Innovation, Education Technology, 3D printing in the classroom and beyond.
March 16, 2016
This week I am preparing to speak at the CUE (Computer Using Educators) conference in Palm Springs. I’m getting excited about the opportunity, and I decided I wanted to know what my 4th graders thought about having a 3D printer in the classroom. I had them write a response to a writing prompt today, and what […]
September 30, 2015
As summer came to a close this year my mind turned towards 3D printing in the classroom. I wrestled with the idea of the first print of the year. I wanted to do something that would be useful and captivate the students. For a moment I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to continue […]
May 22, 2015
The motion circuit group had a challenging time getting their project to work. That happens sometimes. A combination between group dynamics and Murphy’s Law seem to be major road blocks to some projects. The first challenge this group faced was selecting the materials and making a plan. They quickly chose to take apart an old VCR […]
May 9, 2015
One of the circuit groups in my class was given the task of making a circuit that produced sound. They came up with a really fantastic project. I like this group’s project for so many reasons. When I was thinking through this group’s project I thought they would use this sound maker that came with our […]
April 30, 2015
I selected the group that I wanted for the programming circuit carefully. The two girls showed some interest in learning how to program earlier in the year, so I had given them a project to work on at home. I don’t think they got very far in that project, but they did enough to know […]
April 16, 2015
The four students in the group responsible for coming up with the circuit that demonstrates lights were assigned the last two letters in the word “circuits”. They get the “TS”. I thought this task would be straight forward. I anticipated them being challenged with how to mount their circuit, the wiring, and how to get […]
April 6, 2015
The week leading up to spring break was a fun week. This was one of those rare times when we have finished a unit in reading, wrapped up the math unit that we were on, and had time to focus on other projects. That is just what we did. We were able to finish our robot […]
March 22, 2015
My students have had a good time learning about 3D printing this year. In fact, many of them want to get a printer for their home. One of my students got a 3D Doodler for Christmas (the world’s first 3D pen). He brought it into class shortly after the break, but we were focused on […]
March 5, 2015
When I was teaching circuits last year I had my class draw and water color robots. We then used a solar panel that we took out of old calculators, conductive paint, and an LED to make a simple circuit on top of the design. We liked the outcome so much that we decided to make […]