Imagine a teacher running a math class without knowing math, or a language arts teacher who cannot speak the language. Teachers are at the heart of learning, but they can only effectively guide students when equipped with mastery of the subject matter.
Our Teacher Coding Bootcamps provide teachers with the depth of knowledge and strong coding fluency they need to instruct computer science curriculum with fidelity and rigor. Only then can they have self-efficacy and confidence in their ability to teach computer science.
Our Bootcamps are rigorous professional development courses in computer science, taught by qualified coding instructors in a virtual environment. By mastering the curriculum they’ll be teaching, any teacher of any level can gain the knowledge and skills they need to teach computer science.
Our Bootcamps help districts build a sustainable and scalable computer science teaching capacity, like they have in other core subjects. Rather than relying on a few specialist computer science teachers, districts will have the teaching competency to grow, adapt, and move their computer science programs forward.
If a teacher who has completed a Coding Bootcamp is unable to teach the computer science class they were trained for during the following school year, the district can send a replacement teacher to a scheduled Coding Bootcamp at no additional cost.
The best way for teachers to learn.
Every Bootcamp is taught by a TechSmart Coding Instructor. They’re not only experts with computer science degrees, but experts on how to teach computer science as many are former classroom teachers as well. They have the empathy and communication skills to guide teachers of all coding skill levels together.
In accordance with best practices for professional development, TechSmart coding bootcamps are taught to groups of teachers from various backgrounds and in different parts of the country. The group setting enables teachers as lifelong learners to support one another and share invaluable feedback as they progress through a common experience. After they graduate, it is our goal to support continued collaboration through professional learning communities.
Our TechSmart Coding Instructors act as your guides and advocates, bringing deep computer science and software development knowledge and experience to every learning session. We provide multiple opportunities for teachers to progress and complete their professional learning throughout the school year. Because we know that it’s hard for teachers to be away from their classrooms, we break our Coding Bootcamps into multiple parts so that teachers have time to practice and teach what they have learned prior to taking the next part.
Learning the content, and how to teach it.
There’s a Coding Bootcamp for every course in the TechSmart Curriculum. Teachers will build strong coding skills and a depth of computer science knowledge while mastering all the material needed to instruct that course.
Teachers learn best practices and techniques for delivering computer science instruction. Trainers walk teachers through each step of the platform and offerings in the TechSmart curriculum. Attendees will take the course they plan to teach as a student, allows the Coding Instructors to model instruction before the teachers step into the teaching role.
Teachers are fully prepared to teach their computer science course. They have mastered all the content and tools they will need.
Beyond learning the content for a single course, teachers have developed a coding fluency and built a strong depth of knowledge in computer science.
Teachers will become confident in their ability to deliver top-quality computer science instruction, comfortable with choosing the right tools and strategies.
At the end of each Coding Bootcamp, teachers receive a Coding Competency Certification, proving their mastery of the subject matter.
The first course in the Skylark bootcamp curriculum prepares educators to teach the fundamentals of coding in the Skylark language. It covers the event-based structure of the Skylark language and the frame-based animation model common to most programming languages, along with core coding concepts such as variables, text input and output, conditionals, and mouse and keyboard input. In addition, teachers also learn to use the TechSmart platform, tools, and pedagogy style, and practice mock-teaching with peers in their cohort for direct, immediate feedback and knowledge-sharing.
The second Skylark course continues from the first, introducing more advanced coding topics to round out the Skylark language. Teachers learn to instruct students on higher-level coding structures and concepts such as loops, lists, and boolean logic.
The second half of the Skylark curriculum begins to introduce text-based Python code, and prepares teachers to guide their students through the transition from drag-and-drop block-based coding to typed lined-based code. Teachers cover fundamental concepts and skills from Python and other high-level languages such as the main program, commenting code, and writing and debugging precise syntax.
This bootcamp prepares educators to teach the basics of Python. It uses a ground-up approach that assumes no previous knowledge, starting from the basics of text-based input and output and covering the fundamental structures of programming such as conditionals and loops. This course also provides instruction on simple procedural graphics and mouse and keyboard input, giving teachers tools to help their students express themselves through code. In addition, teachers also learn to use the TechSmart platform, tools, and pedagogy style, and practice mock-teaching with peers in their cohort for direct, immediate feedback and knowledge-sharing.
The second course in the Python bootcamp rounds out teacher’s knowledge of CS coding fundamentals. Teachers begin to learn data structures, such as lists, as well as more complex code organization in the form of functions. The CST101 and CST102 bootcamps together prepare teachers to cover an entire year of basic Python coding.
This bootcamp prepares educators to teach the basics of Python. It uses a ground-up approach that assumes no previous knowledge, starting from the basics of text-based input and output and covering the fundamental structures of programming such as conditionals and loops. This course also provides instruction on simple procedural graphics and mouse and keyboard input, giving teachers tools to help their students express themselves through code. In addition, teachers also learn to use the TechSmart platform, tools, and pedagogy style, and practice mock-teaching with peers in their cohort for direct, immediate feedback and knowledge-sharing.
The second course in the Python bootcamp rounds out teacher’s knowledge of CS coding fundamentals. Teachers begin to learn data structures, such as lists, as well as more complex code organization in the form of functions. The CST201 and CST202 bootcamps together prepare teachers to cover an entire year of basic Python coding.
The second half of the Python bootcamp curriculum begins to cover more advanced CS topics in more depth compared to previous courses. Teachers cover new, complex data structures such as dictionaries and multi-dimensional lists, and learn an extensive set of coding tools around graphics, sound, and data storage designed to help their students make advanced, polished visual programs.
The final course in the Python bootcamp curriculum completes the coverage of Python coding. Teachers cover the remaining structural elements of object-oriented coding that will prepare their students for advanced CS topics in Java. These include include classes -- the fundamental building block of object-orientation -- as well as more general file-based input and output systems.