Advanced Computer Programming has been a pretty interesting course this year. It complimented my Sophomore schedule well by providing me a class where I wouldn't have to be stressed for deadlines. Though it would have been better for me to have the class on B-days, I really liked the ability to recline in one of the computer lab chairs and be liberated of any sort of lesson structure or assignments. The option itself to have a class like this is wonderful and I'm glad that it's provided at LASA, and I hope it (or something similar to it) is available to the next classes that go through this school. The only programming-focused classes are Computer Programming and AP Comp Sci, and with that fact I think it almost required to have a third class that gives students the same resources as these classes, yet opens them up to create and design whatever they want, whether it be a simple Turing machine or a fully fleshed out video game. Creativity is everywhere in LASA, and this class helps more people express their creativity.
Good aspects aside though, the class did have a few issues. First off, the blogs were just a requirement so we met a minimum number of grades in gradespeed, which I'm fine with. What I didn't like about them though, was their lack of meaning. There wasn't any pressure to write your blog post except for when you reminded people to post them, and then it was just a race to see who could churn out a few paragraphs in 10 minutes. I think to improve on blog posts is to keep them, but give them more purpose. You could, say, have all your students use the blog posts as checkpoints on their projects or what they've created specifically. That way by the end of the year they'd have a chronological history of their progress, growth, and work that they did that year, instead of just being whatever they wanted to write about. It doesn't even need to be about their work, it could be what their plans for the weekend are or anything really, it just needs direction. Speaking of direction, that was actually one of my issues with this class. Having a class that's self-paced is a dual sided sword; it's nice to be exempt from a strict schedule and listening to a teacher all period, but it's also easy to not do any work when there isn't something that's required to be done. There were way too many times in the year where I would just sit at the computer and read news articles or scan over websites like Lifehacker. However, I am uncertain with suggestions to fix this because like I said, I also really enjoy this freedom.
Overall, Advanced Computer Programming has been a fun class that didn't add more bricks to my backpack. While some stress would have made it more engaging of a course, I can't complain because I signed up with the knowledge that it would be self-paced. Self-paced courses can provide a bunch of expression in my opinion, but I think this class should be changed a bit before being reiterated next year, if it even is. It could be more focused on just java or python or anything, I just think that the class should have more direction without having to add lessons and lectures into the mix.
