s e t y B CS
WINTER 2022
Hi There, Happy New Year. Please take a look at the most recent installment of CS Bytes. In this issue, we look back at a few prior events and tell you about some exciting things occurring around the state. As always, thank you for your efforts in moving South Carolina CS forward.
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Barbershop Computing What do computer science and barbering have in common? On Tuesday, November 16, the Fairfield County barbering program students learned how computer science intersects with barbering. Michael Lachney, Madison Allen, and Briana Green of the Culturally Situated Design Tools team led this session. The mission of the Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDT) team is to improve education, justice, and equity through new STEM+C educational methods. By eliminating misconceptions about race and gender in STEM+C, engaging students, and working with teachers, CSDTs can simultaneously teach science, empower students, and change perspectives. “We’re thrilled to have Marwin McKnight (a barbering teacher), the 2021-2022 Fairfield Teacher Of The Year, leading the charge for such a wonderful initiative,” said the Computer Science State Supervisor at the Department of Education Dominick Sanders. “It’s important for students to know that computer science is everywhere. We are living in the digital age, and computer science is essential for nearly every future career path our children will take. Computer Science is crucial to a strong local/state economy. With the success of this event, we hope to build out a computer science module to be embedded in our barbering programs statewide.” There was also a national story on the event which can be found here.
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CS Ed Week 2021 Thank you to everyone who took part in CS Ed Week 2021, which took place from December 4 to 11, 2021. We held free virtual events for students, instructors, and families to encourage K-12 kids to pursue careers in computer science. We'd want to highlight one particular event. We inducted 68 high school students from throughout the state into the South Carolina Computer Science High School Honor Society on December 10, 2021. Please see their names below; Aaron D. Abigail S. Aida S. Aiden C. Alexander T. Angel S. Annelise M. Benjamin B. Brian N. Caleb B. Carlos H. Chavis C. Chrissy D. Christan J. Christian M. Connor S. David K. Denali M. Drake L. Elijah N.
Ethan S. Evelyn S. Gage C. Hailie J. Ian D. Indya B. Ittay H.-M. Ivy R. Jackson P. Jada B. Jaiden E. JaKedrick D. Jasmine M. Jason W. Jayden H. Jermaine J. Joseph H. Joshiah H. Jossey O. Kavan B.
Kennedy L. Kierstyn S. Kit T. Kyanh T. Landon R. Lillian C. Lleyton C. Lucy O. Lundyn C. Makayla A. Makayla W. Martin S. Jr. Nathaniel L. NaZavion R. Nicholas T. Noah P. Noah R. Ny'Quavian E. Nyziah P. Samuel P.
Sanguerin W. Tiago L. Tyler S. Walker M. Will-Anthony J. Xavier B. Zach J. Zachary V.
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Bloomboard Teacher Spotlight
We would like to highlight Ms. Sherri Smith, one of the stellar teachers in the program who only has two more micro-credentials to complete. Sherri is a business education teach at R. C. Edwards Middle School in Pickens County who is currently teaching the following courses; Career Interest Exploration, Fundamentals of Computing I, Fundamentals of Computing II. Check out her comments below about the Bloomboard pilot. "Thus far, the micro-credential pilot program has been great! The microcredentials have helped me be more purposeful in some areas of instruction. I have been able to provide additional depth in certain areas of my curriculum. The structure of the micro-credentials help instructors achieve success. If you have a solid knowledge base in a certain area, you may move ahead to work on your artifacts for the micro-credential. If you need additional resources, they are easily found in the module. The feedback from Bloomboard’s evaluators is extremely clear, detailed, and helpful. You definitely feel as though the evaluators want to see you succeed! Overall, my students have benefited from the process. I am gaining additional content knowledge and confidence in my lesson delivery. The modules have provided a wider variety of activities for my students (i.e. more class discussions). My middle school students love to participate in-class videos. As a result, my students are receiving engaging and relevant instruction." ----- Sherri Smith
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Here we grow again!!
