Exploring New Robots

As the school year comes to an end, I'm looking into radically upgrading our robotics component of class. Here is one of the robots I'm looking to purchase this school year. They are made by Wonder Workshop and offer a variety of teaching resources.

I don't intend to purchase "Dot," but do want several "Dash" robots.

Do you have any experience with robotics and students? What would be your greatest teaching concern?

Thanks for sharing!

If Robots are Geeky...

If robots are geeky, guess I'm queen of the geeks this week! I am so excited to have my very first "Sphero" day with my students tomorrow. Sphero was created as a toy, but has launched a program for schools to use them to teach computer programming and coding using a tablet device.



Now, I know very little about these things, but I'm willing to learn right along with my students. School started three weeks ago and I have not gone a single day without a student spotting me in the hall and shouting out, "SPHERO!!" I almost answer to it as my name these days!

I had a small group of fifth graders gather around my room on the morning they saw my supply arrive:

 



I'm excited to share my experience with this whole thing come tomorrow! I love getting new technology in their hands - they just soak it up and the excitement beams from their faces.

Have you had good experiences with kids and technology integration? I would love to hear about any "aha!" or "oh no!" moments. :)