INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Grade 2 students use X’s
to mark the spots where
they test their Bee-Bot
program.
EDUCATION
SPONSORED CONTENT
T echnology E quals S uccess
at S ewickley A cademy
P
By Lower School Technology Coordinator Julia Tebbets
ittsburgh, once known as a booming
steel town, has replaced the mills with
thriving medical and technology industries.
Sewickley Academy prepares students to excel in
these fields, starting in Grade 1, with technology
curriculum that intentionally cultivates mindsets,
which leads to success.
We teach creative thinking by providing more
than a set of instructions with a known outcome.
Each unit involves a challenge with many possible
solutions but limited materials, to prompt creative
responses.
Grade 4
presenting their
universal design
to a guest.
Grade 4 Robotic
Vehicle Designs
Grade 5 Robotic
Cube Launcher
Challenge
Engineering challenges are a natural way to
practice problem-solving. Students learn specific
problem-solving techniques such as breaking
down a large problem into smaller components.
With a small box of materials, including a
newspaper and a piece of string, Grade 2 students
build something that allows them to retrieve
a Ping-Pong ball from six feet away. Students
program their Bee-Bots to follow a designated
path and aim to land on the X’s. If they don’t hit
the spot, students have to assess the problem and
adjust the programming.
Progr amming provides practice identifying
patterns and forming logical sequences. Students
practice coding in a variety of environments so
they learn not just how to accomplish something
in a specific environment, but discover the
programming principles – like “loops” (a sequence
of instructions that is continually repeated) – that
recur in all environments.
making improvements. Self-assessment and
peer-assessment are an increasingly important
part of this process as students advance through
the Lower School. This helps them take ownership
of their learning and celebrate their growth.
Interpersonal communication is an essential
skill, so we use projects and activities, structured
around designing something for another person
or together with a partner, to practice taking
others’ needs into account. Older students
practice participating appropriately and
generously in an online programming community.
Each grade level also includes projects focused on
multimedia communication and/or speaking to
an audience.
At Sewickley Academy, we also integrate
technology in the teaching of core subjects like
social studies and math. Students use digital
devices to learn, research, and express what
they know. In Grades 1 and 2, children share
iPads to foster the development of interpersonal
communication and collaboration. Students in
the third and fourth grades practice productivity
skills such as word processing and multimedia
communication, while Grade 5 students benefit
from a dedicated iPad and a Chromebook for each
student to use at school.
Through a common set of learning goals that
unifies the curriculum across all grade levels,
Sewickley Academy is equipping students to excel
in the technology field or pursue their desired
career upon graduation.
We explicitly teach our
students persistence
through failure and to
work toward excellence by
emphasizing that people
strengthen their brains
and become more capable
through focused practice of
new activities and patterns.
All major projects,
whether focused on
invention, programming,
robotics, or multimedia
communication, are
structured around a
design cycle that includes
collecting feedback and
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