I have been a computer science teacher for the past 15 years. I have taught in two different (very different) high schools in my career, one in the north, south of Buffalo, NY, and one in the south, northeast of Atlanta. I have taught computer science using Pascal, Visual Basic, C++ and Java. So, why am I starting a Blog now?
First, let me introduce myself. My name is Crystal Furman, and I teach at the best high school in Georgia... Brookwood High School in Snellville, GA. At least I think it is the best! I have been teaching here for 6 years, after my husband took a job near Atlanta. Over the past several years, I have grown the computer science program at Brookwood from 1 section of AP Computer Science A and 1 section of Beginning Programming, with 100% male participants to 2 sections of AP Computer Science A and 3 sections of Beginning Programming, where we will be piloting the CS Principles course. We have also recruited more females into our classes, with about 15% female. We are making great strides, and have awesome community and administrative support.
I have tried to blog in the past, but honestly didn't know if anyone would read my blog. Now that I have decided to pilot the CS Principles course, I feel that a blog could be very beneficial. In addition, I am a program specialist for computer science for my county. As such, I have quite a few teachers who are interested in sharing teaching practices with me. I am hoping that through this blog I will be able to have a regular forum for posting lessons and reflection.
At first I was thinking this would just be a blog for CS Principles, but I also see that this would be beneficial for AP Computer Science A as well. I hope to utilize this blog for my own personal reflections, for others to benefit from my experiences, and as a forum for positive discussion.
Thank you for reading! Crystal L. Furman
First, let me introduce myself. My name is Crystal Furman, and I teach at the best high school in Georgia... Brookwood High School in Snellville, GA. At least I think it is the best! I have been teaching here for 6 years, after my husband took a job near Atlanta. Over the past several years, I have grown the computer science program at Brookwood from 1 section of AP Computer Science A and 1 section of Beginning Programming, with 100% male participants to 2 sections of AP Computer Science A and 3 sections of Beginning Programming, where we will be piloting the CS Principles course. We have also recruited more females into our classes, with about 15% female. We are making great strides, and have awesome community and administrative support.
I have tried to blog in the past, but honestly didn't know if anyone would read my blog. Now that I have decided to pilot the CS Principles course, I feel that a blog could be very beneficial. In addition, I am a program specialist for computer science for my county. As such, I have quite a few teachers who are interested in sharing teaching practices with me. I am hoping that through this blog I will be able to have a regular forum for posting lessons and reflection.
At first I was thinking this would just be a blog for CS Principles, but I also see that this would be beneficial for AP Computer Science A as well. I hope to utilize this blog for my own personal reflections, for others to benefit from my experiences, and as a forum for positive discussion.
Thank you for reading! Crystal L. Furman