Welcome to the Eduporium Featured Educator interview. Each month, our team is highlighting the work of an educator who is using EdTech to empower students. We are so excited to share their stories and their work with you! We hope it will give more educators encouragement to try something new and we’re always looking for more teachers to feature. This month, we’re featuring Lacey Tobie, a K-5 STEM Teacher, who has had a lot of success with integrating EdTech and has benefitted from receiving a grant as part of our grant program!
Lacey Tobie
K-5 STEM Teacher, Sweetwater Elementary School
Q&A:
What have you done with the materials you received through our grant?
We have been coding away with our Cubetto robot! My students absolutely love the bundle! We have been using Cubetto in small group settings to teach K-4 students first-person perspective in coding. I actually came up with a great way to introduce students to how Cubetto works. I have them stand on a marked spot on the tile floor and proceed to “code” with the Cubetto board. Students follow the commands and act out the steps on the tiles the way Cubetto would on the city or space map. Students absolutely loved the kinesthetic learning opportunity. It also gave them the chance to learn why and how Cubetto moves! My students have loved moving Cubetto around the mat and completing missions from the companion guide.
What advice would you give to people just starting out with implementing EdTech?
I think the most important piece of advice I can give another educator is to spend the time getting to know the tech. It may seem silly, but I made a handful of mistakes working with Cubetto at first. It gave me a student’s perspective and allowed me to head off possible student errors. I also developed an excitement when working with Cubetto. When I presented it to my students, they saw that energy and it excited them to work with the new technology as well.
What interests you most about Eduporium?
Eduporium isn’t just a store. It’s a company that is reaching out to educators to promote STEM education through grants, contests, etc. Eduporium has also focused on STEM education in all grade levels, which includes primary grades and preschoolers. I’ve noticed many other companies promote primarily with secondary educational STEM resources. Eduporium knows kindergarteners can code!
Do you know of an educator who is doing exciting things with EdTech? Recommend them (or yourself!) as an Eduporium Featured Educator by emailing info@eduporium.com with a short blurb about how you’ve used tech tools to empower your students! Find out more about how Eduporium can revamp your classroom, library, or makerspace by heading to www.eduporium.com. Sign up as an educator and start saving with your discount!