In the 2007 film, Shift Happens, Carl Fisch stated that “The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t exist yet, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.” While the data that was used during the video cannot be completely verifiable, it is safe to say that the jobs of today have evolved quite a bit since 2004. In addition, a lot of these fields are global, rel...
Mar 23, 2022•43 min•Ep. 87
In this episode, Sean and Kelly talk about the future. Looking into the past 20 years+ years of teaching and looking back at how we were taught as children, what has changed? Just as our teachers prepared us for our present, how are we preparing our students? We should no longer try to prepare our students for jobs that may not be there when they enter the workforce. Instead, we should focus our preparation on how they can take advantage of the emerging technologies that are coming into existenc...
Mar 07, 2022•56 min•Ep. 86
Most people think of Requests as an intermediate or advanced area of Python, but what happens when we turn it loose on beginner programmers? Spoiler - lots of learning and surprises! Requests is a popular Python library for making HTTP requests in a simplified, elegant way. As the one of the top 10 most downloaded packages on PyPI.org, it's used across Python to interact with web APIs, scrape websites, post webhooks, and more. In this episode, Kelly and Sean talk about different lesson plans, ap...
Feb 16, 2022•43 min•Ep. 85
Continuing on conversations about tech for good, helping our students build global competence, and preparing our children to be successful in an ever increasing digital world, Kelly and Sean speak with Will Richardson, founder of the Big Questions Institute. “Are we preparing students to identify and confront problems they care about, collaborate beyond classroom walls, and overcome the false dichotomy between local versus global? Do we see our work as educators as the work of building a better ...
Jan 31, 2022•46 min•Ep. 84
This week, Kelly and Sean look over all that happened in 2021 for Teaching Python and commit to some bigger goals for 2022. What were the highlights according to our co-hosts? From the great guests to the wins in the classroom, Kelly and Sean catch up and kick off the new year together.
Jan 17, 2022•51 min•Ep. 83
We sometimes make assumptions when it comes to students and using technology, that students are savvy tech users. Although coding curriculum lends itself easily to incorporating many digital citizenship (https://www.teachingpython.fm/articles/digital-citizenship) skills, even the best Computer Science course may not focus as much as you think on directly teaching these important skills. Furthermore, it is a lot of pressure for just one class to bear. In this episode of Teaching Python, Kelly and...
Jan 03, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 82
It's the most wonderful time of the year as Kelly and Sean put together a gift guide for techie kids! From transformable robots to glowing toys to soldering stations, we cover the items on our lists for the holidays. Check the show notes for links that support the podcast!
Dec 13, 2021•35 min•Ep. 81
This week Sean and Kelly are joined by Dr. Becky Smethurst from Oxford to talk about code and science. Dr. Becky is an astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Each week, she publishes a video on her YouTube channel explaining a bit about space, Special Guest: Becky Smethurst.
Nov 29, 2021•46 min•Ep. 80
This episode is all about working with the data we generate for students, whether it's in the classroom, your school, or your district. Special guest star Rusti Gregory joins us to talk about his transition from the classroom to the data manager role. Special Guest: Rusti Gregory.
Nov 18, 2021•40 min•Ep. 79
Kelly and Sean revisit some of our favorite hardware that we use to teach Python. From the various versions of the BBC micro:bit to the ecosystem of CircuitPython boards, we talk about all the pros and cons! Whether you're just getting started with using Python in hardware or you're a seasoned teacher, this episode should have something for everyone. We use hardware to give tactile and tangible feedback for our students when they write code. Students learn to do everything from make lights blink...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 78
Kelly and Sean interview Tom Lauwers, founder and CEO of BirdBrain Technologies (https://www.birdbraintechnologies.com) about the role of robotics in the computer science classroom. We've used the Finch 2.0 robot, which is designed to use the BBC micro:bit as a foundation for coding and computer science. Whether you're in a traditional classroom, teaching after school, or just trying to get people excited about the POWER OF CODING, robots can play a vital role in learning. About BirdBrain Techno...
