: It's been a while.
It's been a while since I've updated.
PREP's been going for a few days. Our site (St. Philips) has only two groups, and thus only has two teachers. So, in addition to the Logic I usually teach, I've added Computer Science to my PREP repetoire. This means I've taught every course PREP has to offer except for Technical Writing.
It also means I'm teaching Visual Basic for the first time since 2001.
I remember that time. I was teaching the AP computer science class and one of the teachers who was teaching the honors CS class left. I took over her CS class, which had been on Sub-A-Day for a month. They were learning Visual Basic, but not learning much at all without a permanent teacher there.
I taught VB for a while, decided I didn't want to learn two languages by teaching, and moved everyone over to C++.
So now I'm forced to learn to teach VB since that's all the St. Philips computer labs have. Of course, I'm not trying to teach myself C++ as I go as well. Having a few languages under my belt, I feel more confident.
On Saturday, I went through all the programming assignments and finished them in about an hour. Yes, it's really that Basic. Besides, the CS program for PREP is more cookbook based than real problem solving. Of course, with only twelve instructional days, it's really more like a survey of computer programming.
I hope to make it fun though. Today the students were finishing up their first program -- a program that finds the perimter of a rectangle given two sides. Considering many of these students haven't had Algebra I yet, they understand the concept of variables fairly well.
On Thursday I saw my sone add a permanent memory to my brain.
We just pulled in to pick him up from daycare. At his daycare, the 12-18 month room has a large window, from ground to ceiling, that faces where the parents pull up to get their kids. At this point, Miguel's just starting to make a connection to the cars parents drive, and can identify our truck fairly well.
Alma and I both get out, and waive to Miguel, who runs to the window...
...pushing down a little girl who was walking to slowly, and was doing so in her way.
Thinking about it still makes me laugh. We'll eventually teach him to be nicer to the more fair sex, but it was hilarious.
Maybe I'm a bad dad for thinking that.
I purchased one of the Octave 5 in 1 camera/flash drives about two years ago when they first came out. I loved that little camera, and used it to record scenes in my classroom as well as to take recordings from my Chinese class.
Mistakenly one day, I left it in my shirt and washed it. I've washed flash drives before, and usually they're fine as soon as they dry out. Then again, most flash drives don't have a battery to short out.
Thus, that old camera is now a 128 meg flash drive that can act as a fairly good webcam (to see some video I shot, check out the Video Section of the Texasmath site.) but it's no longer a standalone recorder.
I was even more brokenhearted to go back to the Octave site to find they don't carry it anymore, When I asked they said they weren't made anymore.
So I sulked, resolved to check my pockets more often (didn't work) and lived my life.
Earlier this week I was looking around, and found the company that makes the device. They still make them. And, they now come in new colors.
So, I've got a white/red camera that actually has a working battery. It's charging right now.
Other than that, nothing much is going on. Summer is.
~MP
It's been a while since I've updated.
PREP's been going for a few days. Our site (St. Philips) has only two groups, and thus only has two teachers. So, in addition to the Logic I usually teach, I've added Computer Science to my PREP repetoire. This means I've taught every course PREP has to offer except for Technical Writing.
It also means I'm teaching Visual Basic for the first time since 2001.
I remember that time. I was teaching the AP computer science class and one of the teachers who was teaching the honors CS class left. I took over her CS class, which had been on Sub-A-Day for a month. They were learning Visual Basic, but not learning much at all without a permanent teacher there.
I taught VB for a while, decided I didn't want to learn two languages by teaching, and moved everyone over to C++.
So now I'm forced to learn to teach VB since that's all the St. Philips computer labs have. Of course, I'm not trying to teach myself C++ as I go as well. Having a few languages under my belt, I feel more confident.
On Saturday, I went through all the programming assignments and finished them in about an hour. Yes, it's really that Basic. Besides, the CS program for PREP is more cookbook based than real problem solving. Of course, with only twelve instructional days, it's really more like a survey of computer programming.
I hope to make it fun though. Today the students were finishing up their first program -- a program that finds the perimter of a rectangle given two sides. Considering many of these students haven't had Algebra I yet, they understand the concept of variables fairly well.
On Thursday I saw my sone add a permanent memory to my brain.
We just pulled in to pick him up from daycare. At his daycare, the 12-18 month room has a large window, from ground to ceiling, that faces where the parents pull up to get their kids. At this point, Miguel's just starting to make a connection to the cars parents drive, and can identify our truck fairly well.
Alma and I both get out, and waive to Miguel, who runs to the window...
...pushing down a little girl who was walking to slowly, and was doing so in her way.
Thinking about it still makes me laugh. We'll eventually teach him to be nicer to the more fair sex, but it was hilarious.
Maybe I'm a bad dad for thinking that.
I purchased one of the Octave 5 in 1 camera/flash drives about two years ago when they first came out. I loved that little camera, and used it to record scenes in my classroom as well as to take recordings from my Chinese class.
Mistakenly one day, I left it in my shirt and washed it. I've washed flash drives before, and usually they're fine as soon as they dry out. Then again, most flash drives don't have a battery to short out.
Thus, that old camera is now a 128 meg flash drive that can act as a fairly good webcam (to see some video I shot, check out the Video Section of the Texasmath site.) but it's no longer a standalone recorder.
I was even more brokenhearted to go back to the Octave site to find they don't carry it anymore, When I asked they said they weren't made anymore.
So I sulked, resolved to check my pockets more often (didn't work) and lived my life.
Earlier this week I was looking around, and found the company that makes the device. They still make them. And, they now come in new colors.
So, I've got a white/red camera that actually has a working battery. It's charging right now.
Other than that, nothing much is going on. Summer is.
~MP