Ins and Outs of Elementary Engineering

I'm working on getting a little more organized for substitutes and such. I have started a document that gives general guidelines for different materials in the lab and classroom management techniques. My classroom setup is that of a specialist. I see 22 classes each week, 1st - 5th grades for one hour and kindergarten for a half an hour. There are four classes each of kindergarten through 3rd grade with a maximum of 24 students in each class. There are three classes each of 4th and 5th grades with a maximum of 32 students in each class. At each grade level there are approximately 96 students. This poses challenges for project storage and managing materials that are shared at a grade level and between grade levels.  Below is the link to the live document as I create it. Feel free to take a look and also check back for updates and improvements.

Elementary Engineering Notes

#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!