During 2018, we were thrilled to launch our $500 monthly EdTech grant program and received a number of exceptional applications throughout the year. Unfortunately, we were only able to select one recipient each month, but, with the Holiday season underway, we decided to send a few gifts to educators who applied and were not selected. So, just before schools let out for the Holiday break, we sent five surprise packages to a few of our favorite applicants so that they would be able to start 2019 off with a bang! Here is a look at how Debbie Reynolds, one of the recipients of our Holiday gifts, is planning on using her new piece of technology—the littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets kit!
Debbie is the Makerspace Manager at Harrison Middle School in Pittsburgh Pa. She is leading a transformation of their school library into a makerspace that she hopes will provide her students with more hands-on opportunities to create, build, tinker, and “get messy.” Debbie also wants her students to use the space and the technology within it to gain greater confidence in certain areas of STEM learning, like coding, robotics, electronics, and engineering.
So, when she applied for our grant back in October, we were close to selecting her as the recipient, but, ultimately, we were only able to provide one award. We liked her idea so much, however, that we sent her a gift of the EdTech item she suggested just before the Holiday break! Debbie received a littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets kit from us and she is already getting excited for how this set can be used to help her students get even more inventive and creative! Check out her reaction when she received the package in the mail and her own little unboxing segment.
We’re happy to be able to provide Debbie and her students with this opportunity and look forward to seeing how they use the kit. We were especially excited to see the video she sent us of her opening the box and we’re happy that she’s so excited to be able to integrate technology into her teaching. Since she loves using new technology so much, we know we made the right choice selecting Debbie as one of our Holiday gift recipients and look forward to seeing what she and her students have in store in 2019 for their makerspace!
Also, check back on our blog soon for more stories of how we provided educators who applied for our grant with an EdTech surprise this Holiday season and follow us on Twitter and Instagram as well for more news! As she works to expand her makerspace and make it more inclusive for all students, Debbie is hoping to get it busy and keep it busy for all periods throughout the day. Not only does she want her students inventing and creating, she is also going to try to get other educators in on the fun and even use the newly created space to host parent nights and other events! Since littleBits is known to be an extremely user-friendly set of technology, Debbie believes it will be a great addition to the makerspace, especially for her English language learners.