This year our PTO purchased a set of ozobot robots as part of our new weCreate Studio. I used ozobots in my Innovation Club and couldn’t wait to have the opportunity to have fifteen hours dedicated to using them :)) So, the next part of my day in summer school consisted of two coding classes. I had a class with students entering 1st grade through 3rd grade and another class with students entering 4th grade through 6th grade. Both classes had 18 students enrolled as I had 18 ozobots available.
Ozobots are mini robots that follow code from a variety of sources. I love using ozobots because of their flexibility and differentiated approach to teach coding to students. With ozobots, you begin by drawing a line on paper and watch the ozobot follow the line. The next step is to add color codes to the line. The ozobot reads the code and then follows that code. Finally, the user logs into ozoblockly.com to write block codes for the ozobot to read. Within the ozoblockly site, there are several different levels the user can utilize from beginner to advanced.
I used lessons from the ozobot website to guide my instruction. My goal for the end of the session was to have the students create a maze and then write the code for the ozobot to complete the maze. Below you can see the schedule I followed.
The ozobot website has so many resources that makes using this tool so incredibly easy, even if you have never coded before. I highly recommend including ozobots in your Stem lab or classroom. If funds are low, you can always try creating a project on DonorsChoose.org or even check your local library, they might have a set you can check out!
Now that…Is Positively Techie !
How do you use ozobots in your classroom? I’d love to know!
The countdown of days is on the board, students are more chatty than usual, and the scent of a sweaty, almost sixth grader hits you when you walk in the room…
It’s coming quickly to an end. A school year with my little family of fifth graders. I have spent more waking hours with these kiddos than my own children and I love them all dearly. I have learned all about their lives, I know their mannerisms, their little quirks, their strengths and their weaknesses. I look forward to seeing them each and every day. It is amazing how much a child grows and changes in ten months. It’s amazing how educators grow and change in a school year…
The end of the school year means a time to reflect, a time to think about the next little family of students that will be coming my way in the fall. What worked, what didn’t, what I can do better, what I will try new next year? The questions, thoughts, and ideas keep swirling in my head. As much as I don’t want this year to end, I can’t help but think about how I can be a better teacher, learner, facilitator, and leader next year.
The biggest change for me this school year was turning my classroom into a flexible learning space. It by far was THE BEST idea I had all year! The positive response from the parents, students, and other staff members was overwhelming. The students tell me how much easier it is for them to learn in my classroom because “they don’t feel confined”, “they are comfortable”, “they can focus on their learning and not on the fact that they are sitting where they don’t want to sit”. The thing about my classroom is it’s not only about the furniture. “Flexible” was more of our motto all year. WE were flexible. Students had the choice of where to sit any time of day. They had to make the right choice everyday to ensure they got their work done. To my amazement, the majority of the time, they made perfect choices for themselves! I gave them the power to take some control of their learning and they used their power wisely. Next year, I already have plans to make a few changes and add a few fun pieces of furniture (and hopefully ditch my desk – if I can find it a new home).
I was able to teach all the fifth graders during a designated “tech time”. I worked with students on projects dedicated to Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts as well as a few techie lessons to build their technology tool kit. We had Mystery Skypes, wrote blogs, and worked on many projects including a few of my favorites the “Shark Tank” project, a Mother’s Day video, and a digital memory book. Our local Apple Store in Oak Brook, IL. sent out two members of their Creative Team to lead workshops to teach the students about the Apple apps on their iPads. The team came out several times throughout the school year and helped the students create a digital memory book. This “book” is a memoir of their life from birth through fifth grade. It includes photos, video, student created background music, and a voice over of the students telling their stories and memories for each year of their life. These are truly going to be memorable keepsakes for years to come!
Mother’s Day Project
Towards the end of the year I started an Innovation Club and began the creation of the weCreate Lab at our school. I met with K-2 graders and 3-4 graders to introduce them to technology tools that will be available to them next year in the weCreate Lab. My favorite item is theozobot robots. I LOVE how ANYONE who can draw a line can make the robot move from one place to another. I am also loving the fact that students build on their expertise and eventually code on the computer to lead their robot from one place to the next. I spent a few sessions with Snap Circuits andlittleBits. The students easily caught on and understood how everyday items get their power through circuits. I gave students challenges to make the light dim, make the fan turn on, and turn a light different colors. It was rewarding to see how the students, even Kindergartners, kept trying and didn’t give up until they figured it out. The excitement and joy they showed when they finally met the challenge was awesome! The last couple of sessions we will be exploring the Makey Makey Kits. Students this year got a taste of the new technology tools available to them, but next year, we will really be able to dig in and go through the whole design thinking process.
