TEALS

Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) is a Microsoft organization dedicated to reducing the computer science gap. TEALS partners high school teachers with industry professionals to help teach an introductory computer science course. Courses include AP Computer Science Principles, AP Computer Science A, and Introduction to Computer Science. Volunteers can be teaching assistants, teachers, or remote teachers (although currently, everything is remote due to the pandemic).

I am currently one of 3 teaching assistants for AP Computer Science Principles at the Brooklyn School for Music and Theatre. Class meets three times a week, so I attend class one morning a week from 9am - 10am. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are largely sticking to the Beauty and Joy of Computing curriculum. This curriculum is similar to what one might find on code.org, with the exception that it uses Snap! as its block based coding language. The curriculum is largely a sequence of labs, that the students can complete at their own pace. In order to make things as simple as possible, we are not deviating from the curriculum or making large changes in any way. We are only 2 months into the school year as I write this, and thus far, it’s been largely about figuring out how to teach during the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the summer, we were hoping that the pandemic would abate and schools would reopen normally in the fall. However, if we did have to remain remote, the schools were at least in better shape to handle that than the spring. The school had passed out all available iPads to students who needed them, and helped families find ways to access internet if they needed it. Schools also struggled with enforcing attendance in the spring- something we were concerned could happen again in the fall.

The official NYC plan ended up being a combination of remote and in-school teaching- families could choose whether or not to send their child to school. In accordance with these plans, my school (the Brooklyn School for Music and Theatre) decided to split the student body into 4 cohorts. Cohorts A, B, C would attend school 2 days out of every 5, and cohort D would entirely remote. The schedule for A/B/C days would vary, so my class would not necessarily meet every day of the week. Naturally, this led to a lot of confusion on both the students and teachers part. After a herculean effort from the school’s administrative staff, student schedules were finally solidified by November and we have finally found a routine. Student attendance is still low, but considering the entire curriculum is online and due dates are posted through Google Classroom, most students do complete the assignments. There have also been some technical challenges- some students are trying to complete their assignments on an iPad, but the Snap! website assumes the student has a keyboard and mouse. For example, students were expected to right click to open a menu, but their tap on the iPad was often interpreted as a drag action instead. It almost felt like a fundamental product design issue- the website assumed students were using laptops in their school’s computer lab, but some students do not have access to a laptop at home.

Despite the challenges, being a part of this AP Computer Science Principles class has been a highlight of my year so far. Although we are remote, I have still managed to form connections with some of the kids and class is usually a relaxed, casual atmosphere where we go over topics. The small class size sometimes works in our benefit, as we can provide personalized and detailed support to each student who attends. Most students are in roughly the same place in the labs, so we spend the class working together on the lab. Someone shares their screen, and everyone follows along. It’s a bit hard for students to have the video chat , their code, and the instructions for the lab open all at the same time. As such, the kids tend to background the chat and just listen as they complete their tasks. I do make it a point to try to engage students as much as possible while teaching the lab. Live coding has its benefits, since I can easily change parameters or the sequence of various blocks, and ask the kids what they think will happen. Or, kids will suggest modifications to the lab and we can spend time coding up their suggestions. The benefits of having a more freeform class, is that the students can take more time to try out their ideas, which will ultimately help them learn these concepts. I definitely learn best by doing (especially when it comes to code) and I find that the same is true for most of my students this year. It’s also been great to see some students really take to the curriculum and continue to work through the material at their own pace. One student is 3 labs ahead of everyone else!

Above all else, I really admire the high school teacher with whom I am paired up with. His dedication to his students and his genuine excitement about his students’ progress is inspiring to see. The kids clearly look up to him, and are always willing to listen when he talks. They have an easy repartee that shows a level of comfort and trust I wish I had with my high school teachers. The entire school faculty is so dedicated to making things work in this pandemic and I truly appreciate and respect all that they do.