Coding with Ozobots

When starting our Coding Club, we were given the choice between a primary kit (kindergarten - 2nd grade) or an intermediate kit (3rd grade - 6th grade). We decided on the primary kit since my co-coach and I were both fairly new to coding and we really didn't want to overwhelm ourselves.

Our kits had a lot of different tools and resources that really helped kids jump into coding and programming. One tool that I came to love were the Ozobots!

OZOBOTS!!!!

What are Ozobots you may ask? Well let me tell you my inquisitive little friend. An Ozobot is one of the smallest smart robot toys. It helps teach kids to program and problem solve through a number of ways.

First, an Ozobot is able to follow lines that your kids draw on paper. My kindergartners loved watching their Ozobots drive over their pictures.What is even cooler is that the Ozobot can detect what color it is driving on! If its a pink line, the Ozobots line will turn pink. The kids were estactic when they noticed that little feature.

 "But Tyler, those kids aren't coding!" I know, just give me a second. The Ozobots not only can follow and read colored lines, but it also reads patterns. When the Ozobot reads a certain pattern or "code", the Ozobot will react. An example of this is when the Ozobot drives over green-black-green, he(or she) will drive faster! There are so many different patterns that your Ozobot already knows, you just have to tell him(or her) to do it!

But wait...There's More!

You say your kids already have some experience with coding and you were hoping for something a little more challenging? Well your in luck because Ozobots work great online. Ozobot.com lets you program your ozobot through Blockly Coding. If your kids have some experience with Code.org, than this will look very familiar. Kids build their own code, and then they are able to upload it straight to their own Ozobot.

Our kids had been using Code.org for a little bit and had fun building their own code on Ozobot.com. However, I think the best part for them was seeing something in real life actually follow their code. They were used to seeing Elsa make snowflakes on Code.org. This time, they saw their Ozobot move forward, turn left and change colors. It was a great moment for them.

Now, this is something that I find extra cool. For those of you that feel super uncomfortable with starting a coding club, Ozobot.com provides lesson plans to help get you started. Some of the lessons walk you through introducing Ozobots to kids, while some lessons provide you with games that let kids use their coding knowledge to solve problems! To me, this is all very cool and the kids love it!

 Heres a link that will take you straight to their lessons.
http://portal.ozobot.com/lessons


You should definitely check them out!

If you're not totally convinced, I found some articles that talk a little more about the awesomeness that is Ozobot:

Ozobot Review: The Smart Robot That Teaches Your Kids
 Coding with Ozobots

Till next time,

Tyler

Hello!

Welcome to my blog and my very first post!

I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little about myself. I also wanted to share with you my ideas for this blog and what you will be seeing in my posts. 

First, My name is Tyler and I am a fourth grade teacher in Washington State. I have been teaching for almost two years. I specifically teach Reading and Vocabulary to all of the fourth grade in our school. 

...Hi

During my two years I have helped create our Lego Robotics Club and our Coding Club. It's amazing watching kids dive into all of this new tech head first. I have been learning so much about technology and how it can be integrated into the classroom to help our students succeed.

Lego Robotics Competition

 I have been married to my wife Cheri for three years in August. We just had our first child, Oliver John on May 4th. We are both very excited to start this crazy adventure of raising a child. Although it's been nearly a week, I have loved every second of it. 

Oliver and I

 So, now you know just a little about me. I'm sure you'll end up learning more about me through this blog as time goes on

My Blog!

So, what will my blog be about exactly? Pretty much everything that I just talked about above. I want to share my experiences with you. My teaching experiences, my technology experiences, and my experiences as a new dad. I hope that I can share everything that I am learning and that you can share with me what you have learned as well. 


So please, stay tuned in for more posts about parenthood, awesome school tech, fourth grade fun, and whatever else I find cool.

Later, 
-Tyler