Rokenbok Challenge

Our district is located in rural North Carolina in a farming community.  Our county seat is Hertford.  It's a beautiful little town situated on the Perquimans River.  We do not have large industries in our area.  The school district is the county's largest employer.  Many of our residents work out of county or in the Hampton Roads area.

What we do have is an amazing community that pulls together to help ensure our students still have

access to resources to help teach them what they need to be successful adults.  One of those people is our CTE Director.  She is constantly seeking grants to put resources and people in our schools to move our students forward.  We have a middle school Biotech teacher who helps to run our working greenhouse, a STEM teacher who is teaching students coding, how to use the 3D printer and so much more.  One grant that our school was awarded was used to purchase Rokenbok kits

Rokenboks are like Legos and K'nex on steroids. You can build moving objects and use Rokenbok's version of the Arduino- ROKduinos - to program the blocks to move and perform tasks.  It's where design and engineering meet technology.

For this activity I worked with our CTE Department and 6th grade teachers to bring in students to

complete a set of engineering challenges.  Students had to build and create various objects.  The final project was to use the remote control car kit to design something that would move.

Students were placed in teams and given the various challenges.  The teams earned points by completing the tasks quickly and accurately.  The event lasted 2 hours and was filled with laughter and a little competition among teams.

Inspired by Qualcomm (R) Thinkabit Lab (TM)

I was scrolling through Twitter one afternoon and ran across this article: https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2017/11/eng-cedar-point-tech-lab.html about how a school was creating their own Thinkabit Lab(TM).  My curiosity got the best of me and so I hit up Google to learn more.  What I found was that Qualcomm has these labs set up at their headquarters and at Virginia Tech.  Teachers schedule trips to the labs.  Students learn about careers at Qualcomm or in their area and then learn to write basic code to program an Arduino to light LEDs and turn servo motors.  During the final couple of hours students design and create their own moving project with the help of the Thinkabit Lab (TM) instructors and present them to their group.  Everything I saw shouted "find out more"!  So I did.

I could really see this as something that our students would not only benefit from, but would have fun learning in the process.  I knew it would be a great addition to our maker space and provide students with another tool to use to create projects.

I filled out the "Contact Us" form.   I explained our location and how much our students really needed a program such as this.  Within a couple of days, I received an email from a representative at the Qualcomm(R) Thinkabit Lab (TM) in San Diego.  She sent me a very positive email about the possibility of a partnership and asked me to complete an application.  I poured my heart and soul into it - like I said, I could really our students loving this!

A couple of days later I received another email to schedule a conference call.  This was the final step to bringing this to our school if we met their criteria.

The call lasted 2 hours.  They covered the expectations and guidelines and what the project entailed.  My enthusiasm for the project was palpable.  I was concerned that the project would be housed in our media center as a part of our maker space.  The other locations had completely converted a room to mimic their labs in San Diego and Falls Church.  I sent them pictures of our space with the application.  To make a long story short, we became the first Inspired by Qualcomm(R) Thinkabit Lab(TM) in North Carolina!  As a part of this partnership, they would send us the major supplies we needed to get started including 20 Arduino kits.

Then the fun began... I had never touched an Arduino in my life, let alone programmed one.  I do love YouTube!  I purchased my own kit from Amazon and spent hours watching videos to learn to do some basic programming.  The first time I programmed and LED to blink would have made you think I had discovered a suitcase full of money that I could keep!  I was just a little excited.

It was also fun trying to explain the project to people.  They looked at me like I had 4 heads and politely nodded and said "uh-huh" when I animatedly told them how awesome this was for our students.

When the kits came in, I dove right in.  I still wasn't quite confident enough to start the first project yet.  I wanted to see the program in action, so I scheduled a visit with the Virginia Tech Thinkabit Lab in Falls Church, VA.

My visit took place over spring break.  I arrived early to ask the director questions and to take pictures of the layout.  As the day went on, I left with pages of notes, tons of ideas, more confidence that I would be able to carry things out and several examples to show students.  That was the most important part.  I could tell them, but seeing what others created was much more powerful.

Now I just have to get things started.  I'm going to do a small scale project with my club and I've already started talking to our STEM teacher about collaborating on a project.  I'll let you know how it goes!

World War II Artifacts

Our 7^th grade Social Studies teacher has an awesome unit on WWII.  His first year in our school he had kids clamoring for books on the topic.  They couldn’t get enough.  I told him that I didn’t know what he was doing, but he needed to keep doing it if it made students want to read historical fiction. It’s only gotten better each year he’s been here.   This year he decided to include a little more about Churchill’s Ungentlemanly Warfare – in other words spies. 

