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Center for Talent Development

Classes I teach at the Center for Talent Development

The Center for Talent Development (CTD) at Northwestern University offers a wide range of resources for gifted students and their families, including a variety of enrichment opportunities for students. Below I've listed courses I'm currently teaching at the Center for Talent Development.

Current CTD Courses

Bits and Blocks

  • For students completing grades 4-5
  • Course Description: Have you wondered how you control every movement on the screen while playing video games? Programmers design the coordination of each and every possible move. Students unlock the mysteries behind the computer screen as they investigate fundamental concepts in computer programming. Using MicroWorlds software, students explore and test their ideas and develop their own 2-D multimedia projects and computer games, complete with animation, sound effects, movie clips, and music. This course encourages students to use their imagination and math skills, solve problems, and think creatively while developing simple computer programs. Students receive a copy of MicroWorlds at the conclusion of the course.
    Note: Additional $150 lab fee required.
  • Requirements: Admission Criteria: ≥ 95% national percentile rank in math on standardized achievement test; EXPLORE test; or Admission Portfolio.
  • Course Dates: June 27, 2010 - July 16, 2010
  • Location: Evanston Campus
  • view syllabus

NEW! Bits and Blocks Level II, Exploring Recursion with LOGO

  • For students completing grades 4-5
  • Course Description:
  • Recursion is a power method used in computer science to break a problem down into simpler problems. In this course, recursion is used to solve puzzles, draw fractals, encode secret messages, translate sentences into Pig Latin, or simulate the growth of trees or the movement of animals. Students use Berkeley LOGO, a free development environment with special functions and features that will enable MicroWorlds users to take the next step in programming with LOGO. This course is great preparation for work with other list processing languages like Scheme, which is used in university computer science courses and is a valuable tool in computer science research.
  • Note: Additional $120 lab fee is required.
  • Requirements:
    Prerequisite: Successful completion of Bits & Blocks course or equivalent
    Admission Criteria: ≥ 95% national percentile rank in math on standardized achievement test; EXPLORE test; or Admission Portfolio.
  • Course Dates: July 18, 2010 - August 6, 2010
  • Location: Evanston Campus
  • view syllabus

Syllabi of Some Past Courses

I've taught all of the courses above at least once, some of them a number of times. Below are a few other courses I've taught in the past. If you're looking for someone to teach enrichment courses for your after school or distance learning program, please contact me at tj@tjleone.com or (847) 951-0127. The Center for Talent Development serves gifted kids, but I work well with kids at any performance level.