Pro-Bot Challenges

Last school year, I had contributed the Pro-Bot Challenge Track lesson to the Tinker Studio website for the ICE Conference. This year, I was able to use the same lesson again with my new set of students; however, this time I wanted the challenge to continue beyond the initial lesson. Merely making the challenge track longer with more turns was not enough. With a little research, I was surprised to find a blogger that does just that: Move My Robot. Its many posts on drawing with the Pro-Bot include tutorials, challenges, and even the possible answers to the challenges. The challenges we took on were the Snowmen, A Dancing Robot, and Snails. For each, students were required to write out the code on paper before entering it into the Pro-Bot. I wanted them to consider the entire program and not just to add one step at a time and then try it out.

Sewing Introduction

This year, sewing is officially in the mix of topics covered by my school’s STEM/STEAM/Maker course. I decided to provide an excellent introduction to the topic this year to allow for further depth in the coming years.

Where did I start?

Hand sewing is where we all began. I had the students do a sample (test sew) before diving into the real project. Each student was given a piece of muslin in which to practice a running stitch and sew on a button. I chose these two skills since they were going to be necessary for the first actual project. Muslin fabric was used since it is cheap, cuts down on issues with patterns, and stitches are easy to see and remove.

In my initial planning, I estimated the sample sewing would take about 15-20 minutes. In reality, all my classes were happy working on the sample for the whole class period. All the while there was plenty of excitement. Individual instruction was much needed in how to knot the thread. Students were striving to be creative, and the majority of samples turned into “real projects.” Finished inventions included treasure maps, miniature pillows, embroidered faces, little purses, and creatures.

What was the first project?

For the first project, the students were to sew precut felt pieces to form a little gremlin. Using precut pieces saves class time and allows focus on the main goals of the lesson: practicing the running stitch and sewing on a button. Even though the project was straight forward, students found ways to be creative and differentiate their gremlins.

The gremlin template and lesson plan can be found on Style Engineers (we skipped the pin part and left it flat).

Drawing Programs

When I was setting up the computers for the new school year, I found that my free, go to, paint program, Tux Paint, no longer runs on the newer OS (El Capitan or Sierra). I had been hopeful that over the summer someone would take on the task of updating the free program, but it never happened. I contemplated purchasing a software-based paint program, however, the cost became too big too fast.

ABCya Paint – Geared towards younger students requiring less of a learning curve. Various brushes, stickers, and backgrounds are available. It can be a little difficult to follow where one is painting since the brush icon appears and moves where the pointer is normally. Pictures can be saved as a .png and reimported as a background in the event that the student needs to work on the project later. One downside to the saving and reimporting process is that the imported drawing cannot be further edited or erased. Students would need to paint over it to “modify” it.

 

ABCyaStory Maker – This is similar to the ABCya Paint referenced above except that half the page is the drawing and the other half is four lines for writing/typing out the story or description. This site is an excellent option for younger students that only write short stories or sentences.

Sketchpad – Easy to use browser based paint website. It has a sophisticated side with layers and added tools. The advantages of this site are plentiful including multiple step by step undos, some built-in clipart, the ability to upload your own images, provision for later editing entered text, and downloading of drawings in multiple formats or their saving to work on at another time.

Our favorite of the three is Sketchpad. Students have been able to quickly figure out how to use the tools and create appealing projects. I found the ability to duplicate part of a drawing useful when the Kindergarteners were creating a counting book, which needed many of the same image. Plus, the ability to easily undo student actions is priceless with younger students. We do use ABCya Story Maker with our Kindergarteners during writing time, but find the site to be not advanced enough for the older students.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi had intrigued me with the variety of options for infusing computer skills into my Technology class.

How did you introduce the Raspberry Pi to your students? We started by watching a video (Introduction to Raspberry Pi 3) to provided background information on the computer, its parts, and operating systems. In this instance, using a video for the introduction was the best pedagogical choice to help keep student attention and keep the “lecture” moving. After a quick class discussion of the video, students connected up their Pi and installed the operating system. We installed the Raspbian operating system using the NOOBS installer. Copying NOOBS to the microSD card took no time at all, but the actual installation of Raspbian on the Pi took about 10-15 minutes. During this time, we played Around the World using the terms presented in the video. Once the operating system was installed, students had time to begin exploring it.

