And That's The End

All good things must come to an end...

...but this is not the end of Lincoln Technology Club. This was such a great learning experience for all of us, and ideas are already in the works for next year. Whether we like it or not, technology is going to be a huge part of our children's future. We need to continue to make our children "future ready" and prepare them for jobs that do not even exists yet. Imagine the day when children want to dress up like a coder, a robot counselor, or a social media manager for Halloween! Until next year...

Keep on creating, learning, and innovating!

One Last Movie From The Girls and Evans Stop Motion

Check out Evans stop motion video he created at home! 

Stop! Collaborate and Listen

Tech Club members got a taste of stop-motion video today. We downloaded the FREE app Stop Motion Studio. I brought in some animal figures and set up three "studios", each with an iPad and white backdrop. The kids figured out how to work the app within seconds and off they went! Stop motion is great digital way to tell a story.

As much as we tried to tell them how important it was to hold the camera in one spot they seemed to keep picking it up. Here is some of the finished products. Not bad for the first time! 

 

Over the past few weeks not only have these kids grown in their understanding and use of technology, but they have really been able to practice speaking, listening, and collaboration skills to Learn, Create, and Innovate with one another. 

We leave you with an encore performance from our Movie Ladies...

Oh! And we had brownies (see last week's blog post). I may have accidently started eating one before I took the pic. 

 

Week 6: Just a Mix

This tech club was just a mix of some things we have been learning these past few weeks. We did a little making, designing, playing, and creating. All verbs I LOVE to hear in education!

Making: 
Griffin gets the Thinker award this week. He took home the materials from the Bristlebot activity last week and came back Tuesday with a working product. I am proud of his perseverance and determination! 

Design: 
For the design focus this week, we work with the design cycle. The kids were asked to design brownies using a modified IB design cycle. Click here for the directions and hand out. The kids were given each a box of brownies and asked to complete the investigate, plan, and design portion of the cycle. Their homework this week is to go home and create the brownies, and then evaluate how they turned out. 

Play: 

The kids had some free time today just to play. Many of them picked games to play on the computers, some of the kids had fun playing with the iPads and...

Created: 

This! Enjoy! 

BristleBots and Failure

Technology is science.

Science is messy.

Messy is inquiry.

Inquiry is learning.

Therefore, 

Learning is messy.

"A bristlebot is an extremely simple form of walking robot. It is one of the simplest of all mobile robots, both in its function and its construction. As a result of this ease of construction, they have become popular projects at the school science fair level."

Today in technology club we attempted to make britslebots. The kids were given the materials they needed: the head of a toothbrush, double sided tape, a watch battery, and a micro vibrating motor. We showed them a picture example and the model bristlebot I had made. I explained that I was not extremely successful and had tried a few different configurations with the battery and motor and I tried a few different toothbrush styles. My challenge to them was to be scientists and use the skill of inquiry to see if they could get there bristlebot to move forward on a flat surface. The kids took right to the task of making these "simple robots". 

As the kids dove in, Mr. Jackson helped cut and strip motor wires while I passed out more tape. "I NEED MORE TAPE!". Some of the kids quickly got the motors to run off the battery. Mr. Jackson and I then helped kids troubleshoot how to get the battery and motor attached to the toothbrush. 

Most of the kids could get the bristlebot built, it was getting it to move forward on a flat surface that was causing trouble. Here is what a bristlebot is suppose to do:

 

Ours looked more like this: 

Mr. Jackson and I continued to encourage the kids with questions and possible correctives and asked them to go back to the drawing board, like a scientist or inventor would do. But, here is what we found interesting. Many of the students, when not successful the first or second time got very frustrated. Some wanted to give up, some just wanted us to give them the answer (even though we did not have an answer), some got mad but went back to the drawing board. We had a few successful bristlebots, I few kids that wanted to take the materials home to keep trying (parents send me a picture or video if they get them to go) and a few who still think we are crazy. 

As a parent and an educator, what I learned most today is how important it is for us to teach our children that failure is ok. That some of our best learning comes out of failure, just because you failed the first time does not mean that you can not be successful. As adults, we need to model failure and the problem-solving skills we use to make our failure a success. 

Learning is messy, and messy is ok. 

P.S. We will keep trying but If someone out there could give us some hints as to what we were doing wrong...that would be great. 

Online Safety, Blogging and Coding! Oh MY!

Week four of tech club, time is flying by! 

