Coding & Robotics

Coding and Robotics are two seemingly scary things when being asked to incorporate them

into your classroom, but with the right resources they aren’t so scary after all. Coding is defined as

a precise set of instructions that a computer can understand, almost like a recipe for computers to follow.
Coding is also misunderstood as being a part of science only. Coding can actually be

cross-curricular and be used in math, science, and even English. It allows students to be hands-on,
experience a growth mindset, to collaborate, to improve their confidence with technology, learn

to persist, and learn that failure is a part of the process. Educators can take free coding courses through
code.org. That’s right, FREE! The courses take 6-8 hours to complete and are perfect for getting anyone
started with Coding in their classroom. 

Robotics can go hand-in-hand with coding in the classroom. Students are able to use their

new coding skills to work with robots and create code for moving those robots. Coding and

Robotics challenges students to think analytically and call on their problem-solving skills to embrace
failures and persist through any challenges they may face. Students also learn how to ask good questions,
which will help them within Coding and Robotics but also with their other day to day school lives. 

Hour of Code is now a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org

that introduces millions of students to computer science and computer programming. Students are
subject to a one-hour intro on these two subjects. Hour of Code really gets students and teachers
thinking about coding and robotics and how it could work within their classrooms. Students that

have never even heard of the two programs could gain interest in a career in coding, robotics,

and other computer science/programming jobs. If you are looking to amplify your STEM/STEAM block
within your classroom, adding coding and robotics can do the trick! Your students will love

it and will grow so much as learners in the 21st century classroom!

Flipped Classroom Model

The Flipped Classroom Model is an approach to teaching that involves students being exposed to
instruction prior to coming to class. The teacher makes a video of instruction and posts it so that students
have access before the next lesson. Students have access to the video at any time and can spend more
class time actually applying the new knowledge. This method is very nontraditional and allows the students
to take over the learning while the teacher acts as a guide. Teachers can choose to present their videos
individually or as a set of modules. The Flipped Classroom Model helps struggling students, increases
teacher-student interactions, works with students of all ability levels, changes classroom management,
educates parents, is a great tool for absent teachers and students, and is compatible with all learning styles. 

Flipped classroom models change classroom management by fostering noise and collaboration. Students
remain engaged and find the flipped model to be fun and remain eager to learn. You have the time and
opportunities to redirect those students that need it and provide additional structure.

There are 8 different variations of the flipped classroom model so it makes it easy to choose which one is
right for you and your classroom! You’ve got the Standard Inverted, Micro Flipped, Discussion Oriented,
Demonstration-Based, Faux-Flipped, Group-Based, Virtual Flipped, and Role Reversal. Many think that if
you teach students who do not have internet access or access to a device at home that you can’t implement
the flipped classroom, but you most definitely can! There is a variation perfect for that situation in which
students access your instructional videos on computers at school before meeting with you in small groups
to discuss, ask questions, and apply that knowledge. 

F - Flexible Learning Environment

L - Learning Culture

I -  Intentional Content

P - Professional Educator

Virtual Field Trips

Virtual Field Trips allow 21st century educators to take our students where the school bus can’t.
Students can visit any location in the world through virtual field trips! They are both fun, engaging, and
allow students to experience things that are not feasible for an actual field trip. Imagine studying about
Egypt with your students. It is very unlikely that you can take your class on a plane all the way across the
world to visit Egypt itself, but students benefit immensely from real experiences and connecting new
knowledge to real world situations. Virtual field trips would make it possible for your students to “visit”
Egypt and take a look around! Not only will students learn the academics, but they will develop an
understanding of other cultures and how other people live around the world. They also attend to students’
social and emotional learning. 

Like most things, virtual field trips have both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages of virtual field
trips include “traveling” to places not possible for a field trip, exploring at the speed of your
students/independently, low cost and often free, safety, enrichment, engagement, and personalized trips
that line up with standards and content. Disadvantages include not being able to replace the actual
human senses, student ability to work with the technology, and internet access. Most of these
disadvantages can be fixed, however. You can bring in things such as food, clothing, and other objects of
the place/culture you are visiting to meet the needs of the 5 senses as you are taking your virtual field trip.
You can also incorporate digital citizenship and use of technology into your curriculum so that students are
familiar and comfortable with the technology that they have access to. Students can always be taught how to
use the technology necessary, and sometimes they know more about it than we do! 

