Josephus “Joe” Hastings 

How did you get into CS?

I was hired as a Business teacher nearly 15 years ago, and within the first 2 years, I was tasked with teaching Computer Science Principles (before it was AP). I had no formal background in computer science, so I was learning along with my students. I read every used college textbook I could find, asked CS teachers in other schools to help me understand what I was teaching, and followed engineers and researchers on social media. I now teach more CS classes than business courses, and I have fallen completely in love with Computer Science. I teach Foundations of Computer Science and AP Computer Science Principles along with a mix of business courses.

What are some successes and challenges that you've experienced?

I still don't know enough. I want to know more and I am always learning. While starting from scratch was tough, having patient colleagues who would share resources, help me make connections, and take the time to teach me, really led me to be successful. The CS education field is really amazing and very supportive. Last year, I had students who are blind. Finding out just how much of what I used to teach CS was inaccessible to them was very surprising. I have worked with Code In The Schools, a non-profit, who was tasked with creating resources for teachers to lead students in the slowly emerging screen-reader accessible and keyboard navigation accessible platforms. I teach those same students again this year in AP CS Principles. I was directed to Quorum programming language - a programming language designed for the visually impaired. I am now trying to learn that alongside my blind students, while simultaneously teaching my sighted students Python.

One of my biggest successes was to help convince middle school computer teachers, who mostly taught keyboarding and document formatting, to embrace teaching HTML and block based programming to students and to up-end their curriculum and try something new. Personally, I feel more comfortable with CS than I ever have before and I consider that a huge success.

What do you find compelling about computer science?

I love the potential and creativity of it. I have an ADHD brain, and solving problems, especially novel problems, is very exciting for me. I enjoy seeing students understand how complex the universe is - learning from the view of CS! I see how important it is to collect and analyze data in almost every aspect in our collective lives, and using CS to do that is wonderful. I used to think CS was just for people gifted in math, but now I know better. I have been able to bring students into the classroom who were afraid of math, and they were able to restore their confidence after converting decimal to binary, and creating a program that interacted with a user. When that light comes back on in a student's eyes... man, there isn't much better than that.

What's going well for you? What are you excited about?

I am looking forward to understanding Quorum Studio a bit more, I can't wait to make a 2D game in it as a learning project of my own. After I tackle the NBCT certification, I want to study and earn a degree in Cybersecurity. I have also picked up cycling racing (road and cyclocross!); at 45 years old, why not 🙂

Any advice?

I share this with my students: "When you find something that excites you, head in that direction." For new teachers to CS, I would say "ASK the question! 🙂 " Lean on your colleagues and find someone who can guide you to the right resources - there are a lot out there and it can be confusing. I will be glad to help anyone as far as I am able. For those who are learning CS for fun - "Thank you! You are going to do great things and surprise yourself, I am excited for you! Don't forget to celebrate your successes and share with the world what you made." If all those labels don't fit you, but you are reading this anyway, I would like to say "Hello! Thank you for being a part of this wonderful community and for sharing / leading / wondering / exploring". Stay curious and have fun.