Teaching Python

Python for Parents or so you want your child to code? Sometimes it just takes a few creative ideas and a short amount of time to make some fun little projects. Sean and Kelly, with the help of Anthony Shaw and his lovely daughters, ‘ Zebra’ and ‘Jaguar’ have a little fun with this topic! The Shaws’ help us to dive into the topic of #pythonicparenting. Together we discuss things that a parent can do to help your child have the same passion for coding as you do. Or at least some interest! Whether you are an experienced coder or just a beginner, you can still find some projects that you can build with your kids at home. We encourage you to have a little fun, enjoy a lot of giggles and make loads of memories with your kids, while learning Python,.Special Guest: Anthony Shaw.Support Teaching PythonLinks:Webinar Recording: “Security Checks for Python Code” with Anthony Shaw | PyCharm Blog — Last week we had a webinar on Python security with Anthony Shaw. He covered a number of places where Python code, including popular frameworks, run into security vulnerabilities. He also showed his PyCharm plugin for showing and fixing known vulnerabilities. The webinar recording is now availableLEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set — The LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set is the go-to STEAM learning tool for grade 6-8 students. Combining colorful LEGO building elements, easy-to-use hardware, and an intuitive drag-and-drop coding language based on Scratch, SPIKE Prime continuously engages students through playful learning activities to think critically and solve complex problems, regardless of their learning level. Amazon.com: ThinkFun Robot Turtles STEM Toy and Coding Board Game for Preschoolers - Made Famous on Kickstarter, Teaches Programming Principles to Preschoolers: Toys & Games — Robot Turtles is one of ThinkFun's best games for kids ages 4 and up. It was designed by programming expert Dan Shapiro and was the most-backed board game in Kickstarter history when first released. For 2-5 players, includes What you get cardboard and cardstock components.Robot Kit For Kids and Adults | The Fun Way To Learn AI! | Zumi — Meet Zumi She’s the car that learns as you learn, here to make AI approachable for everyoneAmazon.com: micro:bit Single Board Computer, BBC go, Pocket Sized, Fun and Easy to Use: Computers & Accessories — A 5x5 LED matrix with 25 red LEDs to light up and can display animated patterns, scrolling text and alphanumeric characters On-board motion detector or 3-AXIS digital accelerometer that can detect movement e.g. shake, tilt or free-fall and use it to control motion activated games Two programmable buttons. Use them as a games controller, or control music on a smart phone A built-in compass, 3D magnetometer to sense which direction you're facing and your movement in degrees and detect the presence of certain metals and magnetsAmazon.com: Adeept BBC Micro:bit Sensor Starter Kit | Microbit Programmable Starter Kit for Micro:bit with 35 Projects PDF Tutorial Book | Micro:bit and Expansion Board Included: Toys & Games — BBC Micro:bit Development Board is included. A wide variety of Sensor Modules - The best choice for learning electronics, programming and IoT. Excellent PDF Manual - 124 pages, 35 projects with detailed guidance. MakeCode and Python code are provided. Powerful technical support - Official forum, Videos and E-mail.Overview | Prop-Maker Lightsaber | Adafruit Learning System — Use your maker skills and become the Jedi you were meant to be! Construct your own lightsaber using 3D printed parts and electronics from Adafruit. This advanced prop uses an accelerometer to detect swings and hits to trigger super bright NeoPixels with full sound FX!Overview | Cardboard Circuit Playground Express Inchworm Robot | Adafruit Learning System — Looking for a way to get kids designing and building their own simple robots? With just a Circuit Playground Express (CPX), a servo motor, and a few household materials, anyone can create a Cardboard Inchworm that meets the "sense-think-act" definition of a robot!Overview | Trash-Built Robotic Fish | Adafruit Learning System — Trash Fish is a fun and inventive use of scrap materials, brought to life by Circuit Playground Express! This glowing mechanical creature is programmed using MakeCode, making it accessible for beginners and easy to adapt. Aside from the electronics, this fish can be created using household materials and requires no soldering.Using a servo with the micro:bit : Support — It's easy to connect up a servo to the micro:bit either using crocodile/alligator leads or a breadboard. A micro-servo such as the SG90 or Tower hobby servo (either 180 degree rotation or 360 degree) can be connected from Pin0, 3V and GND and controlled by sending the signal on Pin0. Usually the wiring colouring is Orange = Signal, Red = 3V, Brown = Ground(GND)

