Throughout my eleven years at Monte Vista High School, I have seen the computer program's birth and development. When I began teaching Advanced Placement Computer Science in 1986, the class enrollment was small. The school only offered only five computer classes. Each year our program has grown. Over the past six years, I have taught at least three Advanced Placement classes each year, as well as many other introductory computer classes. Now there are a total of 21 sections of computer courses, serving a population of fewer than 1900 students. Despite the immensity of the existing computer program, there is a constant demand for more computer classes, which we can't provide as we are out of computer labs. At our school, the importance of technology is widely recognized, but lack of funds sometimes holds us back.

My belief is that it was my love of computers (rather than for "math itself") and the love of working with students who really enjoy computers that motivated me to initiate the computer technology program. In an effort to expose students to a wide variety of applications, I sought to create a diverse array of elective courses. There are standard application classes which aim to spark students' interest in programming. There are also computer art and animation classes, and an Internet class.

The two new classes I have created for this year are 1) Computer Science Advanced Topics, a class where we work on UNIX, Internet projects, programming in Windows with different languages, and working with multimedia projects (none of which require Advanced Placement level experience) and 2) Computer Science Networking System Administration, where I teach UNIX, Novell, and WindowsNT system administration.

The students love the stuff. Students actually like to learn new techniques that give them control over a computer. The prerequisite for the Advanced Placement programming classes is Advanced Algebra; once they have completed AP work, they may proceed to the Networking class.

(Sometimes a student sneaks in on me. This year one my best AP students is a freshman boy who has not completed the usual prerequisite, but has outstanding logic skills.)

One of the keys to our growing program is our desire to try new and different things. The students and I do contests ... all the time. They like it. We do computer essays and computer programming and anything contests. We've equipped the computer room with the award money from our winnings. We have won DEC workstations, Sun workstations, and Macintosh systems. We also have 30 IBM compatible systems which the students and I built with funds we earned through competitions and my grant writing. Students have also earned scholarships and cash prizes, which they can use for higher education. Of course, the parents love this as well.

For me, the bottom line is to make learning fun. Seeking new challenges, techniques, and projects that seem really different coaxes out the best thinking and finest student work. The students say that the work is both stimulating and helpful. I emphasize that their personal, daily accomplishments are more important than any test scores, but their eager and business-like behavior leads them to success on exams, anyway. The students are taught to program with graphics early in the course and are encouraged to write games and programs they enjoy.

Specific requirements for my Advanced Placement programming classes include:

1) Learning to program in the language course where they are enrolled (C++, Pascal, Fortran, Assembly, and Java are now offered in different classes).

2) Students are required to stay abreast with new technology and must give an oral presentation each semester. The presentation is accompanied by an HTML web page, which students create themselves. You can see last semester's pages at http://www.mvhs.srvusd.k12.ca.us/curriculum/stuprojects.html, under student technology projects. (On these web pages there are also other projects on subjects from our school curriculum that are done by the beginning computer students with other teachers who act as mentors.)

3) All students must become competent in the use the Novell classroom LAN, the Windows environment, UNIX, and telecommunications. All my assignments are online. I don't use paper except for a few tests. All my lectures are also posted online, so students can access them anytime.

As you can see, we don't concentrate heavily on preparing students for the Advanced Placement exams. The students learn about technology in general, and become proficient in test material along the way. Unusual and fun projects are an excellent way to create student interest in computer programming.