I’ve been thinking a lot lately about unique ways to help students find their voice in class, particularly around the start of the year when students may be new to a class or team. I’ve found that art and creative expression can be a really powerful tool for this. For instance, the simple activity of having students draw or design a symbol or image that is representative of themself in some way, can give students a vehicle for sharing things about themselves. I’ve learned some really interesting things about students from activities like this!
Which got me thinking… the Art Canvas, and particularly the Art Canvas + Playgrounds in VEXcode VR could be a great option to tie this kind of activity to your class or team.
The task is simple - Code the VR Robot to create an icon, logo, or image of some kind that represents you. The simplicity of this makes this task incredibly flexible - you can spend a class period on it, to get experienced coders back in the swing of using VR. Or, you can spend more time and give students an opportunity to dive into the design phase a little more, or to learn about the Pen commands, etc. For example:
This image represents me because it shows that I have a lot of layers, and that once you get to know me, you’ll see that those interests, feelings, and personality traits make me a little complex, but cool
. It was a challenge to figure out how to code the robot to create all of the shapes from the same point, but I figured out how to use a combination of variables and My Blocks to make it work!
Once students have created their artwork, print the canvas and have them write a description about why they think this represents them. You can extend this part as well, to have students reflect on the coding process and write about the most challenging part of creating their project, or something they learned while coding their project.
If your students are comfortable sharing verbally, have them present their work and descriptions to the class. If not, post them on a bulletin board, and spend time as a class reading them together, letting students ask questions to one another on a more individual level. A strategy like ‘Chalk Talk’ could also be useful here as well.
To me, this is an engaging way to get students coding, while also giving them an opportunity to learn about each other. You could then revisit this project later in the year as students work in groups or on a team - to create a group/team logo in VR the same way 
Could you see this working in your setting? What might you do to make this idea fit your class or team?