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 learning from synchronous to asynchronous delivery, and even how to ask questions of your students that engage their learning. We'll be recording from home, so you may hear quite a bit of background noise as we record amongst our busy families. Thanks for your patience and understanding!Support Teaching PythonLinks:Seth's Blog — The conversation A short manifesto about the future of online interactionRepl.it - Multiplayer — Never code alone Code live together with a solid community of programmers, in public and private repls.Harkness table - Wikipedia — The Harkness table, Harkness method, or Harkness discussion is a teaching and learning method involving students seated in a large, oval configuration to discuss ideas in an encouraging, open-minded environment with only occasional or minimal teacher intervention.Platformer Tutorial — Arcade 2.3.9 documentation — In this tutorial, use Python 3.6+ and the Arcade library to create your own 2D platformer. Learn to work with Sprites and the Tiled Map Editor to create your own games. Add coins, ramps, moving platforms, enemies, and more.Getting Started with Breakout Rooms – Zoom Help Center — Breakout Rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting in up to 50 separate sessions. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, and can switch between sessions at any time.If Corona doesn't kill us, Distance Learning will - YouTube — Fantastic Israeli parent's response to all the Distance Learning thang! Words and rant by Shiri Keningsberg Levi. Translated by Robbie Gringras for Makom.Remember, Online Learning Isn't the Only Way to Learn Remotely - Education Week — This time of school closure provides a magnificent opportunity for us to envision a kind of learning that is different from what happens in our classrooms. We can invite students to learn something that they are curious about or practice a skill that is important to them, and we can connect their learning back to our educational standards. Students may not learn all the content that we had thought we would cover this month. But that loss can be balanced by tremendous benefits.9 Apps for Parents | Project Zero — Nine easy discussion starters for parents of the App Generation:J o n a t h a n on Twitter: "If you see me talking to myself next week, don’t worry.. im just having a parent-teacher conference" / Twitter — If you see me talking to myself next week, don’t worry.. im just having a parent-teacher conference

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.Support Teaching PythonLinks:Lightform LF2: The AR projector — It’s a projector Use Lightform Creator AR content or plug-in your own HDMI signal and drive the show from Unity, Touch Designer, and more. LF2 supports 1920 x 1080p native resolution playback via the two HDMI inputs.Overview | Prop-Maker Lightsaber | Adafruit Learning System — The Path to Prop Maker  Use your maker skills and become the Jedi you were meant to be! Construct your own lightsaber using 3D printed parts and electronics from Adafruit. This advanced prop uses an accelerometer to detect swings and hits to trigger super bright NeoPixels with full sound FX!Fluency and Fitness® - Educational Brain Breaks — Fluency and Fitness® helps students review essential K-2 reading and math topics, while providing a movement break. Over 30,000 classrooms worldwide use Fluency and Fitness® for literacy and math blocks, brain breaks, inside recess, morning meetings, or just those few spare minutes in the day.  Teachers love that they don’t have to lose instructional time to fit in a movement break.  Students have so much fun, they don’t realize how much they’re learning.

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 includes a wide variety of sample programs and comprehensive documentation that is written for new programmers. Whether you want to make a platformer, recreate the Asteroids games of your youth, or teach students how to make a roguelike adventure game, the Arcade library may be a great way to start. Paul is the chair of the Computer Science department at Simpson College in Iowa. He started programming in Python more than 10 years ago and has used nearly every game library in Python to teach introductory programming. Special Guest: Paul Craven.Support Teaching PythonLinks:Python for absolute beginners course - [Talk Python Training - Python tutorials and courses for developers] — Learning to program can be overwhelming. Concepts and facts come at you fast and most courses don't cover many of them at all or at a beginner's pace. This is not most courses. Python for absolute beginners is our premier course for beginning developers. We start at the very beginning, teaching you the big ideas and concepts covered in a CS 101 course. Then we move on to writing increasingly complex code and applications in Python.

