Teaching Python

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 webs...

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 dich...

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.

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 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 thi...

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!

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.

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.

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 fe...

Kelly and Sean interview Tom Lauwers, founder and CEO of BirdBrain Technologies 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, robo...

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.

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 bi...

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) provides student standards for learning as well as professional development standards for instructions. For example, there are 2...

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 me...

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...

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.

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. B...

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...

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 research...

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...

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 id...

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

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 fourt...

In this episode, Sean and Kelly speak with Leon Sandøy, one of the owners of Python Discord 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 , where you can get fun t-shirts, mugs, hoodie sweatshi...

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 te...

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.