Ambassador of the Week: Davidson Blanchard
Among the tons of Tweets he tags Osmo in, and the day-to-day use of Osmo in his classroom, Dave has also presented Osmo at conferences all on his own. His latest conference was just this past weekend! Dave presented a session about Osmo at the MAASFEP Conference in MN called "Supporting Struggling Learners with Osmo". He also hopes to present at the TIES 2016 edTech conference coming up. Dave, your Tweets and the ways you incorporate Osmo into your classroom are just awesome.
Here’s Dave in his own words:
When I first found out about Osmo and saw it in action (on video), I knew that I wanted to bring this cool tool into my classroom because the students would love it and it seemed like it would be a great addition to the room. When I actually was able to get my hands on Osmo and use it - I was blown away with how amazing everything was... the experience, the apps, the hardware, the teacher dashboard - everything seemed to be so well designed and high-quality. Using Osmo with students is one of my favorite experiences as a teacher - the students are fully engaged in the activities I have planned, they are either collaborating to solve challenges or are competing to win a head-on-head activity - no matter the Osmo app, students LOVE every moment of using Osmo.
I joined the Osmo Ambassador program because I love sharing the tools that I use with others at conferences and professional development opportunities - the second I started using Omso with students, I knew that it was going to be my FAVORITE tool to share with other teachers. I only share tools that I love, tools that work, and tools that are quick for teachers to understand - Osmo makes a perfect addition into any classroom. Being an Osmo Ambassador allows me to better represent Osmo at events, but it also allows be to share Osmo in different ways and allows me to give out some pretty sweet swag to other teachers who love Osmo. I have been truly impressed with Osmo's dedication to teachers.
Another great perk of being an active Osmo Ambassador is having a tiny inside peek into the future of Osmo. I have had the incredible opportunity to meet with some of Osmo's incredible staff and provide feedback on specific projects and updates to existing products. I have also had the chance to test out pre-release additions to Osmo's offerings and provide some specific feedback to help make sure every Osmo app is incredible.
It is clear that my students love Osmo and enjoy thinking critically about challenges, working together to solve puzzles, and creatively designing solutions to Newton or creating amazing things in Masterpiece and Monster.
My students have described Osmo as...
"Osmo is a lot of fun and you can learn a lot without even knowing it and it can be used for so many ages" - Aidan H. 5th Grade
"It is super fun playing all the games and collaborating and communicating with your partners" - Jack L., 5th Grade
"Its a very fun way to learn spelling, coding, and a ton more too! I never get bored doing Osmo. I love Osmos and hope you make more products!" - Carson D., 5th Grade
"The best way I have ever practiced making change and money" - Isaac B., 3rd Grade
"So magical - so much fun." - Bria, Kindergarten
"A ton of fun where you get to touch what you are learning!" - Mario, 2nd Grade
Tweet a smile @000Dave for a job well done! Thanks for all you do, Dave!