Category Archives: Robotics

Self-talk and Kid’s Building

Posted on September 28, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

I noticed a lot of self-talk during the case study building sessions last year with kindergarten kids.  You may recall that I am going a seven year case study starting in grade K and going to grade 6 with 8 … Continue reading →

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Robotics Starts!

Posted on September 23, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

I had my first robotics class last week.  In order to get every grade level done, I need to start in September.  I am starting with grade 4 (2 sections) this year.  The kids were very eager to get going.  … Continue reading →

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Robot Kits Stacked and Ready To Go

Posted on September 19, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

I am looking forward to starting 4th grade robotics this week.  We will do the LEGO WeDo Soccer Unit and then an open ended challenge.  Here’s how I store the robot kits in my “new” space.

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Local teacher poised to make mark in Lego world

Posted on September 16, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

WILLIAMSBURG – John Heffernan, who teaches technology in Williamsburg elementary schools, has been using Lego educational materials in his classrooms for years. He has developed a pre-K through sixth grade robotics curriculum involving the popular building toys. And he has … Continue reading →

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Elementary Engineering Survey of Practice and Attitudes

Posted on July 20, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

I am seeking to determine how schools support or don’t support the natural engineering instincts of children through the use of a survey. The working thesis is that the natural engineering and building instincts of children are supported in preschool … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Robotics, Teaching | 2 Comments

Grade 6 Survey Results

Posted on July 4, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

This cohort had 2 years of LEGO robotics.  Last year’s only had one.  Also, the unit was much more successful this year.  I did change the wording of the engineering question slightly this year to match another study sponsored by … Continue reading →

Posted in Child Development, Research, Robotics, Technology | 3 Comments

First Year of Case Study – Observations

Posted on June 12, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

I saw some interesting things in the first year of the seven-year longitudinal case study of engineering skills of young children from grades K to 6.  Each year, they will be given a variety of materials and be asked to … Continue reading →

Posted in Child Development, Research, Robotics, Technology | 3 Comments

Teacher Interview – How Is Robotics Different Than More Traditional Activities?

Posted on June 8, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

I found this grade 5 teacher very inspiring in her willingness to try something new.  Her experience with robotics was obviously very affirming to me  because what I have been trying to do is having an impact on teachers and … Continue reading →

Posted in Robotics, Teaching, Technology | 2 Comments

Sixth Grade Dragster Robots

Posted on May 9, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

Check out the level of excitement of Tori and Bella as they used some great teamwork and engineering to produce a really fast robot dragster using 3 chained gears.

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Kindergarten Estimation and Measurement with BeeBots

Posted on May 3, 2012 by JohnHeffernan

We have a great estimation and measurement lesson for K kids that uses BeeBots.  Kids first estimate the distance between two marks of some kind (I use masking tape).  There are a number of these around the room (usually 8 … Continue reading →

Posted in Child Development, Robotics, Teaching | 4 Comments