Like the Native American project earlier this school year he had students select topics of interest from the era.  He included a range of topics like baseball, the Tuskegee Airmen, The Night Witches, Churchill and of course spies.  Students had to complete an informational piece as well as produce an artifact from the era. 

Our planning for the session included a couple of informal conversations about what he was doing and what he wanted the students to include.  He provided the dates of when students would be coming down.  I knew to expect them all throughout the day.  Unless they were working as a group, he would only send down a couple at a time while they created their project in Tinkercad.  For some students, this is their first time using the free online software. 

When I introduce Tinkercad to our students I show them how to manipulate the shapes:  change   I then have them find an image of what they want their printed item to look like.  Because they are making their objects from scratch, it helps to print out the image so we can talk about the shapes they need and how to fit them together.  For those of you familiar with 3D printing, I know it would be much easier for the students to go into Thingiverse and find an item that has already been created, but I want them to learn to make their own.  

views, resize, adjust scale, etc.

Once we’ve gone through the shapes they start building in Tinkercad.  I generally have them try to keep the dimensions as close to 4” as possible.  This ensures they can be printed during the school day and that I can get more than one printed each day. 

Students created a range of products such as: secret compartment keys, spy cameras, medals, goblets, spy cameras, and model airplanes.  The results were pretty amazing.  The students did a fantastic job planning and creating each item. 

Reading, Writing, Green Screen and Awesome Collaboration

We have two awesome 6th grade Language Arts teachers.  They are always looking for ways to get their students reading, writing and speaking.  Both teachers worked on similar projects that involved their students using the green screen- one had their students write puppet shows and the other plays.  It was just by coincidence that they both ended up using the green screen - but have I mentioned how my collaborations with teachers usually start?

So, let me back up a bit.  Let me explain the "detailed" process we went through to make these projects happen.  One of the teachers stopped by the media center as I was helping a group edit their green screen video.  When they left she began asking what the students were doing.  I explained.  She then told me she was having her students write puppet shows.  I said the green screen would be perfect for that.  I showed her how we could fold up the green screen for the students to sit behind and hold up their puppets- that was all it took.  A random 10 minute conversation that wasn't even a part of the reason she came down turned into some pretty cool projects for 6th graders.

Over the years I've been a part of all types of collaboration sessions from the completely formal and highly planned session to conversations like I've described above.  I'll take the informal conversation any day.  I've found that when you have to go through formal planning sessions the relationships I've had with staff or within the school are generally distant or there is a disconnect of some sort.  When there are strong positive relationships or the school as a whole has a positive atmosphere great things can come out of a quick conversation.  At first I may be the one to say, "Hey, what are you covering in the next couple of weeks?"  Then I can proceed to tell them the resources available to enhance what they are doing or take it a step farther.  We may have to meet to get our schedules lined up, but it's not a huge ordeal.  Once the teacher knows I'm there to help, they initiate the conversation.  Because there is an atmosphere of trust and willingness to help, it just works.  It's an amazing feeling from a media coordinator's standpoint when you know that your teachers want to work with you and know you're willing to try almost anything to help them.

Now- going back to the projects.  One teacher had her students write scripts for puppet shows that re-created scenes from books they had read.  She had them create the puppets as well.  We selected a background that matched their setting and the students used the green screen and Doink to record their videos.

The other teacher had students create silent plays.  There was plenty of action and emotion, but no dialog.  These students had to write detailed director's notes in order to know what to do.

The videos were recorded and emailed to the teacher and the students.  The teachers then shared the videos with the classes.  Students tend to put a little more effort into making sure they do their best when they know their classmates will view it.  It views them an audience and a purpose.

Google Expeditions - Field Trips to Virtually Anywhere

I am a big Google Maps and Earth geek.  There are so many hidden treasures that can be used by all subjects.  One of my favorite additions to Google that can sort of be considered a part of Google travels is Google Expeditions.  If you haven't tried out this little gem, stop right now and download the app to your mobile device.  It is a must have!!

We used Google Expeditions on our iPads.  If your school has access to smaller devices that will work with Google Cardboard or other VR headsets, I'd highly recommend using those over the iPads.

Google Expeditions has hundreds of virtual field trips available.  You can visit real places or go on a
Miss Frizzle style Magic School Bus trip and look inside of the eye among other things.  There are two views:  teacher and student.  The teacher view allows you to set up a trip.  You download it to your device.  It provides you with a script and points of interest.  You can tell if students are "with you" on the trip by watching smiley faces move around the screen.  This lets you know where students are on the page.  The teacher completely controls what the student sees and for how long.  You can direct students to specific places.

