Mr. Higgins’ Blog

Like many fellow AP Computer Science teachers, I like to hammer on concepts and then allow the students to program.  Often, after learning a new concept,  we work through an example as a class.  For example, after learning about arrays, we go through an example of counting the total for each letter in the alphabet.  [...]

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According to Matthew Brenner, it is an IDEA. I could not agree anymore. My students were just assigned a TicTacToe program over the Christmas Break. As soon as I introduced all of the requirements, there was a period of silence where no one knew where to start. It helped when I explained that we have [...]

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I am publishing this using the new version of Windows Live Writer. It was really difficult to install and I’m not convinced it is installed correctly at this point. With that being said, I really like the interface; therefore, I’m giving it a chance.  Here are the issues I have been having with the installation… [...]

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As I have in the past, I am going to involve a content management system which allows me to utilize many great tools. However, this year I am switching to Moodle despite my love for Drupal. The advancements of DrupalED are just not enough compared to the many features of a moodle. I am lucky [...]

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First things first… I could basically do a cartwheel right now after seeing my APCS A students AP Examination scores.  Scores will remain anonymous; however, I will say that the average score was 4.8.  I hope you (“you” know who you are out there) learned a great deal from the course.  I guarantee I learned [...]

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Wait a second….I just realized that the title of this blog entry is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as teaching training for computer science teachers. As a matter of fact, I only qualify for an alternative license through the Ohio Department of Education because I have 30 hours of college coursework in computer [...]

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On Saturday, I was at Jacobs Field to watch the Cleveland Indians play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.   The Indians pitching ace, CC Sabathia, is now 12-2 after an 8-6 Indians victory.  The Devil Rays made it interesting in the 9th inning when Rafael Perez gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth [...]

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Learning is a Lifelong Endeavor There are still two weeks left in the school year, but time has really flown by at an frenetic rate.  It has been a great year, with many learning opportunities for the students and myself.  The great thing about teaching is that you are always learning, not at a workshop or [...]

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