Changes for 2017-2018 School Year

Changes for this school year include adjusting the student menu I used in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades, continuing research or robotics in the classroom, applying for new opportunities, and implementing new ideas such as BreakoutEDU lessons.

The student menus I used last year were comprehensive and designed to cover a year's worth of instruction. Students were required to complete the main dishes and choose from the different side dishes. The main dishes were projects that we had typically completed whole class in previous years. My goal was to allow students to choose the order in which to complete projects as well as choosing areas of interest. However, for 3rd grade students, I ran into challenges of not enough direct instruction time for the different technologies. Also, not all students completed all the main dishes, which were projects I wanted all students to complete. It was also difficult for me to assist all students since there were so many projects going at one time. Students could ask classmates for assistance since they were all working on different projects.  This year, I will have the opportunity to offer more direct instruction and we will complete all projects whole class. The menus will offer students an opportunity to work on additional projects when they complete the main project the class is working on. This will allow all students to work mastery still and complete projects at their own pace. Additional days can be offered as time permits to fie students additional class time to work on menu projects.

Last year, we had a large team of teachers and students who participated in NASA MgUE. I would like to look for more opportunities to involve the students in real-world projects. One opportunity is the Astrosat competition http://astrosat.ardusat.com/. Students submit one minute videos about what they would hope to learn from a science experiment in space for a chance to be selected to participate in the awesome project. I also look for new grant opportunities that bring new and engaging experiences my students. We received a FabSLAM grant through the Idaho STEM Action Center that provides training to two staff members on the 3D printing competition and helps them facilitate at team of students to participate in the local and possibly national competition. Please comment if  you have other opportunities that would be appropriate for K-5 students.

Finally, I tried my first BreakoutEDU https://www.breakoutedu.com/ lesson this year with students in 1-5 grades. I had a different lesson for the students in 1-3 and a more challenging lesson for students in 4-5. All the classes loved the challenge and look forward to completing another BreakoutEDU lesson. My biggest challenge was when I had a lock that I reset and managed to foul it up. I improvised and all wen well until I could cut the lock off. At times it was challenging switching between the two different lessons since I only had one class setup for the lesson. However, with time I was able to minimize the amount of time it took and became very adept at switching the codes for the various locks, except the one that had to be cut off.

There are of course other changes that I implement as needed and opportunities arise. I will try to keep up my blog this school year so that I can share successes and challenges. I would love to hear what others are doing as well.

Honeywell Educators at Space Academy 2018

Well, it's time. Time to apply for the 2018 Honeywell Educators at Space Academy https://educators.honeywell.com/application. Applications must be submitted by November 14, 2017. I applied last year and wasn't accepted. However, as I started my application this year, I was able to update my application from the previous year instead of starting from scratch.  Another nice feature to updating my application from last year is that I discovered some definite weaknesses in my previous application.

I encourage all interested educators to apply. It looks like an amazing experience and the application is not long. You have to upload an employment verification form, answer a series of questions, and submit three essay questions. Overall, it's not a bad experience and well worth any time and effort invested.  Good luck to all applicants!

2017 Power Up! Summit

My colleague, Cindy Hally, was recognized as one of the Lights On After School Champion for her work as librarian and holding makerspace for students before school. She was invited to attend the Power Up! Summit and bring a guest. We attended together and were able to have many powerful takeaways to use with our students throughout the school day and for after school groups.

Loved how they honored Cindy

She really is a champion for students

Some of our favorite sessions included how to help students in groups to develop belonging and become comfortable with other students outside of their known friends. The getting-to-know-you activity helps establish common connections between the group members by the leader sharing information about themselves until someone finds a connection with themselves. Then they link arms and the newly joined person explains the connection and begins sharing about themselves. By the end of the activity, all individuals have joined in with something in common. Another activity was using a deck of cards and having students take a card without looking at it. Then, without talking, students had to form groups that made an odd number. Once all groups had matched up, it was time to discuss the different sizes of groups and how it was not easy to always find a group. 