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- keeping up; keeping them learning Developing the vocab that allows students to solve problems Losing students during code-alongs Kids stuck in Turtle module Getting past the frustration level - waiting on the “click” As a special bonus, we talk about a few of the new arrivals in our classroom, including the newest LEGO Education Robot, the Spike Prime!Sponsored By:Real Python: Visit realpython.com/teachingpython to get your FREE video course.Support Teaching PythonLinks:Amazon.com: Adeept BBC Micro:bit Sensor Starter Kit | Microbit Programmable Starter Kit for Micro:bit with 35 Projects PDF Tutorial Book | Micro:bit and Expansion Board Included: Toys & Games — BBC Micro:bit Development Board is included. A wide variety of Sensor Modules - The best choice for learning electronics, programming and IoT. Excellent PDF Manual - 124 pages, 35 projects with detailed guidance. MakeCode and Python code are provided. Powerful technical support - Official forum, Videos and E-mail.LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set — The LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set is the go-to STEAM learning tool for grade 6-8 students. Combining colorful LEGO building elements, easy-to-use hardware, and an intuitive drag-and-drop coding language based on Scratch, SPIKE Prime continuously engages students through playful learning activities to think critically and solve complex problems, regardless of their learning level. From easy-entry projects to limitless creative design possibilities, SPIKE Prime helps students learn the essential STEAM and 21st century skills needed to become the innovative minds of tomorrow... while having fun!MicroPython on SPIKE Prime : 12 Steps - Instructables — You can code SPIKE Prime using MicroPython which is a subset of python for small microprocessors. You can use any terminal emulator to code the SPIKE Prime hub.pi-top [4] — pi-top [4] is a new game-changing, programmable computing device that combines digital making, coding and practical projects. With pi-top [4], educators, students and inventors get to design, code and make anything they can imagine using one simple, easy-to-use system. From beginner to superuser, pi-top powers your projects and brings learning into the real world.Amazon.com: AWS DeepLens (2019 Edition) – deep learning-enabled video camera for developers: Amazon Devices — AWS DeepLens allows developers to get started with deep learning through sample projects with practical, hands-on examples which can start running with a single click. Models trained in Amazon SageMaker can be sent to AWS DeepLens with just a few clicks from the AWS Management Console. AWS developers can run any deep-learning framework, including TensorFlow and Caffe. AWS DeepLens comes preinstalled with a high performance, efficient and optimised inference engine for deep learning using Apache MXNet. AWS DeepLens integrates with Amazon Rekognition for advanced image analysis, Amazon SageMaker for training models and with Amazon Polly to create speech-enabled projects. AWS DeepLens is easy to customise and is fully programmable using AWS Lambda.

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: Peter Chan.Sponsored By:Real Python: Visit realpython.com/teachingpython to get your FREE video course.Support Teaching PythonLinks:Humble Book Bundle: Python & Machine Learning by Packt (pay what you want and help charity) — HUMBLE BOOK BUNDLE: PYTHON & MACHINE LEARNING BY PACKT Whether you’re a Python developer new to machine learning or want to deepen your knowledge of the latest developments, our latest ebook bundles from Packt is perfect for you!Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 2nd Edition: Practical Programming for Total Beginners: Al Sweigart: 9781593279929: Amazon.com: BooksAutomate the Boring Stuff with Python, 2nd Edition: Practical Programming for Total Beginners: Al Sweigart: 9781593279929: Amazon.com: Books — The second edition of this best-selling Python book (100,000+ copies sold in print alone) uses Python 3 to teach even the technically uninclined how to write programs that do in minutes what would take hours to do by hand. There is no prior programming experience required and the book is loved by liberal arts majors and geeks alike.Amazon.com: BBC2546862 Micro:bit go: Computers & Accessories — This educational STEAM toys pack teaches kids aged 11+ about coding, tactile creativity and craft. Part of Tech Will Save Us's Coding-Tech range, this kit is a perfect accompaniment to the BBC Micro:craft, Micro:bot and Micro:mods kits. Suitable for 6th, 7th and 8th Grade learning Free access to Club Make for unlimited projects and learning experiences Perfect for learning at home, for educational after-school STEAM workshops, in classrooms or in schoolsHomepage | Minecraft: Education Edition — WHAT IS MINECRAFT: EDUCATION EDITION? A game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive digital environment. Educators in more than 115 countries are using Minecraft: Education Edition across the curriculum!Trinket: An Hour of PythonHour of Code | Codesters — Through Codesters Hour of Code projects you will be introduced to a variety of programming concepts by creating fun games, art, and animations. In the process, you will learn Python, a real programming language used every day at companies like Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.

