During the NETA conference I went to two sessions and got to visit many vendors. The first session that I attended was called “Educational Robotics in the Elementary School” from 10:15-11:15. The second session that I attended was a poster session and that ran from 10:15-12:15. I also visited both sets of vendors and picked up a lot of informational materials.

I really enjoyed going to the Educational Robotics session because it opened my eyes to a subject that I didn’t even think would be in an elementary school setting. The teacher who taught the class was named Garrett Sims, and with him he brought two students from his robotics class. This robotics class wasn’t really a class at all, it was an after school program, and in order for the students to get into the program they had to fill out an application and collect recommendations. After they completed these two steps, and they were accepted into the program, they had to maintain certain grades and practice good behavior. If they accomplished all of these tasks then they were officially members of the robotics program. It was interesting and pleasing to me because one of the two students that Mr. Sims brought from his program was a girl. The reason I found this interesting is because you usually find that boys tend to be more involved in activities where they take things apart and put things together. I was very pleased to see that a girl was interested in these robotics, and not only was she interested, but she was extremely knowledgeable about the different robots. I was happy to see a girl breaking out of certain norms and stereotypes.

In this session Mr. Sims had his students show us certain robots as he talked about how they were assembled, where to buy the Lego kits, what websites to visit, what books to buy. He also shared with us where he got the idea to integrate robotics into the classroom.

This would be a good after school program for any elementary school. Mr. Sims suggested teaching fifth and six graders because he said that only half of his fourth graders could understand robotics. Robotics would help with problem solving, spatial organization, communication, and it would also help introduce students to technology at an earlier age. This is something that I will look into when I get a teaching position.

The second session that I attended was a poster session, and it was basically a room set up with posters for the NETA participants to view. I went around and picked up some great ideas and lesson plans. One lesson plan was called “Taste Test” and it had students gather data, organize it, and put it on a spreadsheet. After the information was on the spreadsheet students would then make charts and graphs out of the data. When all of this was complete they would share their finding with the rest of the class. This lesson plan even came with a rubric to help grade your students’ work.

Another poster site that I visited had integrated technology and art. They had example books set up and you could see work that students as young as first grade had produced. The students used Sketchboard Studio to create artwork to accompany different lesson plans. I thought that this was very interesting and it looked like it would be extremely fun for the students to participate in. I would definitely use this idea with my future students.

Not only did I get to attend these interesting sessions, but I also got to visit both vending sites. This was my first official conference, other than SETA, so it was exciting to see all of the booths and materials set up. I picked up a lot of information materials that I can use in my future classroom. The other fun part about NETA was that I got free pencils, pens, notepads, and candy. I am definitely planning on attending next year, and this conference will be even more beneficial to me when I am a practicing teacher!