I have hand chosen the four sessions I feel most relate to computer science. Two of them are mine. If you are in NCTCA (or any other region) and interested in presenting something next year please talk to me about Workshops-in-a-box that can be used with minimal planning to provide great computer science content!
Get hands-on building a choose your own adventure game in Python! Does not matter your computer programming skill, you will build a choose your own adventure text based game. Go back to the days of Zork and Hitchhikers guide the galaxy with your own idea. This is a fantastic way to combine computer science and languages. Teachers will leave with skills in the Python programming language, as well as a progression of activities including design, planning, and building a program. Likely most focused in CTF or CSE Structured Programming 1, Structured Programming 2, and Procedural Programming (again, depends on where the teacher starts) Bring your own device.
Learn to use relevant (already created) resources to challenge your students to develop problem-solving skills and learn about cybersecurity. Attendees will be introduced to free to use online challenges that train students in cybersecurity. We will work through the strategies to solve these problems and how to teach students to develop resource awareness and resiliency against difficult problems. A laptop device will give you a hands-on experience, but sharing one with a teacher friend would be equally useful.
If you're trying to prepare your students for the jobs of tomorrow - your aim is likely off by about a decade. The best jobs of 2030 are unknowable, and maybe don't even exist yet. While we don't know what our students will do for a living, we can be reasonably certain that critical thinking skills will serve them well. In this session, participants will explore the whys and hows around teaching critical thinking and share successful strategies for growing successful brains.
Mastering rotations, and understanding the value of algorithms in problem solving can be a challenge for many students. Getting students working with the Rubik's cube can lead to a discussion and understanding of a wide variety of math concepts, as well as a demonstration of the value of practice. By the end of this session, participants will be able to solve a Rubik's cube in 5 minutes or less, and then get their students of all ages solving on Monday.