Welcome to Inspire, a blog from FIRST.
After years of inspiring young people, as well as the adults who work with them, we decided it was time to share some of the things that inspire us.
Learn more about Inspire.
Curricular Innovation: How can we elicit a cultural shift through education?
Jul 15, 2016 by Urvi Shah, CEO and founder of Strategic EdTech LLC, and the Director of Educational Technology and Innovation at a private K-12 school in the Washington, DC area
The United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals to “transform the world” speak to the idea that we need a cultural and societal shift. The aim of the goals is to try to find massive and overarching opportunities to solve the world’s greatest problems, such as educational deficits to food insecurity, economic stagnation, and income inequality. In order to attain these goals, we need a global culture that equips students with the ability to contribute to combating these challenges.
Growing the Next Generation of “Philanthroteens”
Jul 01, 2016 by FIRST Staff
As adults, the way to make the biggest impact on the world is to cultivate something that will outlive us. In order to ensure that we’re making the future a better place to live, we should focus on cultivating the next generation of Philanthroteens.
Here’s to our Makers, all 400,000 of them
Jun 23, 2016In honor of this year’s National Week of Making, we celebrate the more than 400,000 students around the world who invented, tinkered and tech’d their way through the 2015-2016 FIRST season.
Small but mighty: Teacher won’t let STEM struggles become a cautionary tale
Jun 14, 2016 By Naomi Edwards, Educator, Kettle Falls High School, Washington
It was robot inspection time at our first FIRST® Robotics Competition event of the season in Spokane, Washington. Our rookie team just traveled 100 miles from our small logging town of Kettle Falls, Washington, and were stumbling into the field house dragging totes and a clunky robot.
Holistic education
Jun 10, 2016 An educators’ advice for providing young minds with the skills they need to thrive in the modern world
Recently, I was in a faculty meeting, and we had an exercise to brainstorm qualities with which we want to imbue our students. The list included: able to solve problems, ease of teamwork, enthusiasm for learning, compassionate, innovative, curious, creative, fluent in critical thinking, etc.
Inspired by: Seymour Papert
Jun 03, 2016Seymour Papert is a mathematician and computer scientist best known for his contributions to the understanding of children’s learning processes and to the ways in which technology can support learning.
Make, create, express ...
May 26, 2016According to TIME, there are more than 135 million makers in America who pump over $29 million into the economy each year. And these figures don’t even account for people under 18 years old. At FIRST, we know there are plenty. As we look to the future, it is increasingly important to empower the next generation of artisans, craftsman, tinkerers, entrepreneurs, and innovators who will help solve the world’s greatest challenges.
Teacher shows students success through teamwork; inspires community through achievement
May 20, 2016Mehulkumar Gandhi, a math teacher at San Luis Middle School (SLMS) since 2009, had no experience as a coach. But when his principal, Rafael Sanchez, encouraged him to start a FIRST® LEGO® League team at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, Gandhi jumped right in.
When it comes to in-school technology, leave brand loyalty at the door
May 11, 2016 by Urvi Shah, Director of Educational Technology and Innovation, Independent Girls School, Maryland
Prepare students for the real-world by implementing a device agnostic technology program. Most 1:1 device programs at schools marry themselves to the idea of buying all their devices as one brand.
Teacher to teacher: 5 Ways to Encourage Classroom Creativity
May 05, 2016This season, 13 million hours of service were completed by FIRST Volunteers – many of whom are educators who act as Coaches, Mentors and more. So not surprisingly, at FIRST, we consider every week teacher’s week. But in honor of National Teacher’s Week, we offer some advice from one of our favorite educators, Krissy Venosdale.