What makes my students special? All students are special! I am honored to teach from 18-22 students per class who are from various races, cultures, and backgrounds but I do not describe them that way. All of my students are the same in my eyes.
What's not to love?
I have some of the best students in the country. They love to learn using the hands-on approach. It's really boring to have to sit in a chair all day five days a week, listen to a teacher lecture, and then be expected to complete worksheets. As a college professor once told me, "the mind is only good as long as the seat can endure." So, with this being said, my goal is to break up this routine in my science class with some fun coding activities every Friday that will have my students up and out of their seats exercising their bodies and minds.
Most of the students that I have the honor to teach are from low-income homes due to the fact that we live in a small rural area of Arkansas. These students truly appreciate and welcome new exciting opportunities that make their learning fun and more meaningful.
My Project
Coding is a skill that is not only necessary for our world of technology, but when given a chance to experience it through hands-on activities, students will thrive. Our students are being prepared for college and careers from the first day of their school years. Coding knowledge will take our students to the next level making them more competitive whether they plan to attend college or go directly into the career field.
We are needing some Sphero Ollies to use as a fun way to learn coding.
Ollies incorporate STEAM activities through robotics and technology. Using Ollies, students can experience "real-world" coding activities. Without coding my students will fall behind in the growing world of technology.
Another way we will be using these Ollies is at an annual science competition at our local educational cooperative. In this competition, a team of up to three students are given five minutes at a maze table. In this five minutes, they must sketch the maze and label the measurements of each section. Then, the students are given an hour to recreate the maze by placing tape on the floor and code their device to go through the maze. In this activity, not only are the children coding their Ollies, they are also using math skills to measure and recreate the maze. Literacy is also being incorporated because each team must keep an engineering notebook logging all practice trials as well as a biography about each team member.
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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 Mrs. Brevik and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
