CSTA - Central VA April Meeting

We had a great meeting last night. Thank you so much to Lynne Norris at Deep run for hosting.

Some news:

David Walter from Virginia State was with us. VSU will have a Google 4 HS teacher program this summer. Details soon.

Several folks are going to the JMU event this summer. This is a great way to get some college credit if you are working towards certification

We also talked about

Teacher licensure - the state is still planning on updating the CS endorsement - we need to be a part of that conversation. We especially need input from colleges. It was pointed out that the courses required should go by the ACM list of college computer science courses.

Where should CS fit? Several states are letting Computer Science classes replace a math or science for a graduation credit. Should Virginia follow?

Updates to the new APCS Principles course - first test in 2016-2017. We need to work on getting the state DOE to add a course number for it.

Changes to APCS, specifically no more Gridworld after the 2014 exam Competitions and camps for kids - looking at ways to get more kids involved

Possibly building some kits of materials owned by the chapter folks can check out to use - like a library. Especially for some of the more expensive items like the Mindstorms.

Eileen  showcased the new Lego Mindstorms. Top secret stuff that I can't put in writing, but they will be out hopefully later this year. You will want one.

We also looked at the Finches with both BYOB Snap and Java. Email me if you would like some sample programs in Java to try with the Finches.

And if you haven't already please fill out the membership info. We need this to report to national CSTA: http://vacsta.wordpress.com/membership-information/

Thanks!