Oct 15, 2021•46 min•Ep. 77
Kelly and Sean discuss their latest experiments in the classroom, including student peer code reviews, testing code for correctness, and creating comfy environments for coding.
Sep 28, 2021•38 min•Ep. 76
A lunchtime livestream with Kelly and Sean talking about setting up learning environments for students, coaching and setting high expectations for students, and the new tools we're using this year for teaching code. Replit Teams for Education Daily Challenges for formative assessment Physical classroom layouts Google Colab Choice Boards High expectations teaching Note: Kelly's audio track has a bit of echo that we can't eliminate. We'll get it fixed for next time.
Sep 09, 2021•47 min•Ep. 75
With the new school year upon us, we're talking about CSTA standards and how they can be applied to the classroom environment. Join Kelly and Sean as they talk through ways to plan, deliver, and assess CS student standards. The Computer Science Teacher Association (CSTA) (https://www.csteachers.org/) provides student standards for learning as well as professional development standards for instructions. For example, there are 23 standards for grades 6-8 (https://www.csteachers.org/page/standards)...
Aug 06, 2021•54 min•Ep. 74
The Teaching Python podcast speaks with Quinten Sheriff from Concordia University , an Instructional Designer, e-learning implementation specialist, and curriculum developer with global experience on four continents. A systems thinker who uses instructional models such as ADDIE, AGILE, SAM, ARCS. In this episode, we will explore topics such as designing curriculum for the next year, and what it means to design for instruction versus designing for content. In this we can also look at designing fo...
Jul 23, 2021•56 min•Ep. 73
It's been a few weeks since we recorded, so this week's episode is all about catching up on listener questions and mail. Highlights include: * the new AWS machine learning course we're taking, * whether we'd rather be teachers or coders * the new Adafruit hardware we're trying * the Deep Composer keyboard * equity and equitable opportunity in and out of the classroom You can also check out the recording of the livestream on our YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL6GRe37eiY)
Jul 06, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 72
With summer finally here in the northern hemisphere, Kelly and Sean meet with John Mikton from the Principals Training Center to talk about professional development resources for teachers during these long summer days. From technical resources to pedagogical research to classroom layout ideas, we'll talk about some of the things we're excited to learn this summer. Special Guest: John Mikton.
Jun 21, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 71
Continuing our Education IDE series, Kelly and Sean meet with Brigit Murtaugh and Sana Ajani from the VS Code team for education. We'll talk about everything from remote teaching to accelerating the setup of a learning environment with VS Code and development containers. You may have used Visual Studio Code for your own projects or tinkered around with the vast number of settings and extensions. But have you thought about how to use it as a teaching tool? Thankfully, Brigit and Sana are here to ...
Jun 08, 2021•42 min•Ep. 70
Continuing our Education IDE series, Kelly and Sean talk with Valentina Kiryushkina, a developer on the PyCharm Edu team to learn all about how JetBrains supports teaching and learning Python. With everything from online courses to creating classroom assignments, we're sure you'll find something to like about PyCharm Edu. Features Free for teachers and learners Online open courses available Create your own courses and assignments Marketplace coming soon Full features of PyCharm, but decluttered ...
May 26, 2021•59 min•Ep. 69
This week, Kelly & Sean chat with Barbara Oakley, author of the upcoming books Uncommon Sense Teaching and Learn Like a Pro. Together, we talk about everything from learning Russian to the ways that the brain processes information and how teachers can best help students learn. Barbara Oakley is a professor of engineering, former Russian translater on Soviet fishing trawlers, Antarctic researcher (where she met her husband), author, MOOC creator, and so much more. Kelly and Sean talk to her about...
May 18, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 68
Kelly and Sean kick off part 1 of their Education IDE series with Nick Tollervey and the Mu Editor, a Python editor for beginners with modes for "pure Python," MicroPython, CircuitPython, PyGame, Flask web apps, and more. About the Education IDE Series The Teaching Python podcast is launching a monthly episode series dedicated to the different IDEs and editors available to teachers. Our goal is to give educators a more detailed view of each editor and the specific features that they can leverage...
