Vicki's Tech Hub

 Today’s third-grade math lesson reminded me why I love blending creativity with core curriculum. There’s something energizing about watching students light up when a challenging concept finally clicks–especially when robots are involved. Fractions can feel abstract for many learners. Number lines, equivalent fractions, and relationships between numerator and denominator aren’t always easy to visualize. So instead of beginning with worksheets or diagrams, we brought out Wonder Dash robots and turned the classroom floor into a living, breathing math lab. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Students started by examining a 240-centimeter number line taped to the floor. We talked about wholes, halves, fourths, and eighths, and what it means to partition a space into equal parts. Then came the challenge: How far does Dash need to travel to land precisely on one-half? What about one-fourth? Three-eighths? Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Suddenly, fractions weren’t symbols on a page. Th...

If you walked into a 3rd-grade classroom this week, you might have thought you’d stumbled onto a nature documentary film set – microphones, scripts, green screens, and students proudly explaining how a polar bear’s thick fur or an eagle’s sharp talons help them survive in the wild. This was the magic of our Animal Adaptations Green Screen Project ,  a fusion of science, storytelling, and technology that let students show what they know in a way that felt alive. Step 1: Research and Discovery Each student began by choosing one animal to study in depth. Using SchoolAI , students explored their animals’ unique physical and behavioral adaptations, asking three guiding questions: What is the adaptation? What does it look like? How does it help the animal survive? SchoolAI served as their digital thinking partner — helping them find factual information, refine their explanations, and organize their ideas while learning how to ask clear, specific questions. This research st...

 In a world where connection matters more than ever, our 2nd graders used technology not just to create — but to understand each other. This project was more than a design challenge; it was a celebration of empathy, identity, and friendship. To start, each student interviewed a classmate using guided questions focused on favorite hobbies, foods, books, family traditions, and what makes them unique. These weren’t surface-level conversations — students were engaged, thoughtful, and genuinely curious about each other. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub From there, the real magic happened: students took what they learned and turned it into a tangible design. Using Tinkercad, they created a 3D object that represented their partner — a soccer ball for a sports lover, a cat for an animal enthusiast, a slice of pizza for a foodie. Every single print told a story. Every design was a tribute to what made their classmate special. What students learned: ...

What makes us who we are? That’s the big question we posed to 5th graders in our latest project: My Life Odyssey . Armed with creativity and tech tools, students dove into a journey of self-discovery by selecting 5–10 pivotal life moments and turning them into powerful, reflective video stories. From learning to ride a bike, to losing a beloved pet, to making a best friend at a new school—students got real. They crafted storyboards, wrote meaningful reflections, and used digital tools to record their personal narratives. It was magical to watch them take ownership of their stories, speak with pride, and share pieces of themselves. Photo Credits: Ichda Alimul Khakim Khakim Tech tools like WeVideo and Canva made their stories shine. The SEL impact? Huge. Students practiced empathy, identity, and voice. One student said, “I didn’t know my life had so many big moments.” We started with an intro to the project by watching a few example projects. Then, we brainstormed ideas for our 5-10 mome...

Who says math can’t be a hands-on adventure? In this joyful kindergarten lesson, students used Sphero Indi robots to practice non-standard measurement and had a BLAST doing it! Here’s how it worked: Students received task sheets with color-coded paths that told Indi what to do. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub They arranged color tiles to “program” Indi and watched their robot zoom across the floor. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Then came the magic: using their hands and feet to measure how far Indi traveled. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Finally, they designed their own sequences to measure! Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub We traded rulers for sneakers. We built logic through coding. We turned measurement into play. The room buzzed with excitement. Students helped each other troubleshoot, celebrated when Indi followed their codes, and giggled when their feet didn’t quite match up with their partners'. This is the kind of learning that sticks. Creative. Collabora...

Our latest Scratch adventure with second graders was one for the books! After writing persuasive pieces on the quirky question, "Would you rather be a shark that can't bite or a penguin that can't swim?" students brought their stories to life—one code block at a time. Using Scratch, each student animated their opinion, adding movement, dialogue, and even sound effects to express their ideas in a whole new way. I was blown away by how thoughtful and creative their projects turned out. Every animation was full of voice, personality, and purpose. A simple writing prompt evolved into a cross-curricular project that blended literacy, storytelling, and computer science. More importantly, it allowed students to see their ideas come alive–and the pride on their faces was everything. We started with storyboarding our ideas. Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech hub Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub Then, went straight to learning to code wit...

 I’ve recently started reading Teaching Outside the Lines: Developing Creativity in Every Learner by Doug Johnson, and it’s one of those books that quietly but powerfully reshapes how you see your work. Right from page one, Johnson references Sir Ken Robinson’s famous TED Talk, “ Do Schools Kill Creativity? ” — a talk that has circled through educator circles for years but somehow feels even more urgent now. Robinson’s assertion that we’re educating students out of their creative capacities hit me hard, especially as someone who works at the intersection of learning and technology. Johnson’s message is clear: Creativity isn’t always about big, flashy projects or colorful masterpieces. More often, it’s about quiet, unconventional problem-solving that leads to surprising solutions and fresh ideas. As I’ve read, I keep reflecting on how this connects directly to the role of technology in our classrooms. When used intentionally, technology is a powerful tool for this kind of creat...