10 WONDER-ful New Year’s Resolutions

For Dash, Dot, Cue, & You in 2018

2018 is upon us, so why not make some New Year’s resolutions that are a little less, well, anxiety-inducing? Instead of promises of diets and decluttering, try these 10 Wonder Workshop resolutions instead. (We promise … they’re much more fun!):

1. MEET FRIENDS: Who doesn’t need a new friend in the new year? Meet Cue, our witty new CleverBot who’s perfect for middle schoolers, whether they’re just starting out with coding and robotics or are ready to up their game by transitioning from block-based code to text-based programming. More education-specific resources for Cue are coming this year!
2. BINGE A BIT: On the good stuff, that is! So you’ve unboxed your new CleverBot (do share with us @WonderWorkshop), and you wonder what to do next? Check out our five tutorial videos to help you get started with the robots in your classroom.
3. START SMALL: Small things often have big rewards, so introduce your preschoolers to Dash with Puzzlets, tangible icon-based tiles that control Dash’s lights, sounds, and movements, all without a screen! Read more about Puzzlets for Dash here.
4. BE A KID: Put yourself in your students’ shoes, and become familiar with Dash, Dot, and Blockly by trying some of our kid-facing Learn to Code Challenge Cards yourself! Perfect for students in grades K-5, these 72 cards cover six fundamental coding concepts.
5. PLAN AHEAD: Check out the scope & sequence for our K-5 Learn to Code Curriculum. Our 30 lesson plans + 6 assessments — all FREE— cover six fundamental coding concepts. Our curriculum is aligned to Code.org’s Computer Science Fundamental series and is designed to meet ISTE, CCSS, and CSTA standards.
6. READ MORE: Do you know we have a blog (maybe you do if you’re reading this)? Follow us at “Teach Wonder” on medium.com to get tips and tricks and hear from our guest educator bloggers about best classroom practices.
7. GET SOCIAL: In 2017 we established some social media channels for our favs … teachers! See clever activities on Twitter (@WonderWorkshop) as well as posts on Facebook (facebook.com/teachwonder) and Instagram (instagram.com/teachwonder). We are focusing on Pinterest (pinterest.com/teachwonder) and a new YouTube channel just for you in the new year.
8. WRITE & CREATE: What are you planning on doing with your students and Dash, Dot, and Cue? Share your original lesson plans with us and the rest of our Wonder Leaguers! Describe how you use the CleverBots across the curriculum, with connections to core subject areas like ELA, math, science, social studies, and the arts. We see the most creative CleverBot ideas born out of the classroom!
9. JOIN A MOVEMENT: This year, resolve to join the Wonder League, a growing group of educators, students, and parents dedicated to bringing coding to life through robotics. You will have access to exclusive ongoing team-based challenges to raise the bar around creative problem-solving! These challenges culminate in our annual Wonder League Robotics Competition.
10. LET LOOSE: Whew! New Year’s resolutions are now out of the way. Have fun with your students as always, and we hope their enthusiasm for coding and robotics will be inspiring. Learn alongside them and make our CleverBots part of your journey throughout 2018.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us at Wonder Workshop!