Bill MacKenty

My name is Bill MacKenty, and I teach high school computer science at the American School of Warsaw. I grew up on Martha's Vineyard, a beautiful little island off the coast of Massachusetts.

As a lifelong geek I enthusiastically share my passion, energy and expertise about programming and computers. There is nothing more satisfying than watching a kid "get it". I've served as a senior leader in educational technology, and worked for many years in educational technology. What really floats my boat is teaching and coding.

I am a web-application developer, specializing in creating customized web-based applications that provide superb service. I am proficient in creating solutions with PHP, Python, and I am becoming proficient in Javascript. I develop and administrate in the Linux, Apache, MySQL environment, and I am experienced using ExpressionEngine, a superbly secure CMS. I think VSCode is a really wonderful code editor.

I am insatiably curious, devoted to learning, never satisfied, and always looking to improve. I am especially interested in supporting inclusivity in computer science.

I have a special professional interest in games in education, and using games as powerful tools to create meaningful learning. I write about games at balanced gaming where I look for a discerned approach to using games in education. I haven't quite found the right permutation of this yet, but I'm trying.

I'm personally and professionally interested in sustainability including sustainability in energy, food and water. I am interested in camping, bushcraft, games, and being a loving present father and husband. I live in Poland, and love it here.

Academic Positions

  • Present 2015

    IB Computer Science Educator

    American School of Warsaw, Warsaw

  • Present 2016

    MYP Design Educator

    American School of Warsaw, Warsaw

  • 2015 2010

    Director of Technology

    American School of Warsaw, Warsaw

  • 2010 2006

    Instructional Designer

    Hunter College Campus Schools, New York City

  • 2006 2001

    Elementary School Computer Educator

    Edgartown School, Edgartown

Education & Training

  • IB MYP Design category 1 2016

    MYP Category 1 certificate training for design

    Warsaw

  • IB DP computer science category 1 2016

    IB Diploma Program Computer Science category 1 training

    Online

  • Teaching CS50 2015

    Led by CS50 staff, I learned how to teach CS50 computer science

    London

  • ITIL - Managing technology 2014

    Service operations and ITIL foundations

    Ireland

  • Prince 2 2013

    Managing projects with PRINCE 2

    London

  • Leadership and Administration 2009

    School Administrator Certificate

    Hunter College, City Univeristy of New York

  • Instructional Technology 2005

    Certificate in Educational Technology

    Northeastern University

  • M.Ed.1998

    Master of Education

    Keene State College

  • B.A.1992

    Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and History

    Franklin Pierce University, New Hamphire

I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.

Of Note...

  • 2019 - 2020
    11th grade team leader
    Supporting and guiding colleagues is a tremendously rewarding exerpience. Bringing effective communication, organization and teacher agency into a team is important and meaningful work.
  • 2018 - 2019
    Computer club and D&D club
    I'm still surprised, in an era of high-end graphical video games Dungeons and Dragons carries cachet. But, kids love it, so I keep encouraging it (version 5). I also designed and delivered an after school computer club. We built a simple javascript game, ye olde quivering communist zombies (link here). The online version lags behind the development code, which can be found at this github repository.
  • 2018
    Student reflection and learning tool
    Designed and deployed a service to support better high school computer science learning. Learning is improved when students are actively reflecting on their progress. Explicit student-centered goals support better understanding. Clear knowledge of the gap between current skill & understanding and desired skill & understanding support stronger learning. Authentic meaningful dialog between peers and teachers improves understanding. Click here to learn more.
  • 2018
    10th grade solving complex problems through programming
    Continued to grow the computer science program at ASW. Designed and delivered a new course "solving complex problems through programming" for 10th grade students. Substantially added content and learning experiences for students on computersciencewiki.org. All students were exposed to industry-leading tools and practices such as the bootstrap framework, github, professional IDE's, API's, and advanced programming.
  • 2017
    IB Computer Science
    Designed and deployed the IB Computer Science curriculum (standard and higher level) from scratch. Click here to learn more.
  • 2016
    9th grade designing solutions through programming
    Continued to grow the computer science program at ASW. Designed and delivered an additional entry-level course "designing solutions through programming" for 9th grade students. Substantially added content and learning experiences for students on computersciencewiki.org. All students were exposed to industry-leading tools and practices such as the bootstrap framework, professional IDE's, and working on the Linux command line.
  • 2014 - 2015
    Professional Development Request System
    Designed and built a web application which manages professional development requests. The system emails relevant parties when a request has been created, updated, approved, or returned. Allows tracking and better facilitation of professional development requests. Built the system using Expression Engine and a LAMP stack. External customers of this system were happy with the savings in time.
  • 2012 - 2013
    Technology Coach Evaluation
    How do we know technology coaches are doing a good job? This isn't a trivial or meangingless question. Because technology is often poorly understood (and managed) in schools, getting this answer right is important. In this project we answered the question "what does a good technology coach know and do". Our school never fully adopted these guidelines but I am very pleased with the collaborative work we did to create this instrument. I think it is a light of clarity in the oft murkey waters of technology in education.
  • 2010-2014
    Major system transitions to OS X / google / powerschool
    I collaboratively led the drive to powerschool, OS X and google applications. Fortunately, I was surrounded by great people with great skills. All three of these changes made our school a better place. Now, new systems do not a better school make. But the effort into managing the "technology-as-service" was well worth it; these systems are supporting student learning.