Subscribe to John Spencer on You Tube!
I want my students to be risk takers, therefore I hold myself to that same standard. Each year I try new things. Either I expand on what I’m already doing or I try something completely new. A couple of new ideas didn’t work out quite as I planned. This year I tried The Global Read Aloud for the first time. The Global Read Aloud is a global phenomenon created by the amazing Pernille Ripp @pernilleripp. Books are chosen each year and classrooms around the globe read the same book and connect to discuss the book through Edmodo, blogging, Skype, etc. I set up 2 classes for my class to connect with and we actually did connect with one class. It was not easy to get all of the assigned chapters read each week and the class that we actually did connect with didn’t participate much. I love the idea behind The Global Read Aloud, but I also feel that in order for it to work both classes need to really commit to participating fully.
Next year I want to improve on so many things. I want to schedule more Mystery Skypes. After the first Mystery Skype I ever did, I never wanted to give another map worksheet. The amount of authentic geography learning that happens during a Mystery Skype is astounding! Everything I know and have used on Mystery Skype I got from another amazing educator Paul Solarz @PaulSolarz. I planned on participating in blogging challenges with my students, but I didn’t. That will definitely be on my goal sheet for next year. I also want to learn and use Google Classroom to it’s fullest potential. It was a helpful tool to send out and collect assignments however I know it could be used for so much more! I follow Alice Keeler on Twitter @alicekeeler. She is THE ONE to turn to if you want to know anything Google. I will be researching all things Google as well as work on getting my Google Certified Educator Levels 1 and 2 this summer.
Of course I have some new things up my sleeve that I can’t wait to try next year. I am super excited for Breakout EDU to arrive. This is a game that promotes collaboration, teamwork, problem solving, the list goes on. The goal is to unlock the box in a specific amount of time. There are several different scenarios with clues to a mystery that needs to be solved. You work together to solve the mysteries and unlock the box. I want to start the year off with a Breakout EDU game at one of our Institute Days. This way, the staff can see first hand how students can build bonds through the collaboration and teamwork involved in opening the box. A PERFECT back to school activity!!
I am looking forward to connecting Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards to activities in the weCreate Lab and designing some novel engineeringactivities. I also signed up to receive the Idea Box from the James Dyson Foundation. I am excited to learn more about Hyperdocs and create some for the upcoming school year. I want to tip my toe into gamification and figure out what it is all about. I am sure there are things I don’t even know I want to learn about. The summer days are a great time to learn more about amazing ways to integrate technology into the classroom. How are YOU growing as an educator this summer? Is there something you want to learn more about?
I am looking forward to spending time with my “real” family, sleeping a little bit later in the morning, lounging by the pool, and going for long, quiet walks. But I will also be thinking, designing, creating, learning, and doing everything I can to be…well – better.
One of my goals for the new year is to create as many opportunities as possible for my students to be curious, to be imaginative, to become planners, and collaborative risk takers who create. In other words, I want my students to become innovative!
“Shark Tank” Unit
Our fifth grade team created a “Shark Tank” Unit which is perfect for creating the environment to make innovation happen in my classroom. Students will research an invention that is valuable to their everyday life. They will find out:
Inventor
Invention
Problem invention solved
The process from idea to production
Timeline of dates – i.e.. Idea, patent, production, first sale, etc..
Struggles/roadblocks inventor encountered
Cost/Profit/Financial info
Then, the students will brainstorm an everyday problem they have and think of ways to solve the problem. Students will present a variety of information:
Invention name
The problem it solves
Share a visual/ graphic aide showing what it looks like
A description of how it works
Materials used/needed, “starting plan” on how it will be built/assembled
Itemized cost of materials per unit/Total Cost to build/Selling price per unit/Profit CAN include marketing material (brochures, infomercial, packaging, etc…)
The presentations will be given “Shark Tank” style and a few students from each class will be chosen (invested in) to work with other students to build their invention. Check back in March to see the completed inventions!
