Teaching Python

With our campus closed due to COVID-19 and distance learning in full swing, Kelly and Sean discuss the brighter side of all these sudden changes to education. The sudden shift to distance learning for much of the world has introduced more than a few challenges, but many opportunities arise as well. Kelly and Sean talk about the importance of using online tools to capture attention, to shift learni...

Kelly and Sean stream their show on Twitch as the world moves to quarantines and distance learning. What does this mean for teaching and coding? Learn about the things we took home from our classroom and how we are planning to teach in this new COVID-19 quarantined world.

Trying to find an easier way to get students excited about programming? Feeling stuck with the PyGame library? Paul Craven, maintainer of the Arcade Python library joins us to talk about using game design to teach programming. Arcade is a easy to use Python library that lets you quickly create games using OpenGL and a simple API that's perfect for beginners. Better still, the Arcade library includ...

It's not always easy to be a Python teacher. Whether it's trying to find the right words to explain something, handling severe frustration, building perseverance, or losing students while coding together, Python teachers are facing problems beyond just the code. Sean and Kelly discuss five of the things that frequently go wrong in the classroom and how we handle it. Helping the naturally gifted- k...

Peter Chan is a 4th grade teacher in Quebec, Canada. In addition to using Python in his classroom, Peter also employs maker techniques, math exploration, and English language skills. Kelly and Sean talk with him about how Python can be used as part of a decentralized teaching style where students are more self-directed and have more agency and control in their learning direction. Special Guest: Pe...

In this episode, Kelly and Sean explore the idea that everyone should learn to code-- not to become a programmer but for so much more! How do we continue to foster an interest in coding for those kids that are not so interested in computer science?

In celebration of the great retail holiday of Black Friday, Kelly and Sean share their holiday buying guide for computer science teachers, including 3d printers, #PythonHardware, and books. Also this week, Bob and Julian from the PyBites website are making their Newbie Bites 40% off, with half of the proceeds going to the Teaching Python podcast! Check it out on their latest newsletter post

Kelly and Sean interview Eric Matthes, author of Python Crash Course , about how he began programming, what led him to teaching, and the important lessons from Python to be learned both inside and outside of the classroom. This episode is sponsored by Real Python. As a special offer for listeners and friends of the show, you can get a free copy of the video course Cool New Things in Python 3.8 whe...

This week, Kelly and Sean embark on a journey with Twilio Developer Evangelist Kevin Whinnery using TwilioQuest to learn more Python in the classroom. What is TwilioQuest? Learn to code and lead your intrepid crew on a mission to save The Cloud in TwilioQuest , a PC role-playing game inspired by classics of the 16-bit era. Free forever, and available now for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Players will l...

Can you belive it's only been five years since Alexa launched? Or that identifying birds in photos was considered a hard problem for machine learning? In this episode, Kelly and Sean discuss plausible trends in machine learning, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and data science that we may see in schools by 2024. We focus on 5 areas from microscale in the classroom to macro...

In this episode, Kelly and Sean speak to Reuven Lerner about how to teach adult learners and people switching to Python from other languages. Reuven is a corporate trainer of Python and Data Science. He helps developers around the world learn how to code in Python. As fellow teachers, we dive into the similarities and differences of teaching adults versus students. What works? What is new and inte...

This week, Kelly and Sean are joined by Brianne Caplan from Code Your Dreams and Gabrielle Rabinowitz from the BridgeUP: STEM Program at the American Museum of Natural History to discuss K-12 Python Education that happens outside of the classroom. Special Guests: Brianne Caplan and Gabrielle Rabinowitz.

Has it already been a year of learning and teaching Python for Kelly and Sean? In this episode, our co-hosts talk about the things they wish they knew a year ago to make their Python journey even better. 10 Things We Wish We Knew Before We Started Python Don't Be Afraid of the Unknown There's Never Going to be Enough Time Reading Error Codes Simple and Slow beats Complex and "Correct" Read a littl...

Isn't it surprising how much repetition goes into the job of teaching? What if you could use Python to automate that and focus on the work that adds the most value for your students? Or at least eliminate the boring teaching stuff like transferring grades or setting up iPads. With thanks to Al Sweigart and his book, Automate the Boring Stuff With Python , Kelly and Sean look at how teachers can le...

In this episode, Kelly and Sean discuss how their philosophy of teaching helps them to design their daily curriculum for the course.

What are the best editors for teaching in Python? In this episode, Kelly and Sean examine a variety of different environments for students to learn to code Python. Should it be online or local? Paid or free? Simple or full-featured? An editor or an IDE? Here's what made our list: Mu Editor Visual Studio Code PyCharm Edu python.microbit.org Repl.it Jupyter

Many teachers give advice to parents on how to keep kids engaged during the summer. Sean and Kelly take their own advice and apply it to teachers and professional development. In this episode, we discuss how to avoid the “Summer Slide” and what we are doing to keep on learning.

Kelly and Sean both agree that reflecting on your teaching is vital for our growth as educators and learners. In this episode, they take a few moments to reflect on their year, their lessons, their learning, and their progress. “ Learning without reflection is a waste. Reflection without learning is dangerous.”-Confucius

In this episode, Kelly and Sean talk to freelance educational consultant Meg Ray. She was the founding Teacher in Residence at Cornell Tech where she was responsible for the implementation and design of a coaching program for K-8 CS teachers in New York City schools. An experienced middle and high school computer science teacher and special educator, Meg directed the design of the Codesters Python...

In this episode, Sean and Kelly chat with Karen Hildebrand and Teresa Vallotton from FarmFemmes. These two ladies are using technology to inspire the next generation of farmers. By offering one-day tech camps, and hosting international students, Karen and Teresa hope to bring a new life and meaning to an agricultural career. Their hope is to bring their “technical knowledge and a relateable voice...

In this episode, Sean and Kelly discuss the importance of having a Personal Learning Network or PLN, why we use it, and how to develop one for your computer science teaching with Python.

This week, Kelly and Sean attended their first ever PyCon in Cleveland, Ohio. Before we flew home, we recorded our thoughts and reflections on this amazing experience. We also interviewed educator attendees from places like the US Coast Guard Academy, Stanford University, and the American Museum of Natural History. Join us as we reflect on all the amazing people we've met and things we've seen at...

Kelly and Sean are headed to their first PyCon next week. In this special mini-episode, they discuss their Top 5 things that they're looking forward to at the conference. Are you going? Want to meet up with us? Send us a tweet!

Kelly and Sean get motivation from Michael Kennedy’s Talk Python to Me podcast episode Beginners and Experts . Where Michaels and the panelists discuss, how do you go about attacking a problem? In this episode, Kelly and Sean digest abstraction and analytical thinking in the school setting and how computational thinking plays a part in all this. They discuss the activities that are used to help pr...

Sean and Kelly continue their conversation about the philosophy and ethics of machine learning and artificial intelligence in Python. This episode focuses more on resources and tools for AI learning after last episode's focus on philosophy and ethics.