My classroom observation hours for the AP Computer Science Principles course allowed me to explore standard 5 of the CSTA standards, classroom practice. The standard outlines the classroom actions for both teachers and students that exhibit evidence-based practices that facilitate meaningful experiences for students and allow them to become empowered learners. I spent an hour each week between classroom observations and discussions with the instructor pre- or post- observation. In the classroom I was able to observe the use of pair programming and peer tutoring by the students as they worked through the lessons set up by the instructor using the CMU CS Academy curriculum. The lessons focused on graphic-based computer science using Python. Students worked through self-paced lessons that allowed them to learn, explore, program, and receive feedback in a variety of ways. Students often worked as a pair or table to compare or evaluate their progress. For the final project, students are connected using features of the online curriculum so that they can utilize pair programming in designing and writing their code. 

My observations of, and conversations with the instructor allowed me to discuss the classes from her perspective which included: choice of curriculum, edits within the lessons provided by the curriculum, approach to various student types or skill level, and development of collaborative projects. Much of the instructor’s’ work with students was responding to their questions in a way that guided them in the right direction or encouraged them to keep going, often responding to their questions with a question. Students in the class responded well to the approach and it was fun to see their satisfaction when they were finally able to successfully code their graphic.