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Create a post (or video) in the Code Collective that may include the following:
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What did you create?
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Why does it matter for students?
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What is your first implementation step?
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What support do you need?
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What did you create?
A proposal to evaluate Firia Labsâ CodeX/CodeBot curriculum against our existing robotics tools (Spike Prime, Edison, Finch) â comparing curriculum quality, staff time savings, and audience fit before any purchase.
Why does it matter for students?
I work at a public library, so this would support after-school programming that complements the school system â sparking interest through passion projects for all ages, with self-directed options built in. This platform is strongest for advanced tweens and teens, not our youngest patrons (grades 1â4, still on block coding), so part of the evaluation is confirming we have enough interested patrons in that older range to justify the cost.
What is your first implementation step?
This fall: hands-on testing with a CodeBot (year-long license from this PD course) and a month-long CodeX loaner, comparing both against our current tools with Learning Lab staff and a couple of tween/teen patrons.
What support do you need?
Director and Learning Lab sign-off on the fall trial, staff time to test, and help picking a grant (LSTA, IMLS Sparks!, Friends of the Library) to pair with our Learning Lab budget.
For my workshop choice: I created a cross-curricular integration project that connects math, engineering programming and CTE topics with the CodeBot and python programming. Students will design, program, test, and refine the CodeBot robot using Python.
Work scenario: Students are hired as engineers by a warehouse automation company. Students will work as robotics engineering teams and document their design process, programming decisions, testing data, and final performance.
Goals: The company needs an autonomous robot capable of navigating a warehouse path, making decisions using sensor data, transporting inventory (to/from production, shipping, etc.), completing the task efficiently and safely.
Why it matters to students: By providing the career & tech connection, this provides the students a âreal-worldâ experience. The robot will need to complete a series of real-world workplace-inspired challenges that require mathematical reasoning, problem-solving, engineering design, and programming skills.
For my initial implementation: I plan to have students work on the project in our after school CS club. Trying the project first in an informal club, allows for inevitable project âtweaks.â
At some point, I would like to also implement the project in our other CS classes - at least parts of the project - as time permits.
Support needed: I plan to review the current project work with my teacher colleagues for comments and suggestions. Eventually, we can discuss additional connection ideas.
What did you create?.. I created a âLaunching CodeBot In SparkNC: From Code to Showcaseâ Implementation Plan that integrates Python with Robotics into a SparkNC Passion Project or SparkPoints experience, culminating in an authentic floating student showcase where Grades 9â11 learners demonstrate at a station their coding and robotics mastery to school and district stakeholders as part of a Station Rotation format.
Why does it matter for students?.. This experience gives students meaningful opportunities to apply Python programming to real-world challenges while building confidence in adaptability, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving, etc. all impactful and connected to our NC Portrait of Graduate durable skills. Presenting to an authentic audience helps students strengthen both their technical skills and their readiness for future college and career pathways, as a goal of SparkNC.
What is your first implementation step?.. My first step is to identify a pilot group of SparkNC students and incorporate the CodeBot Python with Robotics project with flexibility into the next 9-week grading period (half of the semester) as an optional Passion Project or a way to earn up to 4 SparkPoints. Simultaneously, I will be establishing a timeline for a culminating Student Showcase for each semester that will grant autonomy to the SparkNC rostered students in selecting a final project that they wish to present as a station in the floating showcase.
What support do you need?.. Support with curriculum alignment, implementation resources, and access to CodeBot lesson materials, Python project examples, and facilitator guides would help ensure a successful launch, but more importantly access to funding for multi-year implementation (2-years initially) primarily from Firia Labs. Continued coaching, office hours, and recommendations for hardware purchasing, plus showcase best practices would further strengthen implementation and long-term sustainability within the SparkNC model, which can be a collaborative effort from Firia Labs and SparkNC.
What did you create?
I created a grant proposal to add 5 CodeBots to my classroom. Since we utilize the Code.org Curriculum and will use microBits, I believe adding CodeBots will help support Computer Science Learning.
Why does it matter for students?
I believe that students will be more engaged with hands-on computing and help spark interest in all types of careers relating to Computer Science. This will also help with reading and problem solving skills, as well as communication and collaboration skills with peers.
What is your first implementation step?
I plan to introduce my grant and learnings to the district and the Computer Science teachers. I also plan to talk to the Office of Technology to look into adding not only CodeBots, but other Firia Labs bots into the shared library for the district.
What support do you need?
If I donât get my grant approved, I will need support on âNext Steps.â
1 Like
What I created during Pathfinders (and whatâs next)
I turned our single-classroom Python + Firia Labs CodeBot workshop into a plan for three community events for grades 6-8: a Family STEM Night (problem-based learning), a Robotics Showcase (students demo real-world projects for parents/community), and a Career Exploration Night (connecting kids with STEM professionals). Each has its own schedule, staffing, materials, and budget.