The student view allows students to join an Expedition.  They can see everything that you see.  Students can move their device up, down and 360 degrees to view a panoramic picture of the location you're sharing.  When you direct them to a point of interest, an arrow appears on their screen to direct them to the specific spot on the tour.  When you change screens, their device automatically updates.

This year we had classes take a virtual tour of Pearl Harbor, explore the eye and learn about earthquakes by going under the surface to explore the cause.  There are so many tours available.  You just have to decide where you'll go!

But Where Are All of the Books?

I can imagine by now that my librarian friends are ready to call me out.  This was supposed to be about library adventures.  Didn't you do anything with books?  The answer is of course, but they did get a little less attention this year than I'd like to admit.

There were several changes technology wise that shifted my focus a little more than usual.  One of the biggest was our 1:1 transition from iPads to Chromebooks.  This was a bit of a learning curve for me and my staff.  It should have been easy.  They were just laptops - right.  Not so much at first.  I guess we had been spoiled by all of the flashy apps that put some pretty cool learning tools directly in the hands of our students.  We had to back up and punt a little at first with the Chromebooks and shift our way of teaching.  Once we got over the hurdle of learning a new tool and how to teach with it, it became easier.  Our tech director did have a cart of iPads for teachers to use.  We took full advantage of this by using them for Minecraft projects and green screen.  I had to be sure to carefully schedule them so projects didn't overlap.  The students loved using Minecraft.

The second piece that shifted my focus were the new tech tools placed in the media center.  Someone had to learn how to use them in order to show students and staff.   That someone was me.  I'll admit I'm a huge geek when it comes to shiny new "toys".  I dove in head first to learn to use them all.  My first was to create a project in Tinkercad to print on the 3D printer.  My only instructions were:  "This is how you turn it on.  This is how you load and unload the filament - have fun!"   I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and by the end of the day it was installed I had my first project printed.  It was only a rectangle that had "Cindy" on it, but I was excited.  I did similar projects with students and staff to get started.  Each time they wanted to make something more challenging, I learned a little more as well.  

In addition to the 3D printer I had to learn more complex programming for the Spheros, how to use our green screen app, learn our Promethean board, create files for our Cricut, find ways to use Little Bits and stay a step ahead of what our teachers wanted to learn.  I'll admit I was in Geek Heaven, but the books came in a distant second.

So to answer the question in the title of this article, the books are where they have always been.  Waiting quietly to take me and my students on our next adventure when we're ready.  

World Read Aloud Day

The biggest part of my career has been spent working with elementary teachers and students.  I loved it.  There was so much you could do when a classroom was self-contained.  One of the highlights of my year was centered around Dr. Seuss' birthday.  I started way back when by having community members come in to read to a class and deliver every student a book to take home.  It took weeks of planning, but it was worth every smile from the readers as well as the students.

Not long after that, I became more active on Twitter (back when Twitter was mainly edtech professionals).  I took note of all of the amazing things that were happening in the educational community simply because we could connect with people outside of our area.  I got the idea to expand my face-to-face read alouds and make them virtual.  I put the call out on Twitter, made a few connections through email and one awesome experience was born.  

The event lasted for two weeks.  I would schedule classes based upon the needs of my reader as well and the teacher's schedule.  The last year I did this we had readers from 24 states and 3 continents.  We had North Carolina's State Superintendent, Mike Artell the author, a professional baseball player and his wife, along with classrooms and teachers from all over the country read to our students.  We used this as an opportunity to teach students about the locations of our readers by marking their location on a map and talking about the distance from our school.  We got into discussions about time zones, the different continents and culture.  I did this with the K-2 school I worked with for about 3 years.

Since I've been at a middle school, I've missed opportunities like this.  It's more difficult because of scheduling and time constraints, but this year I decided to give it a try.  February 1st was World Read Aloud Day.  I met with our Language Arts teachers and pitched the idea to see who would be interested.  Once I knew they were on board, I worked with the media coordinators at our K-2 and 3-5 schools to recruit classes for my students to read to.  This was a first for most of the people involved.  

Once we had the teachers and the times, I worked on a schedule so that we could have at least one of my classes read to their partner class.  I also created a quick video to show teachers on both ends how to make the call in Google Hangouts and to show them what to expect.  The media coordinators at each site were on standby for technical support.  Some of my teachers were comfortable to make the call on their own while others decided to do their read aloud in the media center.  I was really impressed by the effort the student readers put into trying to entertain their partner class.  

This is definitely something we will try again.  I'd like to see the collaboration happen with other middle schools outside of our county on content specific projects.