My Summer PD with Code.org

…so I’m a teacher. Math, Computer Science and leadership skills. I didn’t capitalize that last one because it’s more so a vehicle for (and byproduct of) the first two as opposed to its’ own subject. When asked, I am willing to bet that most teachers will define their current or most recent students as “the best students ever” in some capacity. Some will compare the group in question to years’ past and some will compare them to the groups of their peers. Either way, it’s always true. That is part of what makes the end of the school year a collection of somber and celebratory moments. You always want to cheer for what they have done but you never want to say goodbye. It’s my least favorite part of the school year. Summertime is the chance to recharge and reflect. What went wrong, what can you improve and what can you learn. Professional development is a must during the summer. That’s the chance that teachers get to find out what innovations have occurred elsewhere in classrooms and collaboration with communities across great distances is not only possible but essential. This summer, I was fortunate enough to participate in a few week-long Computer Science education professional development events. At the end of the first week of the school year in Broward County…after a Saturday where a group of Computer Science teachers and I got together at a colleague’s house, reviewed curriculum and went through lessons, I find myself flipping back a great deal to one of the PD events in particular.

Code.org has these events that they arrange to get teachers ready for exploring computer science in the classroom through their curriculum. This summer was the first summer that they had a series of these events called TeacherCon for a specific course. The course that I was being trained to teach is Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP). Myself and about 174 other teachers from all over the country were brought in to the Sheraton O’Hare in Chicago a few weeks ago for five days. They had workshops, after dark events, early morning chats and breakout sessions. I was in a small group led by one of the curriculum writers for AP CSP, Baker Franke. There were a few other cofacilitators in the room to help close any gaps and lead moments of reflection where appropriate.

Halfway through this past week, I had a little bit of a moment at the end of the day when I student made a celebratory comment as he walked out of the room. The next morning, I felt an extremely strong urge to reach out to the team at Code.org responsible for preparing me as much as they did to let them know just what they had done. What point is there to experience successes in ways that seem to benefit both students and parents if those successes and the motivating forces around them are not shared with others? So, here’s that email I sent to Baker, Brook, Mary and their inspirational team:

“Good Morning!

I am sitting in my classroom right now, reviewing some student work, parent emails and documents to prep for today’s school day…you guys know how this goes. I just went to look at some materials from TeacherCon a couple of weeks ago (wow…has it really been a couple of weeks?) and thought I would send you all a quick note about my experience there and how things have been going since. Overall, I was a little nervous about this TeacherCon. Though there are quite a few teachers in Broward County (where I’m from) that are teaching AP CSP and did participate in a TeacherCon this summer, the majority of the teachers from my district that I know attended one of the other two TeacherCon events. The idea of working closely with a group of 175 educators that I didn’t know was both exciting and made me a little nervous. Kind of funny that by the time Thursday had rolled around, not only had I connected with the 7 other members of the Broward County team that were there this past week, but I had made countless new friends and team members. It is difficult to establish a sense of community among a group of people of any size — let alone one this size. It did not take that long for it to happen in Chicago, though. It was different than the community that was created at the Facilitator Con this past May and it was different than the community created at other CS PD events I have attended.

I usually feel comfortable stepping slightly out of the box with regard to lesson planning and implementation when I am in the classroom. For the last few years that I have been teaching computer science alongside math, I find myself letting go more and more and stepping further and further outside of my comfort zone. The week at TeacherCon pushed that notion for me. Working with a few of my newfound colleagues on our TLO lesson, I found myself slipping back into a frame of mind that centered around me and my control of the information flow. In running through my plan with Baker, he challenged me to adjust my plan and allow the students to explore first and THEN define the new features (it was the packets lesson with the internet simulator). I struggled with that and ended up working in my hotel room that night until about midnight. If I needed to let go of my control and adjust so that the students get more out of it, I needed to do that (and possibly fail) while I was in Chicago around my peers…not in front of my students. I made some backup PowerPoint slides just in case and I rehearsed a script. I don’t know if any of you noticed during my lesson but when the “students” ended up discovering exactly what I hoped they would, I stumbled for a second and forgot what I was going to say next. I couldn’t believe it. It actually worked. I had entertained the notion that it was as smooth as it was only because this was an experience with adults and at times, students tend to be a little bit less attentive to the goals of a lesson than teachers but I have a confidence now that I did not have before that moment. In the last 3 days of the school year, I have been approaching interaction, instructional leading and lesson planning with that in mind…not just in my AP CSP courses but also in my ECS class and my Algebra 2 classes.

