Over 40 teachers attended C-STEM professional development workshops in Riverside on Jan 9-10 and Orange Counties on Jan 11-12 to learn how to integrate programming and robotics into STEM subjects for integrated learning. The training is well received by these teachers. All teachers are excited to launch the C-STEM project in their schools with full energy and enthusiasm. Their students will participate in the C-STEM Day on May 31, 2014 with RoboPlay Competition held in Orange County.
Special thanks to workshop hosts Merry Kim, Education & Partnership Development Specialist Instruction from Coastline ROP in Orange County, Orange County Office of Education, Newport Mesa Unified School District, and Oghwa Ladner, Ed. D., TOSA in STEM from Hillcrest High School, Alvord Unified School District in Riverside County, for providing excellent facilities, great food and a great group of teachers in attendance.
Below are some comments from the workshop participants in Orange County.
“The trainers did an amazing job taking very divergent topics (programming, robotics, math) and making it all very accessible for me. It all came together.”
– Glen Warren, McPherson Magnet, Orange Unified School District
“Excellent program. I really enjoyed learning to integrate Algebra into coding. It makes a lot of sense, I didn’t know it was possible to just jump in and teach robotics but now I feel confident. I love the support we received; I can’t stop thinking of different ways to integrate computing and robotics into my programs. I look forward to using the curriculum and participating in the competition.”
– Marilyn Cunneen, Marina High School, HBYHSD
“Great experience! In just two days of training I was able to
- Learn the basics of programming
- Create new programs
- Run a robot
- Customize a robot’s program
- Create a lesson/unit for my physics class.
The training had a great balance between direction instruction (which was clear & efficient) and activities to apply concepts. I am leaving inspired to try this in my class!”
– Peter Selby, Corona Del Mar H.S., Newport Mesa U.S.D
“WOW!!!
Top notch instructors and instruction, excellent facilities and great group of teachers in attendance. I don’t always get a chance to thoroughly enjoy a workshop with such high standards.”
– Mickey Bowen, K-12 STEM Outreach Director, Edwards Air Force Base
“This was exceedingly fun and valuable. With the new Common Core State Standards arriving, I can see many uses and support through robotics & programming. It would be a good suggestion as part of our PAMA program. I also believe CDM HS should implement a programming class that would combine Ch, C++, and robotics applications. This was one of the better training classes I have been to. It got me excited to take this back to my classroom.”
– Daniel Leedy, Corona Del Mar H.S., Newport Mesa U.S.D
“I had no knowledge of UC Davis’s C-STEM project. I learned how to write code to run a Linkbot and display a graph of the motion. I plan to ask my students to work in groups to measure and edit code to command a robot to move to specific position. The goal is to improve their measurement skills, ability to apply the equation of motion, predict graphs, and interpret graphs but most of all to become engaged and enthusiastic about science! My experience at the C-STEM professional development will allow this to happen!”
– Jackie Vorona, Corona Del Mar H.S., Newport Mesa U.S.D
“The training was very comprehensive and will help engage students in Algebra, Physics & CS. The robots are easy to work with & the software is very logical.”
– Rerah Wolzinger, Golden West College, Coast Com. College District
“I did not have programming experience prior to this PD. It was helpful to create programs using existing programs. I plan to have my (Algebra 1A) students work on C-STEM once a week. My focus is to use existing programs to remediate concepts such as Operation of Integers, Order of Operations, and Solving Equations as a warm-up. Then teach basic programming and how to work with Linkbots.”
– Tran Tran, Orange High School, Orange Unified School District
“I’ve had some prior high school & college coursework with programming. However, it’s been years since I coded and was rusty. This two days PD definitely helped me get back to speed & recollect what I knew. This will greatly help when I teach these topics in my engineering class.”