Another great session was the early coding activities. The Nampa team had several unplugged activities that develop student understanding of programming from the basic to more advanced skills. In addition, the coding of cup stacking was engaging and helped students understand the use of flowcharts in programming without actually labeling it as such. Cup Stacking Code! This example is much more complex than the one we were using. The simplified version could be used as early as pre-K. https://csedweek.org/files/CSEDrobotics.pdf

It's amazing what you can learn when you are open to new ideas!

2017 i-STEM Summer Institutes

I have been participating in i-STEM Summer Institutes (https://sde.idaho.gov/academic/istem/)since 2010. The only year I missed was 2016 when I was recovering from finishing my dissertation. i-STEM is a coordinated effort by the State Department of Education, Idaho Professional-Technical Education, educators, businesses, and industry to support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Teaching Teachers

The first three years I participated, I was taking part in strands such as I3 - Imagine, Innovate, Invent and LEGO Mindstorms NXT. This is where I actually got my start in using robotics in my classroom. The following years I began to teach strands as a provider. My first year was teaching LEGO Mindstorms integration, followed by two years of teaching LEGO WeDo integration, and finally this summer 3D printing integration. I have always taught with a colleague, but this year my daughter taught with me.

Pivothead Glasses

The great part about i-STEM is that not only do you receive training on the technology or instructional practices, but you also receive the materials to teach your newly acquired skills. Participants received a robotics kit in the past, and this summer receive a 3D printer to keep and use in their classrooms. In addition, there is also another piece of technology all the strands receive along with training. This summer all participants received Pivothead glasses for easily recording videos on the go.

We had a great week!

If you are an Idaho educator and have not heard of or participated in i-STEM Summer Institutes, I encourage you to look for registration through the Idaho STEM Action Center (https://stem.idaho.gov/). In the past registration has started on March 1 and strands fill quickly.

#Picademy in Boise, ID

The Idaho STEM Action Center helped to bring Picademy to Boise, ID. During early July, I was able to participate in the informative two-day training. I had never used Raspberry Pi before, and didn't really understand what it was or how it might be used in the classroom. I did have a little experience coding in C++ and Python. The great thing about Raspberry Pi is it can be programmed using Python or Scratch. Students in my elementary engineering class learn a little with Scratch, and there is an after school group that programs robots in Python. Raspberry Pi allows students to transfer skills we have already been learning to other applications. In addition, there numerous resources for teaching and learning how to use Raspberry Pi (https://www.raspberrypi.org/).

Curriculum available through RaspberryPi.org

The first day of the academy, we learned and explored at a quick pace. There are so many possibilities for using Raspberry Pi, and we experienced a quick overview. We also had hands-on activities to test our own skills.

Learning how to build and program lights on the bread board

On the second day, we worked on a group project based on interest, presented the final result, and graduated to certified Raspberry Pi Educator. Today I received my first order of Raspberry Pi products to get projects going in the classroom. I have collected monitors, keyboards, and mice to get things started. I can't wait to see it all coming together. I would definitely recommend applying to a Picademy https://www.raspberrypi.org/training/. Watch for updates on Raspberry Pi projects.

Bathroom checkout system

Proud to graduate!

USPTO National Summer Teacher Institute

A colleague and I made a trip to Denver, CO in July to take part in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 2017 National Summer Teacher Institute (https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/outreach-and-education/national-summer-teacher-institute). We applied in spring to attend and the Idaho STEM Action Center helped us get there by offering grants for travel related expenses.

Our first evening there we met the cohort and USPTO staff. The staff member at our table told us that it was more like a boot camp than an institute. We all laughed while she looked on. We learned the next day, it wasn't a joke.

Day 1- 2017 NSTI

Our schedule, including working on the group project, consisted of 12 hour days, if not longer. However, the experience was well worth the hours invested. We learned throughout the day about patents, trademarks, copyrights, inventing, tinkering, and more. 

Tinkering Station

Steve Davee was an amazing speaker and discussed tinkering and makerspace.

He also has two books that are available in free downloads.

