Colleen Graves's Blog, page 6

Holiday (or anytime) Gift Ideas for Cool Kids

  It’s the tech shopping time of year, so I thought I’d share some holiday gift ideas for the cool kids in your life. I’ve had personal experience with everything on this list except the last item! Let me know if you have any favorites you would add in the comments. Chibitronics Love to Code … Continue reading Holiday (or anytime) Gift Ideas for Cool Kids

#LufkinLearns Invention Literacy Workshop – Wrap Up

Last week I was stoked to lead an invention literacy workshop for educators in Lufkin, Tx. Thanks to Rafranz Davis, I was able to teach this group about some of my favorite things: Invention Literacy, Makey Makey, and the Maker Mindset. Packing for a #MakeyMakey workshop is always interesting! #inventionliteracy workshop comes to Lufkin and … Continue reading #LufkinLearns Invention Literacy Workshop – Wrap Up

Graphic Novel Review- Secret Coders Series

I love graphic novels, books about gaming, and books that promote problem solving. Other Gene Luen Yang Graphic Novels When I was in the English classroom, one of my favorite books to recommend to students was Gene Luen Yang’s Level Up. I loved it and so did my freshmen students. It was one of those … Continue reading Graphic Novel Review- Secret Coders Series

Review of LilyPad Sewable Electronics Kit

  This post is a long time coming! To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Lilypad Electronics (THANK YOU, Leah Buechley!!!), I’m reviewing SparkFun’s Lilypad Sewable Electronics Kit. This introductory kit came out last spring and SPOILER ALERT- it is a must-have for beginners interested in sewing circuits. (Educators and hobbyists alike!) What’s in it? So what’s inside the Lilypad … Continue reading Review of LilyPad Sewable Electronics Kit

3rd Grade Monster Paper Circuits with Chibitronics

Last week Mrs. Merritt wanted to have her class create some monster paper circuit cards for Halloween. She shared a lesson and template with me that she found online. It was a great template, but instead of just assembling a template with a pre-done drawing, I suggested having the students create their own monster drawings to … Continue reading 3rd Grade Monster Paper Circuits with Chibitronics

4th Grade Circuit Stations and Interactive Switches

A few years ago, I saw an interactive paper circuit mural on Twitter and was enamored with the idea of a large oversized collaborative paper circuit. I had a bit of trouble tracking down the original, but finally found it (thanks to Ryan Jenkins and Aaron Vanderwerff), and this collaborative lesson design from Creativity Lab at … Continue reading 4th Grade Circuit Stations and Interactive Switches

Love to Code & Paper Circuit workshop with Jie Qi at #ISTE17

This summer I was stoked to be a part of a programmable paper circuit workshop for educators at ISTE. Jie Qi of Chibitronics (and MIT Lifelong Kindergarten group!) asked me to assist at this workshop for educators in San Antonio. Jie is a huge proponent of adding art to Science and Engineering concepts, and that’s … Continue reading Love to Code & Paper Circuit workshop with Jie Qi at #ISTE17

2nd Grade Design Challenges

Brown Bag Challenge A couple of weeks ago on Twitter, I saw a tweet that encompassed some of my favorite concepts of a maker mindset. In the tweet, Angie O’ Malley, a STEAM educator in Washington(and a FABLearn Fellow), challenged her #elemakers to make robots with super powers ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. (High … Continue reading 2nd Grade Design Challenges

Adapting #Scratch + #MakeyMakey poetry for Elementary Makers

  If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m a bit over the moon for Makey Makey Poetry. (See initial post, follow up post, and resource page.) So when 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Harvey, asked me about ideas I had for poetry in the same breath as mentioning that circuits were coming up, well… … Continue reading Adapting #Scratch + #MakeyMakey poetry for Elementary Makers

Risk Taking – a new school year, a new school!

Hey readers! My family moved and I’ve started librarian-ing at a new school at an IB campus. I’m taking a risk and moving down to elementary to see how I can incorporate making and literacy ties at the start of a student’s education (Bonus: I get to be at school with my own 8 YO.) … Continue reading Risk Taking – a new school year, a new school!