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? Support Teaching PythonLinks:matplotlib · PyPI — Matplotlib strives to produce publication quality 2D graphics for interactive graphing, scientific publishing, user interface development and web application servers targeting multiple user interfaces and hardcopy output formats.scipy · PyPI — SciPy (pronounced “Sigh Pie”) is open-source software for mathematics, science, and engineering. The SciPy library depends on NumPy, which provides convenient and fast N-dimensional array manipulation. The SciPy library is built to work with NumPy arrays, and provides many user-friendly and efficient numerical routines such as routines for numerical integration and optimization. Together, they run on all popular operating systems, are quick to install, and are free of charge. NumPy and SciPy are easy to use, but powerful enough to be depended upon by some of the world’s leading scientists and engineers. If you need to manipulate numbers on a computer and display or publish the results, give SciPy a try!sympy · PyPI — SymPy is a Python library for symbolic mathematics. It aims to become a full-featured computer algebra system (CAS) while keeping the code as simple as possible in order to be comprehensible and easily extensible. SymPy is written entirely in Python. It depends on mpmath, and other external libraries may be optionally for things like plotting support.arrow · PyPI — Arrow is a Python library that offers a sensible and human-friendly approach to creating, manipulating, formatting and converting dates, times and timestamps. It implements and updates the datetime type, plugging gaps in functionality and providing an intelligent module API that supports many common creation scenarios. Simply put, it helps you work with dates and times with fewer imports and a lot less code.Likert scale - Wikipedia — A Likert scale (/ˈlɪk.ərt/ LIK-ərt[1] but more commonly pronounced /ˈlaɪ.kərt/ LY-kərt[2]) is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires.translate · PyPI — Translate is a simple but powerful translation tool written in python with with support for multiple translation providers. By now we are integrated with Microsoft Translation API and Translated MyMemory APIPlay Rocket League® | Rocket League® - Official SiteJMMS vs. Pine Crest Game #1 - YouTube

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 postSupport Teaching PythonLinks:PocketLab — PocketLab Voyager, PocketLab Weather, and PocketLab One connect with a single button to a smart phone, tablet, Chromebook, or computer and instantly stream data that you can see and record. PocketLab has the same features as lab equipment that costs thousands of dollars but is low cost and intuitive to use.Circuit Playground Bluefruit - Bluetooth Low Energy ID: 4333 - $24.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits — Circuit Playground Bluefruit is our third board in the Circuit Playground series, another step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. We've taken the popular Circuit Playground Express and made it even better! Now the main chip is an nRF52840 microcontroller which is not only more powerful, but also comes with Bluetooth Low Energy support for wireless connectivity.Amazon.com: Monk Makes Electronic Starter Kit for Micro:bit: Camera & Photo — Learn electronics and coding with the micro:bit. Includes a 30-page instruction booklet with 7 projects. Control a light bulb and motor from your micro:bit and play sounds. Measure sound, temperature and light using your micro:bit Please note a micro:bit is NOT includedOriginal Prusa MINI - Prusa3d.com - Open-source 3D printers by Josef Prusa — Introducing our new compact 3D printer with all the bells and whistles you would expect from the creators of the award-winning original Prusa i3 MK2 and MK3S! The mini is a big printer in a compact body. We did our best to squeeze as many features into 349 USD / 379 EUR as possible. The Mini is great for beginners, companies looking to build a printing farm and 3D printing enthusiasts worldwide.Monoprice Voxel 3D Printer - Black/Gray with Removable Heated Build Plate (150 x 150 x 150 mm) Fully Enclosed, Touch Screen, 8Gb and Wi-Fi: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific — The Voxel is a unique, easy to use, beginner-friendly 3D printer that brings 3D printing to the masses with its simple menu system displayed on a 2.8" color IPS touch screen. The assisted leveling system reduces calibration to a single tap on the touch screen and the print nozzle can be swapped out in seconds, without the need for tools of any kind. It features 8GB of internal memory, a USB port, a Wi-Fi radio with a hotspot, and a built-in camera for monitoring print operations.Amazon.com: 5 Set STEM Kit,DC Motors Electronic Assembly Kit for Kids DIY STEM Toys Intro to Engineering, Mini Cars, Circuit Building DIY Science Experiments Projects for Boys and Girls: Toys & Games — This 5 model kit inspires young inventors to build their own cars and models. Children are happiest with their hands and minds are working together – they're having fun and they can showcase their creations.LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set by LEGO Education — The LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set is the go-to STEAM learning tool for grade 6-8 students. Combining colorful LEGO building elements, easy-to-use hardware, and an intuitive drag-and-drop coding language based on Scratch, SPIKE Prime continuously engages students through playful learning activities to think critically and solve complex problems, regardless of their learning level.Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 2nd Edition: Practical Programming for Total Beginners: Al Sweigart: 9781593279929: Amazon.com: Books — The second edition of this best-selling Python book (100,000+ copies sold in print alone) uses Python 3 to teach even the technically uninclined how to write programs that do in minutes what would take hours to do by hand. There is no prior programming experience required and the book is loved by liberal arts majors and geeks alike.Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming: Eric Matthes: 9781593279288: Amazon.com: Books — This is the second edition of the best selling Python book in the world. Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition is a straightforward introduction to the core of Python programming. Author Eric Matthes dispenses with the sort of tedious, unnecessary information that can get in the way of learning how to program, choosing instead to provide a foundation in general programming concepts, Python fundamentals, and problem solving. Pandas for Everyone: Python Data Analysis: Python Data Analysis (Addison-Wesley Data & Analytics Series): 9780134546933: Computer Science Books @ Amazon.com — Pandas for Everyone brings together practical knowledge and insight for solving real problems with Pandas, even if you’re new to Python data analysis. Daniel Y. Chen introduces key concepts through simple but practical examples, incrementally building on them to solve more difficult, real-world problems.House of Robots: James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein, Juliana Neufeld: 9780316346795: Amazon.com: Books — In this highly-illustrated series from James Patterson, an extraordinary robot signs up for an ordinary fifth grade class . . . and elementary school will never be the same!Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (Frank Einstein series #1): Book One: Jon Scieszka, Brian Biggs: 9781419724923: Amazon.com: Books — Clever science experiments, funny jokes, and robot hijinks await readers in the first of six books in the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein chapter book series from the mad scientist team of Jon Scieszka and Brian Biggs. The perfect combination to engage and entertain readers, the series features real science facts with adventure and humor, making these books ideal for STEM education. This first installment examines the science of “matter.”

