Daphne McMenemy
Daphne McMenemy is a recipient of the Canadian Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence for her work with coding and robotics and STEM integration.
Her first book, Gracie, is based on her personal experiences in the classroom. Gracie is a young girl whose learning is brought to life when her teacher introduces her to coding and a new way of thinking.
As a child and young adult, Daphne was focused on becoming an educator with a purpose, to improve the lives of her students and make an impact on their educational journey. As an educator for the past 18 years, she has created opportunities for children in her classroom to explore learning in innovative ways.
Using STEM to engage children as young as kindergarten age in discovering learning through coding, she develops numeracy, literacy, and computational thinking skills through creative exploration. Her experience in the classroom has proven to support even the most hesitant learners in building confidence in their abilities and engaging in the learning process.
Speaking topics
- Building Thinkers Through Innovation
When our youngest students are introduced to coding and robotics, not only are we reaching a variety of learners, but we are giving our students opportunities to build those ever important soft skills – risk-taking, problem-solving, perseverance to name a few. In Building Thinkers Through Innovation, Daphne explores the world of coding in the classroom. Students become thinkers, innovators, problem solvers, and creators, all while developing a growth mindset. Exposing young students to computer science changes our pedagogy and creates a positive and engaging environment for all learners.