I am beginning my second time of teaching out of HtDP/2e at the high school level. My experience last time I taught it (3 years ago) was similar to what Carmack

I am beginning my second time of teaching out of HtDP/2e at the high school level. My experience last time I taught it (3 years ago) was similar to what Carmack describes. There are many advantages to the DrRacket environment and the Racket language (or BSL teaching language) for teaching beginners, and I think HtDP teaches some valuable design techniques and disciplines. I also felt that the approach to drawing taught in HtDP became awkward as things got complicated, so I appreciate some of the advice given in the thread. I may try some of these things this semester. I may also try jumping out of BSL into full Racket at some point so that we can use some more advanced features.