My Journey into Robotics has been one of constant discovery and sheer joy! Two years ago my principal, invited me to join a wonderful Robotics cohort led by Ms. Marie McAnuff of CS4All and Claudine Conover, District 11 Achievement & Instructional Specialist from NYC DOE. During our meetings we learned so many aspects of robotics, coding and engineering design using Make Code and the Hummingbird Kit.
The knowledge that I gained from these experiences enabled me to teach my students the skills that are needed to become successful engineers.
Our school began a robotics club in 2023 and my 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students worked on real world problems. In our first year, the 4th & 5th grade students designed a Robotic Dog that dispensed Poop Bags because there was too much dog poop in our community. During
our 2nd year we officially became the PS 19 Bronx Bulldogs Robotics Club.
We met after school and on Saturdays. During the school day, I was also able to incorporate 
Robotics into our Science curriculum: specifically our 3rd Grade Balancing Forces Unit and 4th Grade Vision & Light Unit. We worked diligently on our amazing robotic creations that included animals that sense the world around them. (Queen Honey Bee Ash our AI Bee, Francis Xavier our Red Eyed Tree Frog, Fred our Snow Leopard, and Thomas our Eagle,as well as, a Hydraulic Robotic Popsicle Stick Bridge.)
Teaching robotics lifted the level of my elementary science curriculum and using the Hummingbird Kit by Birdbrain Technologies has given my students the hands-on experience they needed to learn the engineering design process. The Hummingbird Kit and Make Code application enabled my students to create amazing robots from scratch, all while promoting computational thinking, critical thinking, creativity and teamwork.
Working on these robotic creations allowed my students to take ownership of their learning and suddenly my role changed from teacher to facilitator. My students grew confident in their skill and knowledge of coding while testing and improving their design.
Together they learned the art of resilience as they had to constantly pivot as new ideas emerged that needed to be improved and changed. When problems arose, they worked together to troubleshoot and persevered until they found their desired outcome. The best part for me was the sense of pride they each displayed when they saw all their hard work come to fruition.
Our robotics club was able to showcase their amazing creations at our yearly District 11 robotics event, the Citywide event which was held at the NY Hall of Science as well as the NY Boulders Baseball Stem & Robotics event. The PS 19 Bronx Bulldogs Robotics Club will be forever grateful for all those who have given us the chance to learn about robotics, coding and AI.
A big shout out to my principal, Ellen O’Brien who supported us every step of the way. Learning robotics and experiencing all that entails in making robots had such a positive impact on my students that I believe it has changed the trajectory of their elementary education. It has ignited a spark of discovery that will certainly last a lifetime!
– Maryann Moriarty, Elementary Science Teacher, PS 19 Judith K. Weiss, Bronx NY