– Shane Tappa, Santa Ana H.S., Santa Ana Unified School District
“I am very satisfied with the training, and it awoke my dormant programming skills”
– Todd Metcalf, Ensign Intermediate School, Newport Mesa U.S.D
“I plan to add the robotic/Ch/C aspect to my intro to software development class as extra credit for interested students. Students will work in teams and develop robots & programming skills.”
– Yassi Motamed, Tewinkle Middle School, Newport Mesa U.S.D
“I enjoyed my experience this weekend. The instructors were excellent and very helpful/patient. ”
– Herb Cohen, Golden West College, Coast Com. College District
“I learned a lot. Still wanted more. Time was tough to make, so I wanted it to be very content-ful. Anxious to play with and then get started.”
– Eric Shulman, University High / IVC, Irvine Unified School District
“The training was great, we will be able to work with our high school (Marina) on collaborating projects with them.”
– Sean Glumace, Golden West College, Coast Com. College District
“This was an extremely engaging workshop that I will certainly use in my classroom. I would like to teach it as an elective course next year.”
– Debbie Pipes, Newport Harbor HS, Newport Mesa U.S.D
Below are some comments from the workshop participants in Riverside.
“I will be implementing C-STEM in my math 7 class next year. I enjoyed the training. The instructors were knowledgeable and helpful. The curriculum was easy to follow even though I have had little to no previous experience in programming.”
– Dawn Mayhew, Riverside STEM academy, Riverside USD
“Definitely fast pace and a full day of training. I am anxious to implement parts of the program with my 5th graders. We have 85 min class period daily. I teach 10th grade students. I think C-STEM will be a perfect fit for us. Thank you. instructors are excellent trainers.”
– Rosalee Haubic, Riverside STEM academy, Riverside USD
“Great experience. Instructors worked extremely well together.”
– Don Parmer, Bayside Community Day School, Moreno Valley USD
“I truly enjoyed the C-STEM professional development training. I was a little intimidated before we started as my only programming experience was in college in 1982-1983. However, my mind was quickly eased once we got started. Instructors were excellent, teaching everything step-by-step. The pacing was perfect: slow enough for understanding, but quick enough to not get bored. I can’t wait to start using C-STEM with my 8th grad students.”
– Sherron McMane, Riverside STEM academy, Riverside USD
“The C-STEM professional development will help us introduce students to computer programming as an extension of our computer application offering and expose students to more opportunities for future career possibilities. The Linkbots will be extremely engaging for the students.”
– Kattleen Baily, Whittier High School, Whittier Union High School District
“Proficient with programming. Loved the P.D.”
– Stephen Mason, Hillcrest HS, Alvord Unified
“I am excited to teach the robotic portion. I love that a curriculum is written & I have a guide to use, rather than starting with little to nothing”
– Aridanna Brigle, Hillcrest HS, Alvord Unified
“My experience was fantastic. I would love to teach this class by itself but realistically we will probably use the computer programming and robotic in the class I teach already. Maybe set aside 1 month for each.”
– Dan Whittington, Whittier High School, Whittier Union High School District
“A great time. Very educational. Thank you.”
– Scott Wilcox, Hillcrest HS, Alvord Unified
“Loved the training.”
– Alina Saroni, Hillcrest HS, Alvord Unified
“Instructors did an excellent job of presenting material and are very knowledgeable. I appreciated the pace of the course and the interactivity of the linkbots. I feel relatively comfortable in the material that was covered. Just like any language, practice makes perfect! Thanks for a great presentation.”
– Art Cooper, Arizona Middle School, Alvord Unified
“As a degreed software engineer and math teacher, I found the training & curriculum to be more thorough than I expected. The non-programmers did well, being successful from the start. I look forward to implementation of the program because it comes with so many resources: PPT’s, videos, lesson plans, PDF’s, texts, student handouts, and teacher solutions.”
– Mark Smith, Costa Mesa MS/HS, Newport Mesa USD
More information about these two on-site professional development workshops can be found at
Photos for C-STEM Professional Development in Orange County, CA
Photos for C-STEM Professional Development in Riverside County, CA
