Kelci Dowell at Stephenville’s Chamberlin Elementary School received a teacher grant from Stephenville Education Foundation for Bee-Bots. The grant was requested with the purpose that 100 students would have access to easy-to-operate robots. Bee-bots are the perfect tool for teaching directionality, sequencing, estimation, problem-solving, and many other critical skills. Upon purchase of the Bee-Bots, students utilized the device to further their knowledge in all subjects.

Educator Dowell set objectives for the Bee-Bot project prior to putting it in place. Bee-Bot centers lend themselves to the implementation of Stephenville ISD’s iChampion and provide a fun way for students to learn. The goal was for students to be self-motivated to learn and benefit from using many learning styles while engaging with Bee-Bots. This grant provided essential tools to teach the first-grader students skills that lead to becoming successful, confident, and lifelong learners in all content areas.

Students met the stated goals for the Bee-Bot project. Kelci Dowell says, “Students fully engaged when Bee-Bots are placed in a center. Students engaged and practicing their new learning and reviewing previously taught content. They think they are playing a game and just having fun, but they are actually working and reviewing content.” Kelci was able to measure success for the project through student surveys, self-check, data-study island, and M-class teacher observations. This project was successful because students completed classroom lessons and coding within the same activity using the Bee-Bots.

Students have used the Bee-Bots to practice content in all areas. It has been used to spell words, count coins, identify shapes, and use many other coding activities in specific content areas. Currently, students rotate to different centers during the school day. During this time, the teacher is providing targeted small group instruction. The stations they visit daily are reviewing and building upon skills that have been previously taught. Through this grant, students engaged in Bee-Bot activities that streamline STEM, phonics, math, science, and social studies curriculum. It allowed students to combine skills to obtain more efficiency and learning within the same timeframe.

So far, everything has gone as expected when using the Bee-Bots. Dowell shares, “It is nice having multiple bots and charging stations for them to rotate out and stay charged for multiple students to use during a center or lesson.”

According to Dowell, the first graders were very grateful for the grant assistance that Stephenville Education Foundation provided. The Stephenville Education Foundation’s goal is to encourage all students to work to their highest potential through an innovative curriculum.

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