Saint Thomas the Apostle’s  school year has been amazing! What a true blessing it has been to teach and learn from these bright and wonderful students.  This is my first year at Saint Thomas the Apostle, and getting the students excited and engaged in technology is my mission. We are fortunate to have many new technologies like the 3D printer, Drone, and HP Sprout, but where do I start first? With this in mind, Coding is a great way for Saint Thomas Apostle students to get their creative and problem-solving juices flowing.


There are tons of wonderful coding apps and websites available for students. Choosing the best app or website for my students depends on our own unique needs and goals. Scratch Jr. and Scratch for my k to 8th grades were an obvious option since it introduces concepts of coding by empowering students to collaborate while learning, and creating their own interactive multimedia projects.

So far mission complete! The students love using scratch and are so excited to create their projects. The students created their own mini movies and once the projects were finished, we had a movie day and watched everyone’s finished work. We also do in-class challenges that enable to students to think fast and collaborate with their classmates. Scratch jr. hands down, has created a wonderful app that shapes knowledge and creativity to tell personal narratives, and even share their understanding of math and science concepts.

Saint Thomas’s next venture will be with Dot and Dash and Ozobots. My students will use what they have learned in Scratch to bring their coding to life through robotics. The energy is high and the students are so excited to be using these great tools to broaden their rich educational experience here at Saint Thomas the Apostle. 

Ms. Talaya Agiya is the Technology Teacher/Coordinator at St. Thomas the Apostle School. This is her first year at STA, and she is very excited to start this journey. She has worked as a substitute teacher in many of the Philadelphia charter schools K-8. Talaya is married to a wonderful husband and is a mother to a very active four-year-old boy. She loves being with her family, doing outdoor activities, and enjoying life with laughter. Her passion for technology started at Temple University and has soared ever since. Talaya's goal is to integrate technology in the classroom as well as within her administration. Ultimately, getting everyone excited about learning about all of the possibilities technology holds. She is a graduate of Temple University with a B.A. in Communications and a graduate of Saint Joseph University with a M.A. in Instructional Technology. 

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AoP Tech would like to thank Ms. Agiya for sharing her wonderful experiences with us.
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