These days as a consultant, my students are the teachers and administrators in my client schools. So when I have the opportunity to meet with students and model some of the ideas that I am discussing with the faculty, I jump at the chance.
This occurred recently on a consultation in North Carolina. I was demonstrating the ease of use of a fun little robot called Evo by Ozobot (https://ozobot.com/products). I had brought Evo with me to demonstrate how even our littlest learners could code with colors but also how older learners can get really creative with their coding. So, as two administrators and I were “playing,” two middle school girls wandered in the room and instantly became fascinated with the Evo.
We put a parameter on the tracks that each end had to go to the edge of the paper so that we could connect the tracks.
Listening to the collaboration of each group was a great way for the teacher to get some insight into their problem solving strategies. But the best part for me was the conversations that erupted when we put the tracks together. What their thoughts were when Evo had trouble maneuvering the tracks and when it went smoothly. The ideas for revamping the tracks and of course the pleas for the teacher/admin to buy these for the school so they could do this more.
When students are given the opportunity to let their creativity flow, the learning is not something that can be found in a textbook.
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Originally posted on Thursday, 21 June 2018.
Love this!