Follow that track!

As a fun, educational way to finish off the week Mrs. Cowell's class and our class got together today to show off what we have learned so far. Their challenge was to program their Pro-Bot create a track and then challenge their partner from the other class to figure out their program by observing their track and attempting to run their Pro-Bot on it.

We had a BLAST working with Mrs. Cowell's class this afternoon! This was such a great opportunity to share and practice our learning with each other. It was so valuable to hear conversations about measuring distances and how to determine how many degrees are in a turn. Their learning could not have been more evident. 

We cannot wait to see what next week brings!

Quadrilaterals ~ Mrs. Foley

QUADRILATERALS!

    

Students will be able to:

• Identify the characteristics of the different types of quadrilaterals
• Show they understand the different types of quadrilaterals through drawing them
• Code the Pro-Bot to draw quadrilaterals

Repeat Function ~ Mrs. Foley

I cannot believe we have only been using the Pro-Bots for two weeks! The amount they have already learned and the successes they have had from persevering have been nothing short of inspirational. I am continuously impressed with my students engagement and deeper level of thinking EVERY DAY!

This week was a lot of fun because we were focusing on creating repeat functions! Students first needed to apply the idea of a repeat function to the codes they have already created. Then they were given free reign to create their own polygons using the repeat function.

Students will be able to:

• Understand the pros of using a repeat function
• Practice applying a repeat function to a code they have already built
• Develop a new code using a repeat function

Students were examining their past codes for repeating patterns. Once they discovered the patterns they were able to use the repeat function to create a shorter, more efficient code. 

Even MORE impressive was what they started to create when they were left to their own devices. They were figuring our how to make round shapes and creating intricate designs. I LOVE  the pride they have after figuring out a shape or when they get the chance to show us something they created or teach me a new idea. Their was no sign of boredom in Room 1 this week! :)

Extension challenge work! ~Mrs. Cowell

I am so impressed with my students! During intervention and enrichment time, many students have chosen to challenge themselves with critical thinking extensions. 

These are just a few of the amazing challenges from this week...

Abby & Lily programmed the Pro-Bot to make a heart <3

Ella worked very hard on programming her full name!

Tay has mastered how to make a house-- and is now working on how to program this in stored procedures!

Our First Week! ~ Mrs. Foley

This week we wanted to start our challenges just using the basic functions of the arrow keys. This means that students are only using the factory settings for distances and angle measures rather than inputting their own with the number keys. (Using the left or right arrow commands a 90 degree turn and using the forward or backward arrow commands a 15 centimeter movement.)

Week 1 Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• generate rules for appropriate use of the Pro-Bots in our classroom
• successfully turn-on/turn-off, command, and run the Pro-Bot
• write a program then edit that program
• understand the difference between a square and rectangle
• understand the meaning of a 90 degree turn
• use Pro-Bots to draw squares and rectangles

MY REFLECTIONS:
I could not be happier to see that students are using their desire to make the Pro-Bots move in certain shapes to teach themselves and each other angles measures. It has been truly inspiring how the students are embracing learning geometric concepts and programming all while exhibiting perseverance, collaboration, and problem-solving. They are all engaged, on-task, and so excited to be learning. Our first week experiences have laid a truly solid foundation for our Pilot to be a huge success! 

STUDENT REFLECTIONS:
We used Explain Everything to record our reflections and our work from the first week.

1st week reflections: Mrs. Cowell

When Mrs. Foley first asked if I would be interested in taking part in this pilot of Pro-Bots, I did not hesitate for a second in saying yes. I am so thankful to MCPE, Mrs. Foley, and Mr. Grenham for supporting this initiative!

Watching my students complete Mrs. Foley's Challenge task card on day 2 was such an amazing experience. I am having flashbacks to the way I first felt when taking part in the Dale Street iPad pilot in 2014. I knew this experience would be similarly worthwhile, yet I did not anticipate the level of deep learning or the genuine perseverance from students beginning on day 1. Students dove in, took risks, persevered through challenges, and worked tirelessly until they found success... all of this without frustration, asking for adult help, or complaining. This is worthwhile in itself!

In addition to these skills, students also learned about major concepts in Geometry-- even though we haven't started the unit yet! I heard natural conversations about what the definition of a polygon is-- and where to find it if not sure. Normally students would ask me, but they turned into mathematicians once they had the responsibility of coding the Pro-Bots. There were so many teachable moments that came about naturally, and kids were so engaged and wanted to talk about them.

Overall, I count our first three days in the major success category. The only issues that came up were logistical (ie: realizing that the rug is not the most optimal surface for perfect 90 degree turns, angling the paper off center can affect lines drawn on two papers, and how important it is to test the Pro-Bot's course first before adding the marker). Every challenge was faced with student problem solving-- another life skill that is impossible to teach, yet so important!

Take a peek at all of the great photos and reflections that students did for homework last night.
The student thoughts and comments speak volumes!