We need Dash Robot kits, Code Challenge card box sets, and video building kits to teach our students the fundamentals of coding. Students love to learn when the doing & building is fun.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
About My Students
My students are curious, innovative and excited about science. I know this might sound hard to believe because so many people remember science class as "that difficult class" that they had to "survive" or get away from, but in my classroom science is "that class" where students refuse to leave, even when the bell rings.
This project is being submitted by several 6th graders who would like to learn how to code. We are a Science and Engineering school in the heart of East Flatbush, where most students don't have the opportunity to program or code because those classes are not available to them.
My students would like to learn how to code. However, 75% of them shared that they have never coded and have no idea what coding is about. Our STEAM classes are designed to introduce students to technology via coding and to allow them to learn about science, technology and math by solving real world problems. To prepare our students for the 21st century it is important for them to learn how to code and to understand engineering principles.
Marco ran up to me and asked if I heard of Dash Robot. I had to think a moment before I realized that he was asking about an Android that younger kids program and code to complete specific missions. He asked if he could learn how to code using this robot, it seems that his younger brother was learning about coding using this robot and he wanted to do the same. Using this robot students must learn how to problem solve and work collaboratively to solve coding problems. Kids can develop technology skills, beginning with simple controls, then learning to draw path around obstacles.
In Their Own Words
The first goal we are trying to accomplish is to learn how to draw a path around obstacles and then program our robot to follow that code to go around the obstacles, this is like a self driving car that can be programed to go from one place to another.
At our school we take on several leadership roles such as "team leader" or we mentor several students who may be struggling, this project will give us the opportunity to work as a team as we solve several missions by coding our robot to follow our codes. We know that we are smart enough to learn how to program robots and to understand how to create video games.
This project is important to us because we would like to learn how to code, as well as create our own video games. Our teacher Ms. J is always telling us to become producers instead of consumers. She encourages us to create products instead of buying them all the time. We want to prepare for future jobs that requires us to learn how to code such as being a computer programmer. Dash robot can help us learn how to code while were working together.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Jennings and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
