Keep It Up Buttercup

I finally had a few spare minutes to finalize the costumes and props I have been using with my students to add a little flair to our Ozobot Bits.  I was able to play with these robots over the summer with a group of science camp kiddos who had just completed 2nd-4th grades.  As part of our free explore, some students created the Ozo Town you see below. The town had everything from a bowling alley-the mini bowling pins came with the classroom kit I was using.  It was a great way for the kids to practice drawing lines of correct thickness and corners the Bit could navigate.  The swimming pools were actually a nice touch because Ozo  will cruise around the blue ink enjoying himself until he finds another path to a different part of the city.  This was a pre-code lesson so the kids were unaware you could add speed, direction and point codes to their map, but that would be a great addition...more on that lesson to come. I also let the class dress up their Bits with props and cost

Are you looking for a simple way to add more instructional technology into your school or classroom...Ozobots could be your answer!. These tiny little codable robots are so easy my two toddlers have them on and cruising on code within minutes. I have experience with the smaller and cheaper version the Bit (left image), but there is a more advanced Evo (right image) available now as well.The bit is about $60 but I have seen it on sale for $45 and the Evo is usually $99 but sale price was $75.  I always check the ozobot official website for new bots and accessories. When I used them I found some great activities in the ozobot education page.  Since I taught 2nd and 3rd graders, I used the 3-5 beginners guid e I found.  Always begin with calibration on paper followed by color coding with markers. I followed most of this guide and taught the kids how draw thick consistent lines, corners and paths ways for the Ozo Bit to follow.  I then moved into adding blocks of color code. 

Does your school have the Renaissance AR program?  I have taught with and without the program and have to say I really like having it as an extra tool to measure my kids independent reading comprehension.  The year I didn't have it, I found myself struggling to assess and hold my student accountable for the just right books I was asking them to read each day.  Plus the goal setting option is a big motivator for even struggling students because it usually means there's a prize involved. If you are unfamiliar with AR, it begins with a reading test which is adaptive to the student responses.  The test for my primary age students is about 36 questions, however, if the student gets three of the practice problems wrong at the beginning they are prompted to end the test.  So your early readers may not score until they can read a bit.  It typically takes about 30+ minutes, depending on the kiddo to take the test.  If they are getting the answers correct, the passages and vocabulary s

All right, I hope your adventure with the Wedo kit has been enjoyable thus far, now to make it more motivating.  I had students for about 10 hours over a period of 3 days working on the kits.  I created some basic challenges for them to maintain a high level of motivation and enthusiasm. To begin I created a google slide with my students names and a blank space for points.  As a class we decided that a successful guided project with working code earned 10 points. For instance, a helicopter from the drop and rescue project which pulled and lowered objects got 10 points for the student(s) who create it.  We then determined that if your robot won any challenges again another robot you or your team earned 5 extra points while a 2nd place would earn 3 points. I asked the kids to alert me when they were finished with a build, show me the code they created and boom I went right to our google slide and added in 10 points by their name. I quickly realized tracking wins in the below challeng

Have you heard about Lego's latest version of their codeable robots for primary students?  I have been teaching a summer camp sponsored by a local college this summer and I am IN LOVE with the WeDo 2.0 kit.  Click the image to learn more. It is a set for primary aged students, maybe 1st-4th grade.  It costs about $190 for one set, but they are amazing.  I have 10 sets so each kiddo was able to get their own, but they could easily be shared by 2 or 3 students as well. The kit comes with 280 building pieces, a nice tub with a lid (which is awesome for stacking when you're done), 2 sensors and a smarthub (battery pack).  It also comes  with a bluetooth dongle you plug into a computer if you need it, otherwise you just need to download the free wedo 2.0 software from Lego. The set up is easy peasy...just buy the kit and download the software (link above).  I was using desktops in a computer lab set up so I also utilized the bluetooth dongles. More on troubleshooting

Yep, it's official.  I have left my school district of 11 years and made the move to a smaller district closer to my home.  Why? Because I love my kids and I became a teacher so I could be a part of their lives at school.  My oldest will be starting kindergarten and it was always my hope that we could go to school together and that I could actually see him every day.  I can't wait to pop in his room during a class party or see him perform at an assembly.  Daycare drop off has caused me severe mom guilt for the last 5 years and now I am one step closer to lessening that feeling.  Thankfully I accepted my new position in January so I had time to plan my move.  Transfering also forced me to declutter and purge all of that accumulated stuff. I set a goal to go through one drawer or crate each week and thoroughly-we're talking literally touching every single piece of paper by the end of each week.  I spent about 30 minutes each week and it paid off because by May when I was read