New Recruit Alert!!!
Hi, my name is Elissa Spencer and I’m the new Chief Education Officer at Brooklyn Robot Foundry. I’m super excited to have joined the family and eager to get started on a ton of projects that are swimming around in my head.
I spent the last six years as a public school teacher. If you have ties to PS321 you have probably seen me around! I was a 3rd grade special education teacher there. I am committed to continuing my work with children with special needs and am looking forward to collaborating with the foundry to create classes that are specifically geared toward that population.
My approach to education is child-centered and constructivist in nature. I believe in letting kids figure things out on their own, I believe in the power of a team and that children can problem-solve more creatively when working in a small group. I appreciate group work not only for the collaborative component but also for the emphasis on speaking and listening skills. I am committed to integrating the work we do here in science and mathematics with literacy components as well.
We want what we’re doing to reach as many kids as possible and with the current emphasis on STEM skills and common-core proficiency we feel that we have a lot to offer in that department. For that reason, I am currently working on a teacher-training seminar for the fall. We want to get robotics into our classrooms and we are developing lessons that make it really easy for classroom teachers to implement the curriculum into their daily schedules.
We’ve been running common-core aligned field trips for a while and the feedback has been phenomenal! Kids are really excited and engaged and learning about circuits and electronics at the same time! It’s a dream scenario for a teacher. In addition to offering carefully crafted, grade-specific trips, we will also be offering field trips that are aligned with the content teachers are working on in their classrooms. We would love to provide a meaningful extension of classroom learning.
Feel free to reach out if you want to book a field trip, sign up for teacher training, or are interested in our workshops and sessions for children with special needs.
I’m so thrilled to be a part of this team!
Elissa
elissa@brooklynrobotfoundry.com