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 when you visit realpython.com/teachingpython. Note: there are a limited number of free copies available for the next few weeks, so get yours now!Special Guest: Eric Matthes.Sponsored By:Real Python: Visit realpython.com/teachingpython to get your FREE video course.Support Teaching PythonLinks:Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming: Eric Matthes: 9781593279288: Amazon.com: Books — Second edition of the best selling Python book in the world. A fast-paced, no-nonsense guide to programming in Python. This book teaches beginners the basics of programming in Python with a focus on real projects.Python Crash Course Resources by ehmatthesPython Flash Cards: Syntax, Concepts, and Examples: Eric Matthes: 9781593278960: Amazon.com: Books — These colorful programming study cards help new Python coders drill and reinforce the concepts, syntax, and terminology they'll need to become successful professional programmers. Keep your coding skills sharp on the go! Python Flash Cards take a tried-and-tested method and give it a programming makeover. Eric Matthes, author of the best-selling Python Crash Course, distills essential Python programming knowledge into this 101-card deck you can use anywhere.

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 learn how to code in Python, set up a developer environment, use Git to contrubute to open source projects, and access Twilio APIs to communicate using code. Support Teaching PythonLinks:TwilioQuest - Discover your power to change the world with code. — 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.Kano PC | Learn — How to code your computer With simple steps, learn logic, Python and Javascript. Level up as you make art, games, and music. It's your first steps into making your own websites, games, and more.MECC - Wikipedia — The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (later Corporation), most commonly known as MECC, was an organization founded in 1973. The goal of the organization was to coordinate and provide computer services to schools in the state of Minnesota; however, its software eventually became popular in schools around the world.[1][2] MECC had its headquarters in the Brookdale Corporate Center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.[3][4][5]Oregon Trail, The : MECC : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive — As a covered wagon party of pioneers, you head out west from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette River and valley in Oregon. You first must stock up on provisions, and then, while traveling, make decisions such as when to rest, how much food to eat, etc. The Oregon Trail incorporates simulation elements and planning ahead, along with discovery and adventure, as well as mini-game-like activities (hunting and floating down the Dalles River).