Teachers can choose virtual field trips from an amplitude of resources or even create their own. Skype,

ClassFlow, 360 Youtube, and Google Earth are just a few of the many programs you can use to create
your own experience. Always search, search, and search for experiences that are perfect for you and your
students!

Ed Puzzle and Blendspace

Ed Puzzle is a web app that allows you to take instructional videos and make them into your own. This
app really grasps the concept of 21st century teaching, makes differentiation a breeze, holds students
accountable, and is absolutely free for educators! Ed Puzzle allows teachers to create their own videos to
instruct students and provides all of the necessary tools for editing and assigning these videos for your
students. Teachers also have the option of pulling videos that have already been created to assign to their
students. Ed Puzzle makes differentiation a breeze by giving teachers the opportunity to choose which
students see what videos and even allowing those that need it to view the videos multiple times. This app
enforces accountability by holding students accountable for viewing the videos assigned and coming
prepared to ask questions and apply the new content. Ed Puzzle is perfect for any teacher wanting to
implement a Flipped Classroom Model. 

Blendspace is also a web app that grasps the concept of 21st century teaching and is free to educators.
Blendspace allows teachers to create lessons with your own files and the web, put all of your content in
one place,  and make the most of your class time. Teachers create a lesson and name it, add your standards
and the subject, and then add resources for students to use. Blendspace is compatible with Google Classroom,
Edmodo, and Ed Puzzle. This app is also amazing for anyone wanting to implement a Flipped Classroom
Model. 

Ed Puzzle and Blendspace are not only great for flipped classrooms, but also sub days! Just leave the
information for the sub on how students need to access your videos or lessons and it’s as if students don’t
miss any information at all! Students are still getting the lesson as if you were there and they aren’t made to
complete busy work to ensure they have something to do for the entirety of the teacher’s absence. Teachers
can differentiate, assess, stay organized, and engage students through the use of both Ed Puzzle and Blendspace.
These are great additions to any 21st century classroom!

STEAM in K-2

If you’re in education today, then you’ve more than likely heard all the buzz about STEAM and the push
for embedding it in your everyday classroom activities. STEAM is an educational approach that integrates
Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math. It is an important part of students’ learning across all
grade levels, but even more so in the early grades such as Kindergarten through 2nd grade. Many people
have a lot of fear when it comes to STEAM because it involves time, curiosity, problem-solving, and failure.
If we introduce STEAM to students at a young age when they are naturally curious, however, they will develop
their inquiry, discourse, and critical thinking skills. By the time they are introduced to STEAM in the upper
elementary, middle school, and high school classrooms the fear will no longer be there and they will be
able participate in STEAM activities with confidence. 

Young learners are naturally curious about their surrounding environment and naturally develop STEAM
skills such as investigation, exploration, and curiosity through play. Students are engaged in all levels of
learning while doing STEAM. Think about Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students are recalling information, explaining
their investigations, applying new knowledge to a real world situation, making connections, justifying their
explanations, and creating through the Engineering Design Process. The Engineering Design Process takes
students through an entire cycle of planning, testing, analyzing results, and trying again if needed. It teaches
students that failure is okay and that sometimes you run into a problem that you must solve. STEAM sets the
basis for critical thinking, curiosity, and creativity. 

Both the teacher and students have various roles within STEAM inside the classroom. The teacher’s role
includes things such as providing learning opportunities, providing materials that support exploration, and
providing opportunities that support discovery. The teacher must facilitate the learning that is naturally occurring
when students are completing STEAM activities/challenges. The students are responsible for maintaining
perseverance, exploring their natural curiosity, embracing failure, and successfully collaborating with peers
to meet their goal. STEAM prepares students for the real world and opens doors for students to 21st century
careers!

