This month CSTA Iowa shines a spotlight on Dan Carver. Dan is the K-5 Computer Science teacher at Carlisle Elementary at Carlisle Community Schools.
CSTA Iowa Spotlight on Dan Carver
District/Organization: Carlisle Community Schools
City: Carlisle, IA
Describe your teaching position or role:
K-5 Computer Science Teacher. My district treats CS as a Special (along with Art, Music, PE, and STEM), so all K-8 students will have guaranteed time devoted to learning about computer science throughout their entire elementary and middle school experiences. It also allows for me to work with students for 6 years (K-5).
What 's your favorite CS concept or lesson to teach? Why?
I like teaching Computing Systems to my 5th graders. We take computers apart to identify certain hardware parts and we learn about how pixels work on screens. I love seeing them learn to look at something very familiar to them in a brand new way and how they begin to understand how their devices work, not just how to work their devices.
What 's your favorite CS resource? Why?
I refer to the CSTA standards website constantly. As I create lessons and think of new ways to teach concepts, the standards and CSTA's explanations and examples keep me grounded and focused on what needs to be taught. https://www.csteachers.org/page/standards
Why did you join CSTA & CSTA Iowa?
I joined because I get a network of computer science teachers to talk to and reach out to. Teaching CS can get lonely, especially in an elementary setting, so it's nice to be able to have other people that I can go to for suggestions, advice, and ideas.