Computer science can really change the way you look at life. The challenges you must overcome to complete some of the tasks can really make you think more than you would have before. Mrs. Mary Bishop is one of Tuscarora High School’s computer science teachers and she has been teaching computer science for about seven years. She not only cares for her students, but is also able to turn many of them into computer science lovers. From her teachings, many students have come to love computer science and what it has to offer.
Bishop has been teaching and working in computer science for the majority of her life and so it’s safe to say that she is an expert. But how would that change the way she looks at life? “It’s made me very excited, it makes me very excited for the students when I see them get excited and when they move on and go to college.” Her excitement for watching these students grow and improve in computer science shows just how much she truly cares about her students and how much they mean to her. Teaching computers has allowed her to see and help many others improve in a craft that she herself loves.
Some students in computer science don’t always start out really wanting to learn, but Bishop is really able to show them how awesome it can be : “I get students in my foundations class that are taking it just because it’s an honors class, and then they’re like ‘Ooh i like this,’ and so they want to take more and study more, and what’s great about that is I know it’s helping them because they are gonna have a great career.” I started out just wanting to try and see what it was and ended up really liking it so much that I’ve done all of the classes.
After being asked if she has a favorite moment Bishop responds with “They are such small moments, so it’s really when I hear students go “Ahh.”
I think to the foundation kids when they first do their web page and they are like “Ahh I did that,” and then they start saying, “Now what can I do?” because they see that there’s a possibility and they get connected to it. I don’t think there’s one moment.” As someone who has taken computer classes, each time you complete something yourself and figure out the formula, you start to see where else you can use it. It becomes a new tool that you have and can then combine that tool with others to make a new one. That small moment that happens so frequently becomes so important in the long run.
One of the major concerns for programming right now is AI and how that will remove the need for people to do that. Bishop thinks otherwise: “Oh I think it’s a huge need and I know people talk about artificial intelligence and that gonna you know, but it’s not going to remove anything because you still need people at the basics.”
However she still realizes the good that can come from AI: “You still have the low level software and you may use AI as it’s coming in, and it’s going to be able to help us work faster and solve some things.” AI can help in certain things, but no matter what the need for humans in programming wont fade and Bishop agrees: “but we still need a lot of people to write the AI’s and to manage that. There’s all kinds of other fields but I think we’re getting so technical that I think everyone needs it in their lives. And that’s what is so great about students becoming so passionate about it is they are part of the solution for the things we need.”
After hearing this I thought that no matter how advanced AI is you will always need people to monitor it because perfect doesn’t exist. No AI will remove the need for programming, an AI cannot innovate itself. It can not do what it isn’t told and it can’t teach itself what hasn’t been taught.
Bishop is one of the most inspiring teachers in Tuscarora High School and has gotten many to enjoy computer science. Whether you think it’s career worthy or not, understanding coding is like understanding our DNA. Knowing how things work is always useful, and the problem solving skills you will learn will stay with you forever.