Why it matters
Right now this work stays in one classroom. These events let parents watch their kid program CodeBot to solve a real problem, and let students be seen succeeding â not just graded.
First step
Starting with Family STEM Night this fall â lowest lift, and it lets me test a rotation model so one CodeBot can serve a whole room of families before I try to scale up.
Support needed
Help lining up community partners for Career Night, and ideas for getting a few more CodeBots â right now I only have the one I used during the PD, so everything has to be built around sharing it.
What did you create?
I created a talent show styled showcase.
Why does it matter for students?
Itâs an opportunity for students to show off what theyâve learned, gain recognition from peers and admin, and take home a tangible reward for their work.
What is your first implementation step?
Complete the mission packs with my students
What support do you need?
Additional CodeBots would be a huge help, as would additional copies of the license.
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What did you create?
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I designed a set of lessons to teach machine learning ML to my IB CS students (international bacculaureate) and also a lesson that can be used for psychology (which I also teach) or Biology dealing with neural nets, biological and artificial. In the new curriculum CS students need to know about different ML approaches (unsupervised, supervised and reinforcement learning) and understand why each one might be chosen given certain parameters. The lessons include deep dives into Neural nets (with backward and forward propagation) in which they make a perceptron, as well as reinforcement learning with Q-tables and K-means clustering for unsupervised learning.
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Why does it matter for students? This is a new topic and new curriculum for the CS IB diploma program. Students will need to approach the topic from a variety of angles and will be asked very specific questions about each of these types of learning and even the math behind it on their exams, so this will provide a âreal-worldâ example for them to practice.
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What is your first implementation step? They first need to know code space and get familiar with it for basic computing, e.g., understanding lists, arrays, tuples, functions (and for OOP, classes) so that is important. I hope to get CodeBots for the class (2 to a bot) if not at least the codespace environment
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What support do you need? Iâd love to keep in touch about these ideas. thanks for a great week of learning!
What did you create? I created an Implementation Plan to begin incorporating CodeBots into my engineering course.
Why does it matter for students? For the past six years, Iâve used micro:bits as one way to introduce programming with physical devices (I also use Arduino). I want to replace the micro:bit with the CodeBot because I think itâs a better fit for high school students. Most of our schoolâs robotics club takes my class, and I think this would be a huge help to them when programming their bots for competition.
What is your first implementation step? My first step is getting the CodeBots. Iâll be able to purchase them through CTE funding. I just need to make sure I check all the boxes with our IT department. The good thing is that I plan to start using them in February.
What support do you need? I think itâs going to take time to understand how all the sensors work and the logic required to make them work efficiently and smoothly. Iâm glad that there is lots of supporting documentation within the teacher materials.
What did you create? I created an Implementation Plan to begin incorporating CodeBots into my engineering course.
Why does it matter for students? For the past six years, Iâve used micro:bits as one way to introduce programming with physical devices (I also use Arduino). I want to replace the micro:bit with the CodeBot because I think itâs a better fit for high school students. Most of our schoolâs robotics club takes my class, and I think this would be a huge help to them when programming their bots for competition.
What is your first implementation step? My first step is getting the CodeBots. Iâll be able to purchase them through CTE funding. I just need to make sure I check all the boxes with our IT department. The good thing is that I plan to start using them in February.
What support do you need? I think itâs going to take time to understand how all the sensors work and the logic required to make them work efficiently and smoothly. Iâm glad that there is lots of supporting documentation within the teacher materials.
Impact Implementation Project
For my Impact Implementation Project, I created a 45-day implementation plan to integrate FIRIA Labsâ Python with Robotics and CodeBot into my 8th-grade Fundamentals of Computing class. The plan includes Python programming, robotics challenges, and a final engineering design project, all aligned with the South Carolina Information Technology Standards.
This matters because students will gain hands-on experience with coding, computational thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration while applying their learning to real-world robotics activities.
My first implementation step will be to conduct a live CodeBot demonstration to my class to introduce the technology and build student interest. Thereafter, I plan to apply for grants or funding to purchase a classroom set of CodeBots and fully implement the curriculum.
The support I need includes guidance on funding opportunities, access to CodeBots and CodeSpace, and ideas from other educators who have successfully implemented the program. I look forward to bringing robotics into my classroom and expanding STEM opportunities for my students.
Love the 45-day plan approach â starting with a live CodeBot demo is a great way to build buy-in before you go after the funding.
A couple of pointers on the support you mentioned:
- Funding / grants: CodeBots are frequently purchased through Donors Choose and similar grant programs. If you need a quote formatted for a grant application, Kathy can put one together for you â just ping her.
- Pricing & access: All the current product info and classroom bundle options are at firialabs.com, and CodeSpace details are at codespace.firialabs.com.
- Ideas from other educators: This same thread is a good place to start â several Pathfinders folks above are tackling similar rollouts (grants, showcases, cross-curricular integration). The Teaching and Project Spotlight categories on this forum are also worth browsing.
Excited to see how the demo lands with your 8th graders!