December 4, 2020

Since the beginning of COVID-19, schools and classrooms have changed, but learning has not. In fact, schools have incorporated more outdoor learning.

Argyle Public School is one of the many schools within Near North District School Board that is learning outdoors. The onset of COVID-19 has brought some positive changes to the Kindergarten (ELKP) classroom and its educators Sonja Cudmore and Robyn Ramsay who are excited to see students embracing the outdoors.

NNDSB’s philosophy is to offer students a rich learning experience in both the classroom and beyond. Outdoor education brings learning to life with increased opportunities to advance curricular learning in real-world, authentic contexts. NNDSB engages in outdoor education in all seasons, to deliver interdisciplinary outdoor learning opportunities k-12.

“Students are practicing social distancing, so we thought it was appropriate to spend more time learning in our natural classroom,” stated Cudmore, who noted their schoolyard is a beautiful space for an outdoor classroom; surrounded by farmer’s fields, bushes, and a small pond. “We bring the learning outside by going on scavenger hunts, nature walks, outside math and science. Nearly every subject has connections to learning outside.”

Students even had the chance to go on a pumpkin hunt in the playground, decorating their found pumpkins, and ultimately learning about the lifecycle of a pumpkin. The learning doesn’t stop there. In fact, that’s just the beginning. Students have the opportunity to investigate various common spiders and their webs, which they became fascinated with. Using yarn and other materials, students created their own webs on the school fence to learn about the techniques used in web creation.

Playing outside allows students the freedom to move and explore their environment and make investigations about their world. “Our students have really enjoyed observing nature in our schoolyard,” said Cudmore who noted students have noticed an abundance of Woolly Bear Caterpillars and began to ask questions about them. “They wondered why butterflies lay eggs which led to a discussion on the lifecycle of butterflies. We kept track of the number of caterpillars we spotted each week using 10-frames and tallies and then created a pictograph to display the data.”

She added by November, students observed there were fewer caterpillars, but more chrysalises, which began a discussion on why that might be. Since that discussion, teachers read several books to the students, which helped everyone understand the changes they were seeing.

Students look forward to taking their learning outdoors and investigating the world around them,” said Ramsay, “The outdoors provides the perfect environment for students to explore their wonderings about nature.”

November 27, 2020

Robots are taking classrooms by storm, but not like any of those futuristic type movies. Instead, students are being immersed in valuable experiential learning opportunities, which will help them in their careers after secondary school.

Grade 9 students at Northern Secondary School have incorporated robotics in ways that you didn’t think were possible – robots and woodshop?! Well, it’s happening.

Since COVID-19 and enhanced protocols came into place, along with the implementation of an octomester format for the 2020-21 school year, technology teacher, Kevin Baker, and media studies teacher, Carmen O’Brien, worked together to create learning that provides a transferable skillset that students use in both classes thus making for an easy transition from one class to the next in a mode of extended learning.

Both classes incorporate robotics in various ways, which introduces students to a wide range of possible extracurricular and career options.

In Baker’s class, students are introduced to electrical, woodworking, and hydraulics while they construct a fully operational robot to pick masks up off of the floor.

“We are learning the basics of hydraulics with wooden arms. The task is to pick-up masks from the ground and of course no one wants to pick them up with their hands, so we are building a robot,” stated Alex, who noted that there was a lot of planning, designing, building, and learning by trial and error. “I’m very satisfied with the completed project.”

This is a culminating assignment for the students, who at the end of the Octomester, present their completed robot to Baker and test it out. Students design their robot to be a combination of a VEX Robotics, electrically driven chassis with a wooden, hydraulic arm mounted on top. The remote-controlled robot is designed to pick up an unused mask from the floor.

“Woodworking is an amazing skill to have,” stated Alex. “I’ll definitely be using it further down the road.”

A few doors down, students in O’Brien’s class learn how to program robots from scratch using programming blocks in the EV3 LEGO programming software.

“Students have learned how to program robots, how to use three different sensors; touch, ultrasonic, and colour sensors,” explained O’Brien. “They’ve used those sensors to detect objects that are in front of the robot and programmed the robot accordingly so that it can move autonomously through either a maze or through the

First Lego League mission board, and accomplish different missions at the same time.”

O’Brien added that programming can be challenging, so students develop problem-solving skills to identify which parts of the program work, which ones don’t, and why, to get their robots to successfully complete the mission or maze.

“Robotics is becoming more and more prominent in the job market,” stated O’Brien. “If we look at this pandemic, more companies are switching to automation because robots won’t get sick, won’t need time off and can work 24 hours a day.”

She noted that this not only introduces students to a possible career avenue but also helps them develop much desired problem-solving skills that they can use in their everyday lives.

As part of Near North District School Board’s on-going commitment to educating students for the future, as a parent or guardian, learning doesn’t stop once you graduate.

Last week, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, NNDSB hosted an informational session on “Online Risks and Emerging Trends” to educate parents and guardians on developmentally appropriate strategies for parents to engage in conversations with children and youth about online safety. Dozens of families from across the region participated in the event.

During this 60-minute presentation, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) outlined three areas for consideration: content, contact, and conduct. Parents were encouraged to get involved with what their children are doing online. The best approach? Put the child in the driver’s seat and let them be the teacher as they demonstrate their newest game or app. This allows parents to understand what kind of content their child is accessing, and provides the opportunity to ask questions about how the newest platform works. Like all safety practices, such as wearing a seat belt, adults must be providing constant reminders about being safe online.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection outlined how children use the internet to create, post, and share content, which can lead to issues of conduct. Also discussed was how to begin conversations about difficult topics related to child safety online, such as sending or receiving nude pictures, cyberbullying or how to address issues of extortion.

Board Trustee Fry attended the session and provided praise for the amount of information provided to parents and echoed the need for continued communication between parents, educators and students so that every environment, whether in-person or online, are safe spaces for all.

NNDSB would like to extend a sincere thank you to Karyn Kibsey and Samantha Falk from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection for their insight, and expertise. Parents are encouraged to visit protectkidsonline.ca for more information.