NBC Learn educational resources

In the evenings, groups worked on the Teacher Innovator Challenge. Deciding on an invention was the hardest part of the challenge. However, the process of going through the invention process helped developed strong connections between the learning throughout the day. In addition, it provided insight to how students may feel working on similar projects.

Enjoying the beautiful DU campus on the way back from lunch

Dr. Richard Charles from Cherry Creek School District in Denver shared about the innovation taking place in their district and discussed the use of makerspace.

Day 2-2017 NSTI

On the second day of the institute we dove into patents and patent searches. We heard from Nokero's CEO Steve Katsaros from Rome. It is amazing how helping people is a strong motivation for inventions. Eric Payne from NREL also spoke in the evening and shared his passion for inventing and how it relates to the projects at NREL.

Day 3-NSTI

Trademarks were the emphasis for the third day. The USPTO has numerous resources available on their website for inventors and educators https://www.uspto.gov/.

So many resources were shared throughout the week

Warner Brothers

Day 4-NSTI

Day four brought more amazing information on copyrights, inspirational talks from Doug Scott, educator, and Jacqueline Ros, founder and CEO of Revolar. In the evening, we presented all our hard work on the group projects to a panel of professionals involved in inventing, patents, etc.

Art

Creativity was emphasized throughout the institute with opportunities to practice activities we could share with our students.

Music

Games

On the fifth day, we toured NREL, which is an amazing facility, and made our way to the airport after lunch. Many of us had difficulty making it out due to a summer storm over the Denver Airport. However, I used some of that time in the airport to reflect on the institute while it was fresh and develop my opportunities for implementation into my elementary engineering classroom. Travel issues aside, it was an amazing week full of professional growth.

Implementation Plans

Global Conference on Educational Robotics

It was a busy summer with professional opportunities. So busy, that it has taken almost three months to have time to share. The first two weeks of the new school year are behind me. As usual, I will be making changes based on the new information on instructional practices I have learned throughout the summer. One big change is moving my robotics instructions for fourth and fifth grade students, as well as my after school groups, towards the Junior Botball robot (https://www.juniorbotballchallenge.org/).

I have tried and used various robotics platforms during elementary engineering instruction, after school groups, and makerspace. LEGO robotics, WeDo and Mindstorms, have been the predominant robotics used. These are fantastic because they come with a variety of curriculum and are easy to start using whether experienced with robotics or not. Other robotics formats include Cubit and Edison. All of these platforms have pros and cons. The Cubit robot is a platform that allows students to see the inner components of the robot and demystifies the hardware components. Edison robots are easy to use and do not require any formal programming since the robot can scan programmed bar-codes to program the robot for specific tasks. In fact, these robots were used to hold a school-wide sumobot challenge because students of all ages could program the robots either using the bar-codes or drag and drop. In fact, all of the robots, LEGO, Cubit, and Edison, use a drag and drop programming platform. Junior Botball is the first robotics platform I have experienced that is designed for students from kindergarten through high school and requires the students to program in C++ or Python.

Junior Botball does not use a drag and drop interface but instead teaches the students a programming language. I was able to see students as young as first grade programming at the Global Conference on Educational Robotics (GCER). The competition portion of GCER (http://new.gcer.net/) had different divisions including elementary, middle school/high school, and adult. In addition to the competition, GCER held various sessions for coaches and students. The sessions included how to implement Junior Botball, programming and engineering instruction, and much more. The overall feel of GCER was that of a learning experience. This was one of the best aspects of competing in the Junior Botball division at GCER. The students worked to complete individual challenges rather than competing against another team. This approach helped to build friendships between the different teams and allow students to work towards their personal bests. So, not only were elementary students' fingers flying over the keyboards programming in C++ or Python, but participants were also placed in a low stress situation of learning that could be as competitive as students wanted. This was a refreshing experience compared to other student competitions I have participated in as a coach. I look forward to growing my Junior Botball group and school and seeing students walk away from the program with an actual programming language in their tool kit rather than just a drag and drop experience.