Ended the year on a great note with Spheros and Cosmos! The students really enjoyed the activities and programs that comes on the SpheroEDU app. I also gave them challenges the last fe meetings like: program the sphere to go around something, make the sphero follow the path of a shape, and make it go through a cardboard maze. Cosmo is very fascinating! As the students play with it it learns. It will learn you name, has facial recognition, and can play games with you (and even a partner). Have a great summer!
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Program Sphero to go around somethingPlaying Simon Says with SpheroStudents came to Makers Club today to test their gingerbread making skills. They were given a variety of candy and icing supplies to make the best gingerbread house they could. The top 2 houses won a rubiks cubes! Kiddos also enjoyed holiday music and hot chocolate while they designed. They all had so much fun and took their time so there was not any time left for any other "making" or tinkering today...bummer :( I just saw 6th graders for the first time this year and explained exactly what Makers Club is and it is always open to new members. It was very exciting to see all the new faces show up this week to club. Cosmo has been a favorite and we even had a bunch of students break out the sewing materials this week.We had an amazing turnout for our Makers Fair this year. The students did amazing owning their stations and demonstrating to others! This year we highlighted Makey Makey, Squishy Circuits, 3D Printing, Snap Circuits, Merge Cube, Sphero, Dash, AR/VR Tilt Brush, Rocket Make and Take, and our First Lego League (FLL) had their mission table set up with their robots. This is by far my favorite event of the year! Make sure to check it out next year!I began our session by introducing the students to Squishy Circuits. I have alot of young new students who have not seen what these neat little things can do. It was also a great chance to talk a little bit about how circuits and electricity work.
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So, we have decided to add a Robotics Club for our PJHS students. For now, I am the only person leading this voluntary club. I would LOVE to get another staff member to help with one of these clubs so I am not so stretched with the students. |
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The kiddos are getting excited for the upcoming Makers Faire. Well, actually they just want to race their Muscle Karts. The students have spent the last few sessions forming teams and thinking about designs. I was able to get HUGE cardboard from our local furniture store for the body of the karts. I have purchased extra safety and building supplies as well. Today, it became more real as I asked for the team name, number, and color choices for the paint I need to purchase for their Muscle Karts. Tshirts have been ordered and I will begin printing 3D name tags later this week for all the my Makers. I have updated the flyers and will send them out to the school and district families, our Livingston Economic Development Committee, and other STEAM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts, Math) friendly organizations in the community. Now, we just need to finish up our projects and wait for our day to shine! |
Wow, a new year has already begun and we are off and running. I am trying to recruit new 6th grade students and spread the word about our awesome Makers Club. Due to so many sports and extracurricular activities the numbers are a little lower than our beginning meetings last year (still have 25-30 students each time). Some good news for the STEAM program is Marlon Eilts, a COUNTRY Financial Representative, in Pontiac held a golf fundraising outing and raise $4000 for our program. It was an amazing event that brought in local businesses, organizations, and individuals to raise money for a great cause! I have applied for various local and state grants in August and September for STEAM and Makers supplies. Cross my fingers that at least a few will come through! I was awarded an awesome grant already this year by my local ROE #17 to purchase 2 new iPads and cases to be used with coding our Dash & Dot, Spark+ & Ollie, and EV3 Lego robots. Looking forward to "Things to Come", I was able to get 5 Muscle Karts from Illinois State University CMAST (Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology) Department. When these were delivered the students were extatic about driving and using them. I will be incorporating them into club and showcasing them at out Fall Makers Faire on October 19! | |
I am a junior high teacher at Pontiac Junior High School.
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