A Peek into the SHMS Design & Technology Classroom

It’s time for an exciting break-dance coding session! The Grade 7 students enter the design and technology classroom, quickly finding their seats next to their assigned partners. They are ready to dive into programming robots. These students have been working with LEGO™ SPIKE Prime sets, which blend LEGO™ bricks, smart motors, sensors, and a programmable hub. This is paired with an intuitive Scratch-based coding app designed to teach critical thinking, problem-solving, and coding through engaging, project-based activities and robotics. The challenge for this unit is to program their robot to perform a break-dance routine.

During the previous class, each partner pair had focused on programming the legs of their dancing robot. As today’s class begins, Mrs. Vigier, SHMS Design and Tech teacher, asks the pairs to review their coding for the robot's leg movements, ensuring that their progress from the last class was saved correctly. Conversation fills the room as partners verify the accuracy of their code. Some groups need help, so Mrs. Vigier refers them to the directions and code resources available in their Google classroom. In addition to the teacher's guidance, some groups turn to peers who have successfully coded their robots.

Today's task is to code the robot's arms to move. Together, the pairs collaborate to create the necessary code for arm movements. Once the code is developed, they need to connect their robots to a device. Proper connection of the cords was learned in a previous class, and was quickly executed by the students.

After the cords are connected and the buttons are pressed, some groups encounter issues as their robots remain immobile, leading to collaboration!  Students intuitively help one another, sharing their knowledge by teaching rather than simply telling. This cooperation continues until every group has a robot capable of break-dancing. Mrs. Vigier asks, "Give me a thumbs up if you are done or almost done," allowing her to identify which groups still need assistance. 

Some groups continue to correct their codes, while others are tasked with the challenge of altering one specific part of their code to make the robot perform a different function. Pairs experiment with changing the speed and duration of the robot's movements. One pair even integrates a musical component into their robot's actions. At the end of the class period, all coding work is saved, and the robots are carefully returned to the shelf, ready for the next assignment. Today, students learn that coding can be a collaborative and fun process.