“THAT YEAR, MY GRADE 4 STUDENTS AND I INCORPORATED PLASTIC CRAZY FORTS STICKS AND BALLS INTO OUR GEOMETRY LESSONS TO BUILD 3D STRUCTURES AS THE SKELETON OF A FORT. WE DEVELOPED WORKING FANS, BUZZERS, AND LIGHTS USING CONDUCTIVE SQUISHY CIRCUITS MALLEABLE DOUGH TO SUPPORT OUR LIGHT AND SOUND UNIT.”


Lego robotics was not well-advertised


in my board at the time, but the design and technology teacher who introduced me to the activity encouraged me to develop a team. Given that this was my first time working with the robots, my focus was more on finding a positive way for that lit- tle group of students to engage with school than on having them create award-winning machines. On the day of the robotics tour- nament, two parents joined us at the event because they were so excited to support their children in this learning opportunity. Despite the fact that the students did not win at any of the individual challenges, they all declared that it had been their best school day ever. Success! With the elimination of design and tech-


nology classes, it is increasingly important to find ways to enable learning and ignite passion in all of my students. I believe that students make up their minds about the sub- jects they enjoy and will pursue well before they need to choose a secondary school. But I question if students are making informed decisions – if they have had exposure to skills that are used in trades or experiences that might enable their skills to flourish. Enter the makerspace. A makerspace is


a collaborative workspace for making, learn- ing, exploring and sharing tools. When this idea was initially introduced in our board, there were limited workshops offered to teachers on how to use the space. Monthly staff meetings offered a few project ideas that were engaging for the duration of the activity, but did not of- fer much in the way of immediate takeaway for educators to implement in their classrooms. I loved those activities, and I wanted to help all my students enjoy learning at school as much as I did! I made a conscious effort to begin in- corporating hands-on activities into lessons or culminating tasks whenever possible. I built on the concept of the asset model because I want- ed to be able to tell the adults at home how well their learners did in school.


When COVID-19 hit, I was relocated


to teaching in the makerspace, a room that was set aside for the express purpose of exploring creative endeavors. Tat setting gave me the best possible opportunity to really put my plans into motion. Te room had no bulletin boards for posters, no cup- boards to store my teaching materials and no table for guided reading – which was not allowed anyway. I made the most of it. In- stead of working among dust-covered boxes filled with mystery contents, I decided to explore. Te giſt of time that came with the pandemic slowdown was exactly what I needed to reignite my passion for authentic learning and to develop a real approach to differentiated instruction. Yes, paper and pencil activities still occurred in our class- room, but we had Maker Friday every week during which the students and I discovered the contents of the unlabeled boxes. What an experience! Tat year, my Grade 4 students and I


incorporated plastic Crazy Forts sticks and balls


into our geometry lessons to build


3D structures as the skeleton of a fort. We developed working fans, buzzers and lights using conductive Squishy Circuits malleable dough to support our light and sound unit. We played video games using bananas and little cups of water with Makey Makey alli- gator clips and a circuit board connected to the computer to support our learning of mu- sic and coding. We created and held virtual Merge Cube habitats in our hands to learn about using the features of Google slides. We raced cars made with loose parts, Lego and small motors with battery packs while apply- ing our knowledge of gearing up and gear- ing down from our unit of gears and pulleys. We even used the sewing machine to make animal-shaped pillows to support our habi- tat presentations. I will not forget how much offering these experiences to students taught me about the undeniable need to meet stu- dents where they are.


ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 21


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