This week our topic was Online Safety and how to stay safe when visiting a website. The lesson focused on understanding how being safe online is similar to staying safe in real life, how to recognize sites that are appropriate for them to visit, and to ask an adult when they are unsure. Listed below are some great resources for both kids and
parents to learn more about online safety:

• BrainPop Jr.: Free interactive video and activities.
• Common Sense Media: Answers many important questions about keeping your children safe online. Many great teaching resources for teachers also. 
• Kids.gov: Online safety videos and games on a variety of topics for kids, parents, and teachers. 

The students continued to work on their blogs this week. Because this is my first time using Kidblog we are still working out a few of the kinks but the kids have been very patient with the process and this week were able to post a response to the question I posed. The students then learned how to publish a new post on their own blog. I asked them to write about what they did on their snow day. Our next step will be to learn how to respond appropriately to a classmate on a post they have published. 

What kinds of information should I keep to myself when I use the Internet?

Here are some great articles on the benefits of student blogging: 

• Six Reasons Why Kids Should Know How To Blog
• 5 Reasons Your Students Should Blog

And of course there was coding...

Look closely to see the math the kids need to be able to do in order for the line of code to work correctly. It is fun to watch the kids collaborate and help each other to solve a coding problem. They also get excited to share with each other what they have made. 

Kidblog and Avatars

Today we were very busy in tech club! We started our time with a wrap-up from the week 2 at home lesson. At home, club members and an adult were to review a Nearpod lesson about Online Privacy (all our at home lessons are modified from the Common Sense Media digital citizenship scope and sequence). The lesson focused on what kind of information you should keep to yourself while online. We wrapped up the lesson by kids creating safe passwords for each other. The kids paired up and asked their partner three questions:
1. What is your favorite animal? 
2. What is your favorite movie/TV show/game? 
3. What is your favorite number? 

Next, they used that information to create a safe online password for their partner. They had fun sharing what they came up with to the rest of the group. 

Our second task was to set up each members Kidblog account and create an avatar for their profile picture. We used the site My Blue Robot to create the avatars. Of course, students had a good time creating their avatars but they also learned how to save and upload an image to the blog. Students will soon be using the blogs to share what we are doing in tech club in their own words, so stay tuned...

A Banana Piano?!

We started out tech club sharing the kids Rings of Responsibility projects. Students and a family member were asked to use a paper plate or a picture collage app as a canvas for their very own Rings of Responsibility. With family members, they collected photographs or magazine images that represent the types of responsibilities they have within each ring, self, family and friends, and community.

Along with continuing with coding this week the kids got to experiment with a Makey Makey to make a banana piano! "MaKey MaKey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything in between." 

Tonight we gave the kids the Makey Makey and the directions and turned them loose, all the students were able to set up the Makey Makey together without much adult help!

Next week will start on our digital book reviews!

Lincolns First Tech Club Meeting

The first Lincoln Technology Club met today after school in the Lincoln Media Center. The club consists of 10 second and third grade students who are interested in learning more about using technology. 

Along with the after school club, each week students and parents will be asked to complete an at home lesson centered around being a good digital citizen (lessons come from Common Sense Media). This is a great opportunity for parents to speak to their children about how to use technology properly and being a good digital citizen. We will be using Nearpod.com to complete the at home lessons. Nearpod not only is a great way to deliver a flipped lesson, but gives the students the opportunities to practice more of those computer skills they need for school and state assessments, skills like typing short answer questions, answering multiple choice/true and false questions, drag and drop, and matching type questions.

Each week we will start the time with a review and reflection on what we learned from the home lesson. Students will then enter into station work. These stations will consist of activities like coding, iMovie, presentation, green screen, Makey Makey, Minecraft, and more.

This week we spent some time learning about Nearpod and our roles and responsibilities. The students were asked what it means to be responsible. I loved their answers! 

Here are a few:

"It means to be principled and to not do anything bad when someone isn't looking."

"To respect others and be kind to others and to keep all parts of your body to yourself. That's how you be responsible."

"To be responsible you need to be a leader and to do things right. When my mom asks me to put my close away I have to be responsible and do it."

Students were then introduced to Code.org a site dedicated to introducing computer science to young children. Some of the students also had fun playing with the Green Screen app by Do Ink. The kids had a lot of fun learning about both! 

The girls and Mrs. Carson playing with the green screen.

Green screens are simple to use. Buy a green curtain (I got these from Wal-Mart for $10). Then download a kid-friendly app Like Green Screen from Do Ink and let the imagination begin.  We are still working out some of the kinks, but I am sure these girls will have it down in no time.

The kids had fun with Mr. Jackson learning about Code.org. This is a site they can access from home on any device. Check out the app store for other great coding apps. 

Here is a link to some great coding apps!  

Welcome to Lincoln Tech Club!