What did the students do with the Raspberry Pi? For starters, we explored the Raspberry Pi in terms of coding options. A couple of students worked in the program Scratch to create their own games from “scratch” using block-based coding (yes, Scratch can be done on any computer not just a Pi). One Scratch game was an animated interactive story between characters and in another game a character moved through various levels to touch a coin to gain points. A student had the idea of combining the Makey Makeys we used at the beginning of the year to create a controller to use with his own Scratch game. The rest of the students had noticed that several classic and highly addictive Python games came installed on the Pi such as Wormy, Four in a Row, Gem Gem and Squirrel. To promote the educational aspect, I demonstrated how to get into the code for the game, what the code means, and how to make edits. Students set about changing variables such as speed and points, modifying colors, rewording text, and editing or completely replacing images. I had one group figure out how to transform a human vs computer four in a row game into a human vs human game. A different group worked on incorporating additional blocks to eat in the worm game.

What did you think about your class time with the Raspberry Pi? Over the course of time working with the Raspberry Pi, we only scratched the surface of possibilities. I was impressed with what we did accomplish: learning about computer parts, setting up the Pi, troubleshooting the Pi, and time for either an intro to Python coding by editing code or tinkering with block coding in Scratch. Throughout, it seemed as though the students were more focused on coding than if I had given them a regular laptop and asked them to do the same thing (Win!).

I also enjoyed the fact that each pair of students had their own microSD card, making it seem as if the computer was actually theirs. This cut back on the potential issue of work disappearing between classes and allowed students to take risks such as installing programs or changing settings. I had only one group that managed to adjust enough settings so that it was necessary to start over with a fresh install of the OS, which really isn’t time consuming.

What items were needed? A Raspberry Pi and power cord for each station. I chose to have the students work in pairs for this project to cut back on the required number of stations. Each pair of students received their own microSD card to use for the duration of the project. The school already owned compatible monitors, keyboards, and mice.

Making: Cardboard Challenge

Materials: Cardboard boxes, cutting tools, duct tape, masking tape, permanent markers, imagination, ingenuity, and perseverance

Optional: hot glue gun, butcher paper, paper fasteners, rubber bands, paper clips

A while back, I had learned about the Global Cardboard Challenge but didn’t have a way to make it happen. This year, with my technology classes and our dabbling in making, I was able to have my students take on the challenge. The global challenge is normally held in September/October; however, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity since who knows what next year will bring.

How did I get enough boxes? A few weeks before starting the project, I asked my school’s maintenance worker to drop off any cardboard that would otherwise be going out for recycling. Luckily, I have a tech storage room where it could start piling up before being to carted over to the classroom. Once the challenge started, all cardboard for recycling was to be dropped off directly in the classroom. In the event that we didn’t have enough boxes, boxes could have been procured from my local grocery store. It was suggested to students that if they needed a “special” box for the project, they could bring one from home.

What was used to cut the cardboard? Safety and cost were concerns of mine here. Therefore, I purchased only one powered cutter, a rechargeable ZipSnip. Currently, the students cannot run the tool but need to need to ask the teacher to make the desired cuts. This tool has come in handy when students need a precise cut or are creating many pieces of the same size. We have found that scissors meant for cutting bandages work well when making shallow cuts into the cardboard, and acquired a few pairs of them. Then, to make sure enough tools are floating around the room, I mass-produced duct tape handles on individual hacksaw blades. I had seen this option at the Tinker@ICE area at this year’s ICE conference and really liked it. For less than a dollar per tool and the risk of cutting one’s self pretty low, all students were able to work on the challenge at once.

What did students make? My students, either individually or in a group, were able to design and build practically anything they wanted. Without coaching or direction, I had students make such items as a guitar, wearable turtle shell, kid playhouse, dollhouse, spaceship, car, pinball machine, and a rolling toy of sorts. For students needing a little more direction like those in one of my grade levels, a theme of creating carnival games could be put in place. This theme is based off of the Cain’s Arcade video which originally inspired the Global Cardboard Challenge. As the end of the project nears, be sure to start talking with the students about their plans for the project afterwards. Will the student be taking it home? If it is too big, could it be donated to a lower grade for use during free choice time or indoor recess?

Where did you store all the students’ work in progress? Storage did become an issue. At times it was hard to tell which pile of boxes belonged to whom. All of the projects were stored along the perimeter of the classroom, making the middle of the classroom and our workspace smaller every class period. As luck would have it, one of my grade levels couldn’t take on the project at the same time as the others allowing “extra” room for projects to be stored.

What would you do differently the next time around? Potentially, I would buy actual handles for the hacksaw blades instead of mass-producing duct tape handles. Overall, the challenge was a success and well received by the students.

“Sticks with Heads”

6^th Grade Language Arts Lesson

In order to spice up the sixth grade’s reading of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in Language Arts, the LA teacher and I came up with a unique way to get students more involved with the text and increase understanding. The project is dubbed “Sticks with Heads.” The gist is that we are reenacting the play using celebrities glued to popsicle sticks.

