Grumpy Computer Science Teacher

Working on a couple of new projects to support students. Drawing the images is very therapeutic too #EduSky

ComputingRevision.net Your comprehensive resource for computing revision.

New revision website just launched. I’ll be adding more KS3 sections, plus J836 IT, over the summer. I hope you and your students like it. #TeamCompSci #Edusky

www.computingrevision.net

I have an ECT starting in September so I’m giving them all the bottom sets.

Just joking, I’m not one of *those* HODs! I’ll be having them instead. Looks like a fun year for me 🙄 #Edusky

Good luck to everyone taking their #Computing Paper 2 today. You’ll be great!

#TeamCompSci

Good luck to everyone taking their #GCSE #Computing exam today

This is my first BTEC after previously teaching OCR Cambridge Tech. BTEC is so much more difficult to administer. But you’re right, non-vocational subjects are far simpler to run

A long weekend of wading through BTEC marking. Useless website, lack of guidance, verbose paperwork. Glad we’re dropping it!

Plenty of non-private schools have / are ditching Computer Science. Perceived difficulty and struggle to recruit suitable teachers are usually the main reasons. As always with supply and demand, scarcity = cost

I hope there was an algorithm involved ☕️

Next week, my Year 11s will have their final lesson with me before their GCSEs. I will also be delivering the final lesson of the spec. That’s what happens when you’re only given two lessons of Computer Science per week 🙄 #TeamCompSci #EduSky

What is the lifespan of software? What if you make software that's silly and full of whimsy? Will people remember it? Anyway, here's a video someone recently posted of “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan performed through the composer feature in Mario Paint, a game released on Super Nintendo in 1992

If I remember correctly, the soundtrack also infringed copyright laws too 🙄

Yes. I love the cube 😍

I guess you could do it with just HTML and CSS 3 now - no need for JavaScript 🚦

Before my time as a teacher, and after my time as a student. Looks like fun though

That’s what I’m planning to do, but embedding other content into the CMS using iFrames (so doesn’t really solve the template problem)

Being on detention duty isn’t fun for students, but it is for me 😂 #Edusky #TeamCompSci #STEM #Microbit

Unfortunately, cinemas don’t make much from ticket sales. I once heard someone say that there’s no such thing as a cinema, just snack shops which show movies

That’s always a risk with using a well-known CMS. Part of me is staying “stick with just HTML”, but I think the short-term pain of setup will be worth it in the long run

Working on another website project. Unlike my last one, I thought I’d use a content management system. In my dim and distant past, I remembered that I quite liked Joomla. Maybe I’m out of practice, but creating a template is a bit of a pain!

I saw it at the cinema on Friday, at the request of my (adult) kids. I really enjoyed it

Hope you did too

As we approach the new term, I have nine lessons left to plan, after which I will have completely rewritten the entire KS3 Computing scheme of work. Those final nine are going to drag!
#TeamCompSci #EduSky

Lots of talk about adding AI literacy to Computing lessons. With only one lesson per fortnight at KS3, even fitting-in the National Curriculum is challenge! #TeamCompSci #edusky

A little freebie activity for your classes: Malware Match-Up.

A Top Trumps style game for teaching and revising malicious software.

#EduSky #TeamCompSci

www.tes.com/teaching-res...

Whilst eSafety (and cybersecurity) are in the KS3 Computing National Curriculum, we’re probably facing a losing battle. As you say, eSafety is just safety. And stranger danger probably applies more to the online world now. But it really should be woven into every subject

All of those topics, plus eSafety, are so mainstream that they should not be solely the preserve of CS/IT lessons. Imagine a professional geologist, for example, not collecting data electronically or presenting it visually. Same for any career

MacBook, mouse, and a cup of tea on a table

Looks like I’m now a (reluctant) member of the Teacher 5 o’clock club #insomnia #Teacher5oclockclub #edublue #teamcompsci

Last night I stayed up late to finish some coding. Wanted a celebratory beer, but thought better of it. Woke up this morning with what I would describe as a hangover. How’s that fair? 😫

Sounds like a fun lesson. I bet your students loved it

Pile of bright orange strands of string

160 one-metre lengths of bright orange plumb line, tied into groups of ten, ready for Year 7 to learn about computer networks this week. #TeamCompSci #Edusky