Last year the South Carolina Department Of Education brought on Mr. Domnick Sanders to lead our K-12 Computer Science Initiative. This year he will be adding regional computer science specialists to his team. The regional computer science specialists will work to support educators with the Computer Science Initiative statewide per assigned region for K-12. Some of the job duties will include: Collaboratively work with statewide partners to best prepare opportunities in K-12 for engagement with and preparation for experiences and jobs in computer science. Develop online training and build teaching resources through collaborative efforts with other team members across the state. It is his goal that all of the specialists be on board and trained by the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
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Learning Blade Offers New Computer Science Resources Learning Blade announces the release of new "Introduction to Coding" course. This 20-hour course is designed to provide students with a basic introduction to text-based computer programming. "Intro to Coding" is geared towards 7th-8th grade students but can be used with other grades as well. Components of it can be accessed separately. Teachers are provided with robust online lessons and offline lesson plans to engage students in various coding topics including: • The role of computers in society • Major components of computer hardware • Concepts of basic algorithms • Text-based code elements including statements • Variables and comments • Conditional statements (if/then) • Iterations (for/while) • Security issues of online accounts • Social media • Common hacking methods and means for combatting them • Computer science careers • And more! This course is in addition to Learning Blade's Hack Attack, Flu Outbreak, and Rescue Robot missions and other Learning Blade missions containing over 100 online computer science-related mini-lessons (10-15 minutes), as well as group activities to collaborate around CS-themed issues. All of these resources include an emphasis on high-demand CS careers. After completing Learning Blade's CS lessons, students have shown a 55% increase in their interest in Computer Science careers. If you have not already, please sign up for your free South Carolina Learning Blade account by going to www.LearningBlade.com/SC Contact Info@LearningBlade.com with any questions.
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Amazon Future Engineer Launches New Coding Competition Pharrell Williams, Amazon Future Engineer, and Georgia Tech invite you to engage your students with Your Voice Is Power, a modular learning experience and competition that provides real-world exploration of the ways music, computer science, and entrepreneurship can be tools to advance equity. Using Georgia Tech’s EarSketch code to music platform, students will create remixes to Pharrell’s song Entrepreneur. This year, students can also use beats from Alicia Keys’ song Underdog and Khalid’s New Normal as part of their original compositions. Curriculum materials are provided to instructors at no cost, including all lesson plans and access to Teacher Training sessions. Check out more details on their website https://www.amazonfutureengineer.com/YourVoiceIsPower Sign up South Carolina Educator Professional Development on EarSketch and Your Voice is Power: https://b.gatech.edu/3EbBGlP
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CSPD WEEK South Carolina’s third annual CSPDWeek is brought to you by CSTA, CSTA South Carolina, Code.org and their Regional Partner, The Citadel STEM Center, and the SCDE CTE Office. We are looking forward to hosting hundreds of South Carolina K-12 teachers to join us for this free, virtual computer science professional development the week of July 25-29, 2022 from 9:00am to 4:00pm each day via Zoom. South Carolina K-12 public teachers will be able to choose one, week-long, PD workshop and participate in a great deal of networking and fun throughout the week! Register (here)
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Professional Learning Opportunities Please see our computer science professional learning opportunities. All of these workshops are virtual and free. K-8 Offerings Mar. 26, 2022 - CS & Numeracy 9-12 Offerings Mar. 26, 2022 - Advanced Topics in CS Workshop Times: 9 am - 3 pm 6 renewal credits for each workshop
Register here- bit.ly/csscpd21
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SAVE THE DATE
Which school will reign supreme? Statewide Elementary Family Code Night May 3, 2022, and May 10, 2022
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Tell Us Something Good
Are you a teacher or district doing phenomenal work in CS? We want to highlight you in upcoming newsletters. Please be sure to let us know using the link below or scanning the qr code.
bit.ly/csscshareout
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Helpful Resources
Required Credentials Computer Science Standards (K-8 and 9-12) Activity Coding System for the Student Information System 2021-2022 CTE Completer Programs Computer Science Is changing everything
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List Serv If you haven't already, please sign up for our computer science listerv. This will keep you abreast of computer science information throughout the state.
Bit.ly/cs4sclist
Or use the QR Code Below
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For more information about the South Carolina Computer Science Initiative, please contact
Computer Science State SupervisorDominick Sanders, dsanders@ed.sc.gov 9-12 Information Technology Educational AssociateAndrew Cook, acook@ed.sc.gov
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