I am working on the final details to some workshops I am leading in July. One of these workshops is the following:
Discover STEM with Mindstorms
This workshop is ideal for participants who are new to MINDSTORMS and/or curious to see how it can be introduced into their classrooms. This introductory workshop will explore the getting started experience with LEGO MINDSTORMS and how it can be used in STEM learning. Through a series of hands on building and coding challenges you will feel more confident in using the robot to develop high level and engaging learning opportunities for students.
As I have scratched my head over how to construct the proper activities and challenges for optimal learning, I think I have set my sights on doing some sumobot building in the afternoon. I feel like this challenge is open ended enough for participants to freely build while also keeping them aligned to a set goal to share, collaborate, and connect with one another. I am working very hard during these workshop to avoid “training” as much as possible. We live in a time where we must do more to lead by example about how to learn instead of “follow step 1, now step 2, yeah everyone makes the same!”
I will share a few tips & tricks, but what I really want is exploration of learning. I want them to experience how to find solutions for themselves with gentle nudging and advice along the way. Instead of everyone build the same with the bald guy, I want to create at atmosphere where they can learn how they choose to – YouTube, written guides, small group, all alone, raising hand, etc. . AsI have leaned in with some of the best to make sure I create these conditions we want to make sure we experience the best thing as an educator of seeing someone struggling to work out how to do something and asking the person next to them. Collaboration done naturally. And it is even better when they solve their own questions.
While some will want more guided instruction I feel that many of the arguments about why we’re advocating this approach become self evident once you’ve had a go at it for yourself – and had an opportunity to experience being in the “flow”. Hopefully this transfers back to the classroom.
Anyhoo…..
As I tried to figure out how to pack for this workshop along with three others I realized I needed to bring a sumobot arena with me. I realized I needed to build one and it had to be portable enough to fit in my suitcase.
I then decided to make it a real world challenge: “Could I create a portable sumobot arena using materials I had around my house?”
I wanted to create a challenge that almost every single educator faces: Creating on a budget of $0
I started with my LEGO wall that I built for my nonprofit which I no longer need.
So, below is a video of my journey trying to make a sumobot arena using only materials I had around my house. This was a challenge and a lot of fun and look forward to more challenges like this to remind myself how hard it is to be an educator.
I can’t wait to see if it actually works!
Leave a Reply