My students are fascinated with robots and technology. To capitalize on their interests, I’d like to increase the STEM resources available to my students.
Students with significant disabilities learn best when they can experiment with and examine real life, concrete examples of the complex and sometimes abstract concepts they’re learning in books.
At present, I have one robot that my students love to program. In our unit on quadrilaterals, students created a shape on the floor, measured the perimeter, and programmed the robot to travel the perimeter. In reading, we program our robot to ask comprehension questions that my students answer. In the near future, I’ll place letters and words on the floor and the students will program the robot to travel to the correct letters to spell a word or travel to the correct words to form a complete sentence.
The new Edison Robots will allow my students to work independently and in small groups and have more time to solve problems and interact with the technology. These robots would also serve as positive rewards or incentives for completing assignments and making good choices. My students are already familiar with Scratch and would transition easily to the EdScratch platform.
The Discovering STEM materials will help my students better understand motion, energy, force, speed, and mechanics by providing hands-on learning by doing. The Blocks and Blueprints will create additional independent activities which build students’ self-confidence and problem solving skills.
The educational tools I’ve selected will pique my students’ interests and expand their understanding, independence, imagination, and creativity.
My ultimate goal is to create an engaging learning environment where my students enjoy working hard, exploring new concepts, and sharing ideas while improving academic, social, independent functioning, communication, and critical thinking skills.
About my class
My students are fascinated with robots and technology. To capitalize on their interests, I’d like to increase the STEM resources available to my students.
Students with significant disabilities learn best when they can experiment with and examine real life, concrete examples of the complex and sometimes abstract concepts they’re learning in books.
At present, I have one robot that my students love to program. In our unit on quadrilaterals, students created a shape on the floor, measured the perimeter, and programmed the robot to travel the perimeter. In reading, we program our robot to ask comprehension questions that my students answer. In the near future, I’ll place letters and words on the floor and the students will program the robot to travel to the correct letters to spell a word or travel to the correct words to form a complete sentence.
The new Edison Robots will allow my students to work independently and in small groups and have more time to solve problems and interact with the technology. These robots would also serve as positive rewards or incentives for completing assignments and making good choices. My students are already familiar with Scratch and would transition easily to the EdScratch platform.
The Discovering STEM materials will help my students better understand motion, energy, force, speed, and mechanics by providing hands-on learning by doing. The Blocks and Blueprints will create additional independent activities which build students’ self-confidence and problem solving skills.
The educational tools I’ve selected will pique my students’ interests and expand their understanding, independence, imagination, and creativity.
My ultimate goal is to create an engaging learning environment where my students enjoy working hard, exploring new concepts, and sharing ideas while improving academic, social, independent functioning, communication, and critical thinking skills.
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