This month CSTA Iowa shines a spotlight on Alex Halverson. Alex teaches Math, Physics, and Computer Science and serves as an instructional mentor coach and assistant director of large group speech at Spencer High School.
CSTA Iowa Spotlight on Alex Halverson
District/Organization: Spencer Community Schools
City: Spencer, IA
Describe your teaching position or role:
I teach Algebra II, AP Physics 1, AP Computer Science Principles, and Computer Science Discoveries. Additionally, I am an instructional mentor coach as well as an assistant director of Large Group Speech. Our school is also looking at starting an eSports team which I plan to assist with. Without having much computer science experience prior to teaching it, I have come to love it! I always strive to promote and include computer science activities in my math coursework as well.
What 's your favorite CS concept or lesson to teach? Why?
I think that one of my favorite CS concepts to teach is the societal impact of computing. I feel like this topic is not thought about in a "traditional" computer science classroom, but I find it to be an extremely important topic to cover. With the way that computing affects people on a daily basis, I believe that students should think critically regarding the morals and intricacies of computation and society. I especially like the research and discussion that students do in this topic; students have always done wonderful in forming arguments around computational policy and practice while supporting their arguments with reasoning based in research. Overall, the I really enjoy how the topic promotes students to think about how computing affects others and how to ultimately do computer science for good.
What 's your favorite CS resource? Why?
I enjoy Code.org's curriculum and use them for both of my CS classes!
Why did you join CSTA & CSTA Iowa?
After finding out about CSTA at a computer science convention, I found out how valuable it was to be a member. Not only are there plentiful resources for my classroom as a computer science instructor, but it is also a great way to connect to other computer science educators. Additionally, CSTA keeps me up to date with the computer science standards and supports my understanding and implementation of them. Essentially, CSTA has been a great resource for everything in regards to computer science education, and I am glad I learned more about it at the convention.