Whole Brain Teaching

Whole Brain Teaching is a method of teaching students that literally uses the "whole brain." The brain is made up of the following areas and each are addressed within WBT:
Visual Cortex: Students see hand gestures throughout the lesson.
Wernicke's Area: Students hear the lesson from start to finish.
Broca's Area System: Students verbalize content as they are learning it.
Motor Cortex: Students are up and moving throughout the lesson.
Limbic: Students' emotional needs are met through positive classroom management strategies.
The goal is whole brain teaching is "to create peaceful classrooms full of orderly fun." This goal is met by using attention getters, engaging students, and management strategies such as the Scoreboard. Attention Getters are call-response chants such as "Class! Yes?" The students must respond in the exact same way that you called them. This ensures that all eyes and ears are on you before moving any further.
WBT engages students by methods such as Mirror Words, Hands and Eyes, Silent Mirror, and Magic Mirror. Mirror with Words has students mirror your hand gestures and words when prompted to do so. Hands and Eyes means that all students should put their eyes on you and have their hands folded in their lap. Silent Mirror is when students mirror your hand gestures but without words. Lastly, Magic Mirror is where students must listen intently so that they can make up their own gestures to match the content. These strategies engage students by allowing them to be active, vocal, and intentional listeners throughout the entire lesson. There are so many other benefits to the whole brain teaching approach. It stimulates and motivates struggling learners, teaches ELL's, and promotes good behavior and physical health. Whole Brain Teaching is "Power Teaching. 

Orton-Gillingham Approach

The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a direct, explicit, multi-sensory, and structured approach for teaching
children to read and spell. This approach first began with Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham. They
created this program with dyslexic children in mind, but ended up creating a method that works for all
children. OG explicitly teaches children the elements of language and facilitates student automaticity in
applying this knowledge when decoding and encoding language. Whole group OG strategies include
things such as tracing, saying the sound, writing, blending, and introducing the new phonogram. Students
then move to their independent practice.
Other strategies include card drills, vowel intensives, letter formation techniques, and decoding of words.
As mentioned before, this approach is multi-sensory so students may be forming these letters with tools
such as sand/salt trays. OG also provides students with visual cues when decoding words. These may be
symbols such as lines, squiggle lines, stars, and other shapes. Each visual cue stands for a specific
sound and helps students to remember what that part of the word should sound like when decoding a word.

Students also participate in a “3 Part Drill.” Part 1 is the visual. Students are exposed to the new phonogram
and will trace the new skill. Part 2 is auditory. Students will be listening to the sound and listening for the
sound in words. Part 3 is blending. Students will now blend words that include the new phonogram.
These drills are to be done 2-3 times per week and should only last about 10-15 minutes. 

OG also has the “Learning a Red Word” strategy. Red words, or sight words, are words that either cannot
be sounded out or words that students do not yet have the skills to sound out yet. This strategy is multi-
sensory because it has students using screen paper, a red crayon, and a red word paper. Students will
trace the red word with the red crayon on top of the screen paper, causing the student to feel the “bumpiness”
of the screen paper as they write each letter. As students trace each letter in the red word they are to say
the letter out loud. This strategy is intended to help students spell red words easily and accurately.
Orton-Gillingham meets the needs of ALL students and enhances any classroom reading block!

Social and Emotional Learning

Social and emotional learning allows children to develop self-regulation, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills. Children must be able to self manage, become socially aware, build relationships, and make responsible decision to be successful in school, work, and life. Many assume that these social and emotional skills are less important than academic skills such as reading and math, but that is not the case. These interpersonal skills are just as important as their academic skills. Without the ability to self-regulate, make responsible decisions, and maintain relationships, students will not be able to succeed academically. Not only do these skills help students academically, but they also help them socially. Children that experience social and emotional learning are less likely to be bullied due to the fact that they will be able to make more friends. They will have the social and emotional skills needed to maintain friendships. Studies show that 83% of students that have gone through an SEL program improved academically. 11% of students have average gains academically, and 11% of students have a higher GPA. There are many, many strategies to be used to develop students’ social and emotional learning. For Kindergarten, “All About Me” activities, a home living, center, and emotion matching games are great to develop those interpersonal and self-regulation skills. After moving into first grade, you may want to add a read aloud such as “The Pigeon Has Feelings Too” by Mo Willems.
Social and Emotional Learning has “Five Guiding Principles,”
1.Create
2.Integrate
3.Communicate
4.Instruct
5.Empower
 Within my classroom, read alouds will play a major role in my students’ social and emotional learning. Read alouds are great across all grade levels, even the older students. My focus will be on building a community within my classroom with ample opportunities for teamwork and collaboration. I will also encourage positive self-talk and mindfulness through hands-on crafts and activities. For older students, I will provide journals in which they have the freedom to write about whatever they desire with confidence that their work will remain personal and confidential, unless they feel the need to share. Children of all ages need to develop their social and emotional learning inside and outside of the classroom, and I intend on becoming a teacher that holds SEL to a high standard in my classroom.