Let’s take a look at the tools we’re using in our classroom for the 2020-2021 school year to teach Python for middle school students. From IDEs to flash cards, coding challenges to Colab notebooks, and micro:bits to eBooks, we’ll look at what we’re currently using and how each one contributes to the learning experience of our students.

Episode Outline

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• Code With Mu — Code with Mu: a simple Python editor for beginner programmers.
• Welcome To Colaboratory - Colaboratory — Colaboratory, or "Colab" for short, allows you to write and execute Python in your browser, with

Let’s take a deeper look at how we teach students about one of Python’s most venerable data structures: the list. For many learners, the list is the first data structure that they encounter and it can be tricky to understand at first.

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• Python Tutor - Visualize Python, Java, C, C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Ruby code execution — Python Tutor helps people overcome a fundamental barrier to learning programming: understanding what happens as the computer runs each line of code. You can use it to write Python, Java, C, C++, JavaScript, and Ruby code in your web browser and see its execution visualized step by step.
• Python Flash Cards: Syntax, Concepts, and Examples: Matthes, Eric: 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.

Kelly and Sean discuss many of the upcoming changes for a school year heavily influenced by COVID, distance learning, hybrid/flexible classrooms, and prioritizing health and safety over content.

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• Amazon.com: Logitech MeetUp HD Video and Audio Conferencing System for Small Meeting Rooms: Computers & Accessories — Logitech's premier conference cam specifically designed for business grade video meetings in huddle rooms and small conference rooms
• Python Testing with pytest: Simple, Rapid, Effective, and Scalable: Okken, Brian: 9781680502404: Amazon.com: Books — Do less work when testing your Python code, but be just as expressive, just as elegant, and just as readable. The pytest testing framework helps you write tests quickly and keep them readable and maintainable - with no boilerplate code. Using a robust yet simple fixture model, it's just as easy to write small tests with pytest as it is to scale up to complex functional testing for applications, packages, and libraries. This book shows you how.
• PyBites Platform | Hone Your Python Skills — Whether you aspire to become a web developer, data scientist, DevOps or cybersecurity engineer, good chance you will greatly benefit from being well versed in Python!
• Edpuzzle — Make any video your lesson

Ever had one of those moments where you thought you did something but then found it unfinished months later? Here's an episode we recorded back in May about how to keep your distance learning fresh and new. We're calling it the Lost Episode. New episodes are coming every Tuesday starting on August 18!

In this episode, Kelly and Sean talk about ways they keep their distance learning sessions fresh and engaging for students. From refresher exercises to virtual classroom management, we've got some ideas that can help you teach no matter where you or your students are sitting.

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As teachers around the world move into online teaching and learning, we must consider ways to modify our way of teaching. Writing and communicating in an online learning environment, while making connections with your students, is a very important first step. This is the second episode in a two-part series.

Video can help students connect with the concepts and provide an opportunity for teachers to engage and add opportunities to connect with their students.

How will teachers adapt their teaching in order to communicate and engage learners? What materials will teachers develop to ignite motivation with students? How will connections and community be built via online courses?

In this episode, Sean and Kelly talk with Christopher Bailey from Real Python. We will share tips and techniques for developing quality online videos for learners.

Ten Tips for Developing Video Content online:

"The goal of online communications is the same as the goal in face-to-face communications: to bond; to share information; to be heard, and to be understood. Fostering a sense of community in online classes will make the learning experience more meaningful for online students and help them stay connected during the life of the course."

From Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning

Special Guest: Christopher Bailey.

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• The Real Python Podcast – Real Python — A weekly Python podcast hosted by Christopher Bailey with interviews, coding tips, and conversation with guests from the Python community.

As teachers around the world move into online teaching and learning, we must consider ways to modify our way of teaching. Writing and communicating in an online learning environment, while making connections with your students, is a very important first step. This is the first episode in a two-part series.

How will teachers adapt their online writing in order to communicate and engage learners? What materials will teachers develop to ignite motivation with students? How will connections and community be built via online courses?

In this episode, Sean and Kelly talk with David Amos, a writer for Real Python about how he makes connections with his Real Python tutorials and we will share tips and techniques for developing quality online writing for learners.

David Amos Real Python

Special Guest: David Amos.

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• How to Use sorted() and sort() in Python – Real Python — All programmers will have to write code to sort items or data at some point. Sorting can be critical to the user experience in your application, whether it’s ordering a user’s most recent activity by timestamp, or putting a list of email recipients in alphabetical order by last name. Python sorting functionality offers robust features to do basic sorting or customize ordering at a granular level.
• Join the Real Python Tutorial Team – Real Python — Do you have a knack for writing and want to get your thoughts in front of thousands of Python developers? 

“Resilience in teachers is key for creating quality classrooms and schools. The opportunity for becoming resilient originates in how an educator makes sense of irritants, interruptions, and unexpected events, because interpretation dictates actions. By cultivating resilience, teachers can fulfill the intentions that brought them into the teaching profession.” Elena Aguilar

In this episode, Kelly and Sean invite Elena Aguilar to our show for a little twist of conversations. Elena Aguilar “Elena has trained thousands of educators across the United States and abroad in transformational coaching. She is the author of four highly acclaimed books: The Art of Coaching, (2013) and The Art of Coaching Teams, (2016) Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018) and the Onward Workbook (2018 and her newest book is being released in August, Coaching for Equity.). She is a regular contributor to Edutopia and ASCD’s Educational Leadership, and she was a blogger for EdWeek Teacher for many years. “

Kelly first met Elena at a workshop she attended in 2016.

Special Guest: Elena Aguilar.

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• Diversity | Python.org — The Python Software Foundation and the global Python community welcome and encourage participation by everyone. Our community is based on mutual respect, tolerance, and encouragement, and we are working to help each other live up to these principles. We want our community to be more diverse: whoever you are, and whatever your background, we welcome you.
• 4 Practices to Promote Equity in the Classroom | Northeastern University — In educational institutions especially, there is a desire among students, teachers, and administration alike to embrace this diversity and create equity in the classroom. Read on to learn about what equity in the classroom is, why it’s relevant, and some of the best practices educators can use to promote it.
• Amazon.com: The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation eBook: Aguilar, Elena: Kindle Store — Hands-on resources for new and seasoned school coaches

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.

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• 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 available
• 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.
• 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

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!

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• Seth's Blog — The conversation

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.

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• Lightform LF2: The AR projector — It’s a projector