NETA 2017

WOW! NETA 2017 did NOT disappoint! This was my first time presenting [see previous post], and it was a wonderful experience. Seeing my students teach and show their passion for coding drones, talking to other teachers, explaining different things they have done, etc. made me ONE proud teacher! A big thank you to these WONDERFUL kids who made me look like I know what I'm doing....and to their parents for taking them to the Century Link and picking them up-hopefully this is an experience they will NEVER forget!

Now for the take aways...I'll let the pictures do [most of] the talking...

Tinkeringlabs.com offers great kits with different challenges students can complete. They seem a little more expensive, but I wonder if there is a way to set this up with a homemade kit or even with Little Bits that I already have?

A GENIUS idea to use with my coding robots/drones. This one specifically uses Sphero , but I feel like could be used with the Jumping Sumo, Ollie, and other driving robots/drones. It is made with PVC pipes and elbows that can be purchased inexpensively at Menards or other home improvement stores. They made cuts in 12" or 24" pieces to keep it standard. They all broke down and fit in a single plastic storage tub. GREAT IDEA to have kids coding with a purpose!

Lenny VerMaas had some GREAT math games and ideas for students of ALL ages. He had a lot of games and challenging activities for students of all abilities, but especially for those higher-performing students!

Adobe Illustrator Draw App presented by Tony Vincent . A GREAT app used to help create cartoon versions of real life images, and also it can be just a free hand drawing app. My students have absolutely LOVED this app and have used it for Health projects, Book Reports, Social Studies [Greek and Roman Gods], etc. They also just like to tinker with it during any free time. 

Here is the amazing Tony Vincent-please be sure to follow him on Twitter @tonyvincent He has GREAT ideas and is from the midwest and comes from an educator's background!

Here is an example of one of my student's free time creations [above].

Here is a heart drawn for a Health project on the circulatory system. [above].

There were many great presenters and speakers, but hearing from Code.org's founder Hadi Partovi was absolutely amazing! He talked about the importance of teaching Computer Science to ALL students, especially pushing for more girls to get into the field! Here are some of the slides he presented that truly resonated with me:

I truly hope Bellevue Public Schools figures out [quickly] how to incorporate these into our curriculum for Science credits. Students need experience in this; and the world will need plenty of students with this background/interest. We are doing our students a disservice by NOT having these courses available. And not just the city of Bellevue, but the state of Nebraska needs to get this in place. I know some things are rolling to get this in place, so I hope it is soon!

I could probably write about all the awesome things from NETA 2017 for hours, but I will end this post here. Did you attend NETA or any other great technology conferences lately? What were some awesome take aways you had? Please share in the comments!

Coding of Robots and Drones, Oh My!

I have (finally) decided to apply to present at NETA. I sub,titled my proposal and was accepted! Here is the basic information I will share with the world (or just those interested educators at NETA on Friday April 21 from 11:15-12). I am bringing four student "experts" with me to show off the four drones we use: Sphero, Ollie, Jumping Sumo, and Airborne Cargo by Parrot. We recently got a BB-8 for our classroom but will not be taking him to NETA this year.

Does your class do coding activities? Which ones do your students enjoy? Have you used them with drones? If so, which ones? I would love to hear feedback, questions, comments!