Innovation Club & Lab
Not only do I want to create this opportunity for my own students, but I want to create it for other students at my school too. I am hearing about more and more schools with “maker spaces” and was inspired and excited to get one started at my school too! I was extremely fortunate to have our PTO provide the funds to purchase materials for an “Innovation Club & Lab” at my school 🙂 I will be sponsoring an after school club and the materials will be available for teachers to “check out” so they can use them in their own classroom. There are so many materials out there, it was really hard to choose the best ones to meet the school’s needs. I wanted to choose materials that would not only create an environment where students could be innovative, but were also teacher friendly, so teachers would feel comfortable to use the materials too.
Makey Makey Kits
Use the supplied circuit board, alligator clips and a computer to turn ANYTHING into a keyboard. Beginners to advanced creators can have fun while typing a letter to creating an elaborate device.
LittleBits
Magnetic bits fit together to create a circuit. Follow the directions to start a fan, turn on a light, or create your own invention.
ozobot
A tiny robot that teaches robotics and programming. Students can program using either a drawn color code or a more advanced block-based code. This robot can play games, dance, and much more!
Snap Circuits
Follow the color coded manual to snap together circuits to create a variety if electrical items SAFELY or create your own.
JustStand V2
This iPad stand can be for stop motion and video creation. Can also be used as a document camera – bonus 🙂
What I LOVE about all of these products is that they can be differentiated to meet the varying level of each student. All students from K-H.S. can use these products and be challenged, the product grows with the student’s level of mastery, imagination and creativity.
My dream is to eventually have a full “Innovation Lab” at my school, one similar to Creative Learning Systems Smart Labs. I know it will take time and I am confident it will be the norm in the future. I will continue to take small steps until I get to where I believe we need to be in education. If you are interested in taking steps with me, comment below and we can take the journey together!
Institute Day… Yep, we had one yesterday. The majority of teachers dread these days, especially when they have to listen to a speaker for hours on a topic they can’t relate to, have a million other things on their to do list that keeps swirling in their head all day long, or they don’t feel they need to know the information for their particular role in the school. I have a feeling yesterday was one of those days. However, I truly believe the topic was important for EVERYONE in education.
I thought a lot about the presentation that I heard yesterday and am weirdly intrigued. The presentation yesterday on The Next Generation Science Standards shed some light onto what needs to happen in education so we can prepare our children for the future in a world we can’t even imagine. Something that was said motivated me to share my thoughts about the future of education. I think about the future of education ALL THE TIME – I picture my perfect, futuristic classroom and try to figure out how I can incorporate as much of my vision into the school day as I can without taking away from the things I have to do.
My perfect futuristic classroom is a place where I have complete control on what I “teach” as long as by the end of the year, the Common Core Standards and the NGSS are mastered. There wouldn’t be specific blocks of time that I had to “teach” math or language arts during. I would be more of a facilitator or a coach that would create opportunities for my students to engage in purposeful, meaningful projects that encourage them to use life long skills. I would provide real world experiences that would connect my students with other classrooms around the world so they can meet people from other cultures and have time for conversations and to collaborate on projects that can benefit others. I would foster a platform where my students can share their voice, their projects, their innovative thinking to help develop communication skills that will assist them in the work place someday. I would provide a space where my students could make choices so they can be comfortable, free of distractions, and start learning how/where they work best. My classroom would have materials that would allow my students to explore, be creative, innovative, and produce products beyond our wildest imaginations. My classroom would be filled with energy, excitement, and a love for learning. My classroom would be filled with students who are prepared for our future world.
I have a vision of the types of students I want to create and yet there are so many barriers in place. I don’t have the freedom to do everything I want and I realize I must take baby steps until everyone else can catch up and get on board. So my question/problem is, “How do I get everyone on board?”. I know that with each baby step I take, there is a risk involved. The presenter yesterday, in so many words, said we are born curious- We are born risk takers- We are born wanting to constantly learn and figure out new things. Somewhere along the way, our children have had their desire to explore, learn, innovate, and take risks squashed. In a world with a future that is changing quicker than the blink of an eye, why is that we are still so afraid to change ourselves and the way we “teach” our children? How are we supposed to prepare our students to succeed in this ever so changing world and allow them to explore and want to take risks and become innovators if we aren’t willing to do it ourselves? I ask that you start becoming a risk taker. Start reflecting on the world around us, think about how you teach your own child and/or your students. Are YOU doing everything you can to prepare our children to become successful in this world full of technology and innovation? If not…take a risk, take a baby step.
Positively Techie 