With the start of a new school year, what could be more exciting than to think where we will take our students this year? We want to bring amazing opportunities to our students to be creative, innovative and collaborate as they learn, build and tinker. We want to empower them to make choices and come up with solutions on their own. And most of all, we want them to come to school with a passion for learning and exploring, while having fun!
As I think about these goals I have for the new year, bringing robots and a robotics program to our school is at the top of my list! In fact, over the summer I spent a lot of time learning more about one of my favorite robots, Sphero! Every conference finds me going to their booth and playing with all of the robots and after purchasing the Sphero BOLT, I am hooked!
Sphero not only creates AWESOME robots, they also have created thousands of activities and resources to help students, teachers and parents go #BeyondCode and take robotics to a new level through hands-on, applied learning practice and experiences. They have created Sphero for our young people to learn how to program robots in 3 different ways for beginning, intermediate and pro coders. The robots will grow with them, which makes it even more perfect for our K-12 school.
If you haven’t spent time with Sphero and their products before, let me share a few of the things I love about their robots. Every Sphero product is a blank canvas for students to build and be creative, They are innovative and functional, yet simple and intuitive in design. Sphero’s tools get you coding in minutes, so you can skip all of the tedious set-up and get right to unlocking the creative potential in each student.
I love how students can choose from the Sphero Edu Activities to kick off STEM-centric activities or use them to kick start their own imagination if it is having a dance party, designing a dream journey through space or navigating their way through a labyrinth they have created.
These activities can be found here and contains a huge variety of subjects including Math, Science, Coding, Social Studies, Art throughout all….
...grade levels. The sky is the limit with these activities, paired with the ideas and innovation your students and teachers bring themselves too.
Our friends at Sphero want all students to be able to experience the fun they can have their robots and fall in love with learning. With more than 40,000 teachers at 20,000 using Sphero tools and easy-to-use content to empower the next generation with creativity, problem-solving skills and resiliency, new opportunities will be open to students today and for their future.
Here are some of my favorite Sphero products:
Code Mat: The Sphero Code Mat is super cool! This mat seamlessly pairs learning with play. Perfect for educators, students, and parents, this two-sided mat offers a simple, accessible way to learn block-based coding, basic math principles, and collaborative problem-solving with Sphero robots.
The mat comes with 3 sets of Activity Cards, providing over 40 hours of coding and skill building. It's the perfect pairing for hands-on coding concepts.
15 Pack: The Sphero BOLT 15 pack contains everything you need to get started teaching robotics and the fundamentals of programming. This special pack of 15 BOLT robots is available exclusively to educators at a discount.
Sphero Fundamentals: Our asynchronous Professional Learning course walks you through getting started with the Sphero Edu Program, the Sphero Edu app, and how to apply it all in your classroom. Created by the pros from our professional learning team, this course will take you into a deep dive into Draw, Block Based programming, and Javascript text programming. We’ll wrap it up with suggested classroom applications for all grade levels, experience and content areas. In addition, you’ll get exclusive access to Sphero content that no one else has!
Power Pack: The BOLT Power Pack is the top of the line kit for educators using the Sphero Edu program in a classroom, robotics club, or in any maker environment you can dream up. Plus it’s loaded with Turbo Covers, Maze Tape, and Protractors, so the activities can get started anytime, anywhere. Tote it all like a boss in a sleek airline compliant carrying case on rollers with a retractable handle. You’ll officially be the best teacher ever.
To help us kick off the best year yet, Sphero is offering all of us some very special offers. Check these out!
When you purchase a Power Pack, you get the Code Mats and Activity Cards at 15% off. You will find the Power Pack here.
Also, you can purchase the Sphero 15 Pack and get the Sphero Fundamentals at 50% off! You will find the 15 Pack here.
Sphero is definitely inspiring the creators of tomorrow! This year you can too by bringing Sphero to your library, classrooms and school community and opening the door to robotics, coding, creativity, innovation and so much more.
As we kick off our school year at Van Meter next week, I can’t wait to share what we are doing to inspire our young people.
Make sure you share your experiences and stories too by following @Sphero on Instagram, @SpheroEdu on Twitter, and using the hashtags #BOLT #sphero and #beyondcode.
One more little surprise! I am hosting a giveaway and all of you can enter to win a Sphero Bolt by filling out this form. Thank you Sphero friends for making this happen!
It is such a special place to not only share all of the great things happening within your school community, it is also packed full of inspiration and learning every day.
And as for us at Van Meter, I know we will be sharing amazing stories of how Sphero is inspiring our creators of tomorrow in innovative and creative ways everyday.
No comments:
Post a Comment