Here is how the project works:

Characters from the book are randomly assigned to each student in the grade level. The grade level will make one complete set of Julius Caesar “Sticks with Heads” for the classes to share. Each student decides on an actor or actress to play the assigned character and writes up his or her justification for the casting. Once approval by the teacher is given, the “stick with head” is created by printing out and adhering a picture of the chosen celebrity’s head atop a typical Roman outfit on a popsicle stick.

Originally, the teacher wanted each class to record the entire play, but the time requirement needed would be substantial. With my suggestion to make this more manageable, each class is to be assigned only certain scenes to record. Then in editing, all of the scenes from each of the classes will be combined into one big movie encompassing the entire play. This twist to the filming creates an incentive to record quality scenes and excitement to later find out what the other classes have produced. Therefore, each class’s intended audience is the other classes.

The reenactment and recording of the play calls for a detailed examination of the setting, character interactions, and the characters involved in the different scenes. It also helps to justify and give purpose to the rereading of the scenes.

Making the Makerspace #3: Green Screen

I am on a journey to create a makerspace at my school in the preschool through 8^th grade Technology classroom. This room has been off to a rocky start this year since new Technology classes were introduced, two teachers utilize the room (one being me), and all ages and sizes of students filter through the space. Of special note, the creation of the makerspace is being completed on a “dime” as there is no real budget allocation towards it.

Step 3: Green Screen

One item I wanted to make available for continuous student use was a green screen. We do have a green screen with a frame that belongs to another department in the school, but it takes coordination, time and adequate room to set it up.

To make a green screen available, I purchased my go-to inexpensive green screen cloth. It is a 10x12’ sheet with a rod pocket along the top. To hang it, a 3/4" x 10ft plastic pipe was threaded through the rod pocket and the pipe was placed over two nails that were hammered into the top of a bookshelf. To allow access to the shelves behind the green screen, two hooks were installed to enable the use of a “curtain tie-back” (twine).

Since my school has 1:1 iPads at the middle school level, students use their iPad to record. Various methods for propping up an iPad to record at the correct height are employed on a daily basis. I have seen everything from hooking the case over a plastic crate to placing the iPad on a small table or chair mounted on top of a table. To make this a little more professional, I purchased an inexpensive iPad mount adapter to attach to an old tripod we had at the school.

Even though the green screen scenes are recorded on an iPad, the green screen effect isn’t always edited in on the iPad. A few students have access to the Green Screen by Do Ink app that allows for editing on the iPad, otherwise the rest of the students transfer the video to a laptop and edit in iMovie (iMovie on the iPad does not allow for use of the green screen effect). In order to facilitate editing, I put together a direction sheet for iMovie and posted it near the green screen. Without calling attention to the existence of the directions, students seemed to easily find and use them without having to ask. Having students feel comfortable using the green screen functionality of the classroom on their own was the goal.

Making the Makerspace #2: Lego Corner

I am on a journey to create a makerspace at my school in the preschool through 8^th grade Technology classroom. This room has been off to a rocky start this year since new Technology classes were introduced, two teachers utilize the room (one being me), and all ages and sizes of students filter through the space. Of special note, the creation of the makerspace is being completed on a “dime” as there is no real budget allocation towards it.

Step 2: Lego Corner

The second step taken to transform the space to makerspace was to revamp our Lego corner. Last summer we decided that the room needed a Lego wall, and, after ordering the baseplates and assembling the wall, it stopped there. The students utilizing the room knew the wall existed, but, to an outsider visiting the room, it wasn’t apparent that the green thing on the far wall was for Lego building. 

For starters, the blank wall next to the Lego wall was ripe for decoration and a title to denote its use. After searching around, I found an example of a Lego wall title in a blog post by Matthew Arend about his makerspace and modeled mine after his. After a quick Google search, a Lego font was located and high quality images of bricks were ready for printing.

The other problem to be solved was Lego storage. The white cardboard box Lego bricks were stored in was unlabeled and difficult for numerous students to access at one time. Having the bricks separated between several bins was the answer. I chose to go with a storage option from IKEA – the TROFAST frame and bins. This creates clean-looking storage and easy access to the blocks.

To finish the corner off, I purchased an inexpensive IKEA rug to help invite students to the corner. I liked a rug that is a more sophisticated version of children’s road-patterned rugs. With older students using the space, I didn’t want to make it feel too childish. Within the first week of redoing the corner and adding the rug, two 8^th grade students made a Lego stop animation that followed the roadways.