News
Birds and Bots Project Showcase 2026
Date: June 13, 2026
Time: 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
Location: Everett Lounge (Zankel 118),
Teachers College, Columbia University
525 West 120th Street New York, NY 10027
Save the date. Scan QR code to sign up!
Save the date. Scan QR code to sign up!
Join partners from Vision, Education and Media (VEM),
P.S. 59 The Dawn Best School, and
P.S. 84 Jose de Diego
to celebrate our teachers’ achievements and hear their stories firsthand during an exclusive panel discussion.
Program Highlights
Welcome and overview of the NSF project
Classroom and curriculum showcase stations
VEM station featuring Finch Olympics
Panel Discussion: 11:30 am to 12:00 pm
Hear from 1st, 2nd & 3rd grade public school teachers - participants of the Birds & Bots program.
Q&A and networking
Who should attend
We invite in service and pre service teachers, school administrators, and teacher education faculty.
Mark Allman is a STEAM Teaching Artist at RoboFun and a Game Designer and Teaching Artist with Vision, Education and Media. He visited our classrooms on Monday, November 24, 2025 to engage students in hands on learning and creative problem solving. With experience leading programs in animation, robotics, coding, and game design, his visit was energizing, inspiring, and informative, sparking many questions from students about coding and video game design.
January 31, 2026 PD @ Virtual
We opened with a discussion of the film Counted Out, reflecting on key ideas and connections to our work. Laura and Katie from VEM then shared highlights and takeaways from the NCTM conference. The session concluded with Part 2 of Dr. Lyublinskaya’s workshop on intervention strategies for struggling learners, with practical approaches teachers can apply right away.
June 14, 2025 PD @ TC
PD began with conference reports, including Marcus sharing highlights from CERME and Chamarra reporting from AERA. Teachers then worked in grade based groups to verify standards in the alignment spreadsheets and refine connections across materials. We closed with a gallery walk on multicultural math spaces facilitated by Dr. Nasriah Morrison, sparking discussion about inclusive practices in math teaching.
Summer Retreats
August 25, 2025 to August 27, 2025 Summer Retreat @ TC
We held a Summer Retreat at Teachers College to strengthen elementary mathematics instruction and plan for the year ahead. Dr. Erica Walker and Dr. Nasriah Morrison led sessions on mathematics misconceptions in elementary school, and Dr. Irina Lyublinskaya facilitated a workshop on instructional strategies for struggling learners. Dr. Sandra Okita addressed cognitive perspectives on how misconceptions develop and persist.
Over three days, we reviewed classroom video from the prior year to identify successes, challenges, and instructional adjustments. Teachers worked in grade teams to review and align Birds and Bots activities with their school curricula, including a rapid review of the full set of 50 activities. We concluded by coordinating implementation across partner schools and mapping fall and spring plans.