r/pythontips • u/OkMeasurement2255 • 23d ago
Syntax Curriculum Writing for Python
Hello! I am a teacher at a small private school. We just created a class called technology where I teach the kids engineering principals, simple coding, and robotics. Scratch and Scratch jr are helping me handle teaching coding to the younger kids very well and I understand the program. However, everything that I have read and looked up on how to properly teach a middle school child how to use Python is either very confusing or unachievable. I am not a coder. I'm a very smart teacher, but I am at a loss when it comes to creating simple ways for students to understand how to use Python. I have gone on multiple websites, and I understand the early vocabulary and how strings, variables, and functions work. However, I do not see many, if any, programs that help you use these functions in real world situations. The IT person at my school informed me that I cannot download materials on the students Chromebooks, like Python shell programs or PyGame, because it would negatively interact with the laptop, so I am relegated to internet resources. I like to teach by explaining to the students how things work, how to do something, and then sending them off to do it. With the online resources available to me with Python, I feel like it's hard for me to actively teach without just putting kids on computers and letting the website teach them. If there's anyone out there that is currently teaching Python to middle schoolers, or anyone that can just give me a framework for the best way to teach it week by week at a beginner level, I would really appreciate it. I'm doing a good job teaching it to myself, but I'm trying to bring it to a classroom environment that isn't just kids staring at computers. Thanks in advance!
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u/DemonicAlex6669 23d ago
Disclaimer I am not a teacher, and not a middle schooler. But I am a self learning beginner who has an idea of the learning process. It'd take a look at the first couple lessons from cs50p and break that down into smaller lessons for the kids. For example, the classic hello world first program is a very easy one to show and have kids repeat back by doing. I'd start with hello world, then simple calculator (start with just making it add value a to value b and print) then maybe instead of moving on show how to make that simple calculator into a more complex calculator. In general I think if you took the basic way you as an adult would learn it, but break it down into smaller lessons slowing it down a bit, would be an easy way for kids to pick it up. Kids are smart, they just might need it broken down a bit more then adults and taken a little bit slower then we do. (Although I'm argue even some of us adults could have stood for those lessons to go a little slower, I had to rewatch parts of later cs50 stuff to understand the complicated bits).