Baker really was that binding force for every small group in the room. He made sure that we knew that it was okay to not know something…even as the teacher. He didn’t just tell us about the need for equity and discovery, he showed us how to facilitate fulfilling that need. The cofacilitators in the room kept things going when everybody’s energy got low. It was seamless. I feel like I was extremely lucky in the group that I was a part of that week. Whether or not that was an effect that was intended for every group, it was true in Sheraton I.

My daily survey reflections probably only showed a small portion of all of this and most of it (if I recall correctly) was calling Baker a “rockstar”. I think that it’s a sign of a truly productive and informative workshop when at the end of an 8 hour day, it’s difficult to piece together a coherent enough sentence to communicate, let alone give clear feedback. That’s what TeacherCon was, overall, though. Overwhelmingly informative. Overwhelming in the best possible way.

We need more of this. When I say we, I do not mean me, specifically or solely computer science teachers (though both would surely appreciate it). What I mean is that education needs more of this. I am always a voice of support for effective professional development. If somebody is passionate about educating students but is missing knowledge of a different set of approaches, give it to them. Empower educators. There is something special about the professional development events that Code.org puts together. Something that encourages releasing inhibitions and letting go. I’ve seen some of the most guarded professionals open up completely in just a couple of days. These events provide both anonymity and safety. Teachers are prideful to a fault at times. The idea of being wrong in a professional environment carries extremely negative connotations. Somehow, though, it’s not only okay but encouraged at events like Teacher Con.

Since TeacherCon, my local community of educators and everybody else has felt and looked different. I find myself using the topics we discussed when making our elevator speeches in Rachel’s breakout session not only with Uber and Lyft drivers who ask what I do but also with my students. The goal is to get more students involved in these classes…always. I have been directing the vast majority of conversations I have with people in my personal life to the importance of Computer Science in education. I am using Bootstrap CS curriculum, code.org videos and every other subject as a vehicle for facilitating math exploration in my Algebra 2 classes. The students have already noticed and it’s been kind of amazing.

I have been in touch via email with so many teachers from so many states that I didn’t know before Chicago. I’ve been participating in Twitter chats and Voxer conversations about AP CSP curriculum and best practices of all sorts. My Broward County team members have been calling me and emailing me to share what they’re doing and collaborate. We are all excited. So excited.

“This is crazy fun, Mr Feller. I’m pretty much going to tell all of my friends to take this class.” That’s from one of my AP CSP students. He just kind of blurted that out as he packed up when the bell rang yesterday. After the students left, I had a moment. The room looked insane…stuff everywhere. Charts on the board. Innovation ideas scrawled on a stack of papers spread around on the table in the front of the room. I can’t wait until the bell rings this morning.

Thank you all so much for putting PD events like this together. It goes without saying, but thank you for developing the curriculum that you have developed. Thank you for ACTUALLY having a very profound effect on education instead of just saying you wanted to do it. Since my first day in the classroom back in 2005, I’ve known that I am extremely lucky to be in the field of education. Since returning to my home state of Florida in 2012, I have been telling everybody that this is an exciting time to be in Florida education. Since I have started teaching computer science in 2014, I have experienced it, myself. I am lucky to be a part of the Code.org family.

Thank you all again — I hope to see you guys again soon and can’t wait for the next opportunity to add more members to our community on a scale so wide.

Justin Feller”

Those innovation ideas? One of them was a cold fusion powered car. Another was a tinder app for food. A third was for a digital database specifically aimed at helping people diagnose their pets’ illnesses. Hopefully it’s clear how much I love my students and how important to their success my community is. This is how education really needs to be and that experience in Chicago last month? That was it. I know it’s Saturday and I have been working on curriculum and lesson plans for around 10 hours but I really don’t care. I kind of just want it to be Monday. Sick, isn’t it? I know.