intended re "sage."

Finally, this blog post was originally a forum post on https://apcommunity.collegeboard.org/ in the AP Calculus Teachers' group.
HTH, 
A. Jorge Garcia


Generally Speaking,
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