Joanne Henning

"Simple Machines Plugged In" is the winning program by Henning. Designed for fourth graders at Glendale American, the program will allow students to apply simple machines to a robotics program to create their own interactive model. They will also share how and why simple machines work, draw conclusions with critical thinking skills, write effectively about their experience and use technology to solve a specific problem. By engaging a pilot from Luke Air Force Base, students in Henning's class will be challenged to create their own machines and robots. With the use of Skype, photos, video and/or e-mail, students will be able to collaborate with the pilot in an on-going, shared learning experience. Utilizing the Lego 'WeDo Robotics' will allow students to work in cooperative teams to build a machine/robot model and program it to do a specific task. The hands-on aspect of creating their own machines will 'cement' the basics of physics and other scientific methods and math strategies to basic programming, and provide the opportunity for the students to take ownership of their learning. The final presentations will be filmed or photographed and shared with the global community using VoiceThread and E-Pal World. Henning resides in Glendale.