Community Outreach: Inyokern Elementary School
I've spent the last two days working with 36 fifth grade students at Inyokern Elementary School. We've been trying to plan a time all year when we could do a robotics activity. They came to our "I Can Go To College" day a few weeks ago and the timing was right to set something up this week. Four of my students came to help out, giving them a chance to teach and facilitate a little in a setting that was quite different from what we are used to at the college. It turned out to be a great activity that got the kids highly engaged in the process. Their task was a simple one... build an "ambulance" robot to go from Ridgecrest Hospital to a gruesome crash scene to pick up a legoman victim and return back to the hospital. Easier said than done! In the end, most robots ran, although where they ran to was sometimes a surprise ;)
I had a great conversation with Mrs. Cornell about the idea of creating an afterschool club next year. Very often, this sort of thing is offered to the GATE kids, but I think it's the ones at the other end of the spectrum that can benefit the most. We are going to explore some funding options for robotics equipment for the school. I would love to see one or two of my guys volunteer to facilitate the club. It would be an awesome community service experience for them and a good opportunity to try their hand at teaching. I know at least one who is interested in doing something like this. Mrs. Holm and I spent some time today after the kids were gone reflecting on the whole event, talking about the logistics of doing this sort of activity. There are classroom management strategies, group dynamics, and other interesting kinks to work out that can improve the experience for all involved. I'd like to bring this back next year applying the lessons we've learned on this initial run.
There were lots of stories coming out of the last few days, but I'll just share two that made the most impact on me. I'm not sure of her name, but there was one shy little girl who got very involved in what we were doing yesterday. I was told that this was the most engaged she had been in something all year long. Today when I got to the school, she quietly came up to me and just stood there for a bit, before launching into a discussion about what her robot was doing and other lego things the students were building. This project gave her something to talk about, something to think about, something she could dig into and learn about in a way that seemed to catch her attention. That was very cool.
The other story involves a boy who is...um... rather high maintenance, I think it would be safe to say. I've had a couple of experiences with him in other activities at the school and I know he's one of those kids that requires a lot of guidance (aka duct tape). However, on this project, he was fully focused and engaged. He was coming up with ideas and articulating them to me and his teammate (my daughter). He reminded me a lot of the other "lost boys" that seem to find their way into my robotics class and I think he would do quite well in something like that. We talked for a while after class today and I tossed out the idea that he might be old enough to come take the class in the fall. I am sure I will be seeing him again.
The quote of the day came from one boy who said simply, "Robots are cool". I hope the connection they are making is that "hey, thinking is cool... and so is college. It's something *I* can do someday." I hope they caught a glimpse of the possible and that someday, in the not too distant future, we will be seeing them on our campus!
Pictures? of course! http://flickr.com/photos/debbyk/sets/72157600254043117/
Permalink ::
Edit
:: Back to Top ::
