Blog Posts

Work ethic, motivation . . . and robotics contribute to success in competition, life

Posted by Admin on December 11, 2019

Heritage High School (Maryville, TN) students Caden Branch and Landon Davis took gold in the 2019 Robotics: Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) competition at the SkillsUSA® national championships held this past summer in Louisville, Kentucky. The duo’s first-place finish continues a six-year streak of medaling for Heritage High School USAR teams since they began competing in 2014. So far, students have brought home two bronze, two silver, and two gold medals from the national competition.

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Topics: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM, Competitions, ROBOTICS, STEM, Social and emotional learning, USAR, Future Ready, TETRIX Robotics, innovate, Contest

How do you get from coding to social studies? You Map It!

Posted by Admin on October 28, 2019

As we’ve seen in a previous blog post, KUBO is great for teaching coding in Grades K-5. The hands-on, screen-free solution uses TagTiles® to make coding as simple as solving a puzzle. And the quick setup and progressive system of Coding, Coding+, and Coding++ tiles allows for an easy transition from simple to complex concepts.

But KUBO is so much more than just coding! The free lessons and activities available at KUBO.education make this a truly cross-curricular adventure.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Elementary School, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, ROBOTICS, Technology, Coding, Hands-on Learning, innovate

Fall in the classroom: Your pick of seasonal celebrations and activities

Posted by Admin on October 24, 2019

The leaves are falling. The sweaters are out. Football is on TV. YES! Autumn is here!

Whether you’re sad about summer leaving or getting bundled up for all the cozy days to come, we want this season to be bushels of fun by bringing fall into your classroom. Autumn has several holidays, specifically food-related ones, for you to celebrate. Why not observe those by getting some hands-on learning AND munching on some food? I mean, could it get any better?

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Elementary School, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Homeschool, Teacher Resources, STEM, Activities, Hands-on Learning, STEAM, innovate, Art

ISTE 2019: What’s new, what’s for you, and what to do next

Posted by Preston Frazier on July 26, 2019

About a month ago, we were gathered for ISTE National Conference in Philadelphia with 20,369 attendees from all 50 states and 81 countries. There were 3,196 presenters, including 479 students and more than 500 exhibitors. All the new, upcoming, and breakthrough ed tech and 21st-century learning trends were on display. There were so many options –everything from 3-D printing to virtual reality to coding were there for administrators and teachers to try out, test, and see.

And as expected it was a connected conference – 123,479 tweets using #ISTE19, #ISTE2019, and #ISTEinPA were sent and Instagram stories were viewed 104,222 times, with messages such as how Ursuline School was super pumped to meet Mr. Robot. And TAG teacher David Lockett was happy to share the good news about Fable and Smart Buddies.

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Topics: ROBOTICS, Technology, Trends, Coding, TETRIX Robotics, innovate, Conferences, 3-D Printing, Virtual Reality

Robotics: Urban Search & Rescue strengthens participants’ career choices

Posted by Admin on July 25, 2019

Flavio Tello graduated from Texas State Technical College in Harlingen last spring where he studied Mechatronics, which includes electrical and mechanical engineering as well as programming. He now works for Koenig & Bauer and will soon be visiting their home base in Germany to learn how to troubleshoot and repair printing presses located across the United States.

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Topics: Middle School, High School, ROBOTICS, Technology, Careers, Coding, USAR, Future Ready, TETRIX Robotics, 21st Century Skills, Hands-on Learning, innovate, Workforce Development