May 11, 2021•57 min•Ep. 67
In this episode, Sean and Kelly, share a brainstorming activity on designing projects with Python libraries. We have a special guest Mike Driscoll, author of several books and the blog "The Mouse vs The Python". In this episode we will use the Python Library Pillow to brainstorm some creative ways that Pillow can and has been used to teach students about Python Libraries. Coming up with project ideas that are creative, engaging, and allow students the flexibility to explore is one of the most im...
May 04, 2021•47 min•Ep. 66
In this episode, Sean and Kelly discuss their top 5 favorite Python libraries, and how they use these libraries in the classroom to reinforce student learning. From the standard library to teaching how to use pip, learn more about our favorite libraries to share with our students. Our lists: Sean Datetime random Matplotlib bullet Kelly Pillow Math Turtle getpass Regex
Apr 14, 2021•30 min•Ep. 65
That's right: we're digging deep into assessments using rubrics. We know what you're thinking, rubrics are BORING and teacher-y. But rubrics are POWERFUL for learning and you can use them outside of the classroom too! According to ASCD “The word rubric comes from the Latin word for red. The online Merriam-Webster dictionary lists the first meaning of rubric as "an authoritative rule" and the fourth meaning as "a guide listing specific criteria for grading or scoring academic papers, projects, or...
Mar 31, 2021•53 min•Ep. 64
In this episode, Sean and Kelly speak with Leon Sandøy, one of the owners of Python Discord (https://www.pythondiscord.com) about making connections and community teaching. With the dynamics of teaching changing, how can Python Discord become a space to further educate the Python community? Also this week, we're excited to announce the launch of the new Teaching Python shop (https://shop.teachingpython.fm/), where you can get fun t-shirts, mugs, hoodie sweatshirts, and even some flip flops to sh...
Mar 12, 2021•54 min•Ep. 63
Kelly and Sean take some time to reflect on what has worked well over the past year of teaching, what could be better, and what we hope stays with us once things go back to "The New Normal." Whether it's getting back collaborative whiteboarding, keeping screen sharing over Zoom, or appreciating how much better department meetings can be when we use breakout rooms, join us to talk more about how teaching and coding have jumped ahead during the time of COVID-19. As mentioned by Sean, the wordlist ...
Mar 03, 2021•49 min•Ep. 62
Kelly and Sean try to figure out the role of object-oriented programming in teaching. From how much to focus on objects and methods, to whether it makes sense to teach classes, this is a journey through the opinionated topic of object-oriented thinking.
Feb 15, 2021•40 min•Ep. 61
A grab bag of topics this week with Kelly and Sean. From using NLTK to summarize speeches by civil rights leader Martin Luther King to plotting Parler data from the Capitol incident on Jan 6 to WiFi-enabled washing machines. Kelly and Sean spend the afternoon discussing the things that we've been watching and learning about this week. No guests, no specific topic. Just hang out with us and talk about all things Python, teaching, and learning.
Jan 29, 2021•41 min•Ep. 60
Kelly and Sean team up with Bob Belderbos and Julian Sequeira from @PyBites to answer questions about how our students learn Python using the PyBites platform with small code challenges. In this special crossover episode, we cover everything from how students learn to the way they learn Pytest reporting output to the mindset and chemistry of learning something new. Special Guests: Bob Belderbos and Julian Sequeira.
Jan 22, 2021•45 min•Ep. 59
In this episode, Kelly and Sean dive into the topic of teaching kids to “Figure it out,” a phrase we love to use in class. This year, we seek specific skills that help us teach reluctant learners, techniques for figuring things out, and understanding how different teachers support this skill in their classrooms. In this episode, we ask some of our colleagues to share their experiences on how they as adults solve problems and how they teach their students this critical life long skill. Special Gu...
Jan 12, 2021•42 min•Ep. 58
