Teacher Feature: Pam Rissman
Dartmouth Middle School, San Jose, CA
Tell us about yourself
My background is in engineering where I spent about 20 years doing a variety of work including programming. I went into teaching about 9 years ago as a middle school math teacher, and slowly I’ve been introducing technology and programming into my classes. Now this year I teach math, engineering (3D modeling and robotics), and programming as dedicated classes. Lucky me!
Tell us about students
I teach two periods of programming. It is an exploratory class so student do not necessarily elect to be in it. The positive thing about this is that we get a 50/50 ratio of boys and girls from all academic levels, and once in they are in the class, they all love it.
“We get a 50/50 ratio of boys and girls from all academic levels, and once in they are in the class, they all love it.”
Has CodeHS been an effective teaching tool for you? How so?
I really like how CodeHS starts out with Karel. It’s visual, self-paced, and provides students with step by step increases in programming ability. Students learn at such different rates and the tool is perfect to accommodate this.
What do your students enjoy about learning with CodeHS?
They enjoy seeing their progress on a daily basis, being able to look back on old tasks, the cheat sheet, the bite-size tasks, and the simplicity of Karel. They also like that if they excel that they can move onto more advanced levels of programming.
Tell us your biggest story related to using CodeHS in your class…
I had two students last quarter who came in without any programming experience whatsoever, and they both became programming wizards. Both got all they through Javascript and animation. One wrote his own game in the sandbox which we played as a class on the last day of the quarter. Additionally, so many students who didn’t get as far as these two, also completely fell in love with programming. I think 100% of the students want to take another quarter of the class.
What is the most creative way you have used CodeHS?
As a project, I had students design their own graphic picture in the CodeHS sandbox using UltraKarel. Finished projects included the US flag, the SF Giants logo, and many other creative designs. I liked how the project was open-ended and accessible to all levels.
Students come up with their own graphic picture in the CodeHS sandbox. Graphics included the American Flag and the SF Giants logo!
What does a typical day in your classroom look like?
When the kids come in, I usually go over some programming concept with them before they continue coding on their own or I do an activity related to the programming. Once the students are on their own, they are getting help from each other and from me. I am trying to grade their work, but I am more likely running around the classroom helping students.
What strategies have you utilized to help students overcome challenges while learning to code?
Last quarter I felt like some students weren’t retaining enough of the programming knowledge they gained on earlier tasks. So this quarter I developed one page worksheets (I pull some of the info from the CodeHS resources) that they fill out during each lesson; I think they’re helping. Also when students are stumped, I ask questions and sometimes give them little hints as well as going over related ideas as a whole class.
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened in your CodeHS class?
The hoorays and excitement of finishing a task always bring delight to the class. Also the sometimes funny discussions as to whether Karel is a boy or girl.
