Da'Shawn Navarro-Ware
This week was known as "Just Dance!" and I did the following lesson:Â
Sphero-Younger/Older: I completed the "Letter with Sphero's" and "Art Bot" with the children and based on what I observed I would assign this to kids between the ages of 8 - 12 (older). The lesson was fun for the kids, but the children got distracted very easily and strayed far from the task at hand multiple times. I would change this lesson to fit younger groups by making a lesson that would change constantly enough to keep the kids' attention oriented.
This week was known as "Wild Week" and I did the following lessons:
Owl Pellets: I completed the lesson with both older and younger groups, and it went very well. The older kids understood the assignment, while the younger kids struggled a little, but they still enjoyed it. I would change this lesson to challenge the older groups a little more and make it easy enough to make it easy enough to include the younger groups.
Dash Robots: The same experiance as the Sphero Robots lesson but I would change it so that the older kids can teach the younger kids how to work the coding app.
This week was known as "Olympics" and I did the following lessons:
Mini Golf Course: I completed this with both the younger and older groups, and it went very well. The kids were in their groups and started to build their golf courses. The older kids did better than the younger ones but only by a little. Everyone needed help at some point, some more than others. I would change this lesson so that older kids could be assigned to groups with younger kids so that everyone can really enjoy the project.
Olympic Torch: I completed this with both age groups and it went very well. The kids enjoyed putting it together and they barely needed help besides with the electronic stuff. I wouldn't change this lesson at all for any age group.
Chariots: I did this lesson with all the age groups, and it went O.K. I noticed that all the kids were struggling a little, so I ended up doing the lesson with them and they ended up liking the end result and really had fun with it. I would make this lesson partner work so that the kids could rely on one another to try and figure out how to assemble it.
Green Screen: The kids really enjoyed the process, and we ended up using the videos that we created for a graduation party for the children. I wouldn't change nothing about the lesson.
This week was known as "Imagine the Journey", and I did the following lesson:
Balloon Cars: I completed this with both age groups, and it went very well. This was one of the lessons in the beginning of the summer, so I ended up doing it with the children and the children ended up enjoying the end product and played with it. I wouldn't change anything about this lesson.
Last year I got my first job, a job that I never thought I'd ever get, that gave me an eye-opening experience into the world of teachers and an appreciation for what they have to do for their jobs. The STEM Summer training program taught me skills that I was able to use both in the classroom and in my life, while the actual program was able to test the skills I already had and improve onto them. I will always remember those that helped me along the way, as well as the kids that I spent time with during the summer.
My most memorable lesson was the Dash Robots lesson. When I first introduced the lesson to the kids, they were ecstatic and happy to be playing with an electronic but once we got to the lesson that excitement went down but as they continued the coding lesson, they found joy in figuring out how to make the robot move, sing, dance and talk through lines of code. Some struggled while some soared and seeing that perseverance to try and understand something new was wonderful.