King of Code

Check out this short video on how to incorporate coding into your everyday curriculum.

Dash Flash Mob

The holidays are a time I usually dread in the classroom.  The students are extra excited, and our schedules are often interrupted for parties, assemblies, holiday concerts and travel.  I needed to think of a project that would keep the students engaged during this crazy time of year. 

Dash and Xylo from Wonder Workshop would do the trick. 

Most of my students hadn't use the Xylo app yet so time was given for them to simply explore and create.   No rules, no directions, no limits.  After 15 minutes or so, I asked the students to compose Jingle Bells or Joy to the World.  Students added synchronized movements.

Like every famous musician, the students wanted to take their show on the road.   Our Dash robot flash mob visited our music teacher's classroom, Headmaster's office, and a senior class of digital design students. 

Our students were so proud of their creative coding.

One School-One Book

All of our students have required summer reading assignments, but never the teachers. But for the first time since I've been teaching in our school (18 years), our faculty had required summer reading and IT. WAS. WONDERFUL!

Our entire faculty was asked to read The Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff.  A young panhandler surviving on the streets meets a young business woman climbing the corporate ladder.  The young woman reaches out to help the young boy, and in return, he teaches her more than she could imagine.

An Invisible Thread shows how one person, Ms. Schroff, puts aside her individual wants, needs, and desires to focus her energy enriching the life of a young boy with no expectation for anything in return.  One small McDonald's meal turned into a lifelong friendship.

This is a story of grace, kindness, and compassionate. These are necessary when working with children in the classroom as well.

As the dust settles on the whirlwind first weeks of school we also need to realize that coworkers, support staff, substitutes, parents, coaches, and bus drivers also deserves our utmost grace, kindness, and compassionate,  We need to put aside our individual wants to focus on the larger picture; our students.

Thank you, Ms Schroff, for sharing your story and inspiring our faculty.

Animal Robots

We just completed our longterm robotics and coding project.  First, the students were introduced to various components (servo motors, LEDs, duo controllers, etc).  We learned how to code each component individually.

Students were asked to build an animal that incorporated movement, sound, and light into their project.  They used GarageBand to record facts about their animals and Snap! for coding.

Talking Devices

After reading Out of My Mind and Rules (both books feature non-verbal characters), the fourth graders were inspired to create their own talking devices.  Students used Makey-Makeys and Scratch to code and construct their communicators. 

Here are some students using their devices to answer questions.  

Students testing their coding

Makey Makeys and Scratch were used for coding and construction.

Students connecting to Scratch.

Congratulations, Class of 2016

One of the advantages of teaching in a PreK-Grade 12 school is having the privilege of attending our annual commencement ceremonies.

Girls wearing floor length white gowns.  Boys all in traditional black tuxedos.  Every faculty member wearing black graduation gowns and our college alma mater's hood.

A handful of this year's graduates were in my fourth grade class.  We shared so much- canoeing, bike rodeo, field day, humor, friendships, life lessons.

I couldn't be more proud of these students and am optimistic about their futures.  Each of them made an impact on my life.

Thank you parents for sharing your greatest gift with me- your children.

Pandas, Panda, Everywhere

Our first graders were very fortunate to travel to the National Zoo and visit Bei Bei.  Throughout the year, they have been studying pandas and learning some facts along the way.

Firstie wrote and illustrated a panda book during computer class, and it was presented to the National Zoo during their field trip.  Also, they created beautiful panda masterpieces in Art class.

We combined the two projects into a panda movie.  During this project, students learned how to voice over their images.

Check out their informational movie.