The robotic arm 🦾
I’ve been teaching elementary school for almost 20 years now. I started my career in a small community thinking I’d never leave. 14 years later an opportunity came up to move closer to home, so off to a new school, new community, new colleagues. It wasn’t long before I realized how small the world really is. There were a handful of people I knew, one of which was the older brother of a childhood best friend.
This new colleague introduced me to the world of robotics. At the elementary level, robotics is all about Spike Lego. There’s even an international competition that releases a new challenge board each year. It’s really quite fascinating. For the past few years I’ve slowly transitioned away from coaching sports (it’s become quite toxic in today’s world) and into coaching robotics. My love for STEM has grown immensely and I’m seeking out opportunities to further learn.
Today I had a chance to learn about using a robotic arm in the education space. It was a small group of likeminded teachers who gathered in a decommissioned shop class of a ‘closed down’ high school. In the middle of this dusty, ancient room was a state of the art STEM trailer filled with all sorts of amazing tools and a giant robotic arm. We spent the day learning the coding platform and building knowledge on how we can leverage this tool to engage and teach students about science, engineering, coding and math. What a day it was... this nerd lifestyle I’ve embraced has me constantly excited, while feeling comfortable knowing I’m exactly where I belong.
