The Spark

A couple of weeks ago I emailed all the teachers at my school and asked if anyone had any interest in learning about 3D printing.

No one responded to the email. I was feeling low, but realized that we were in the middle of writing progress reports.

I decided that I would approach a few people and talk to them - face to face. Before I could get out of my classroom three staff members approached me about my email! I was feeling high again - ready to chat with and support teachers and students who want to bring their ideas to life with respect to their learning at school.

One of the grade 6 teachers decided to dive into 3D printing by allowing his students to spend some time playing with Tinkercad in order to familiarize themselves with the software they would be using. The next step involved providing them with an assignment to create a key-chain with specific dimensions. The teacher was a bit apprehensive but also quite excited about the process his students would enter into.

You can imagine how happy I was when two of his students came to my door late this week to ask if they could print their key-chains. They were excited to see the machine and how it worked. We loaded their stl files into Makerbot and hit print. They were mesmerized as the machine started to do its magic.

A few hours later they were holding their key-chains and amazed at how they had visualized what they wanted to create. They put their thoughts into action to get their ideas out of their heads - into a computer - and then finally into the palm of their hands.

The classroom teacher was full of excitement as he talked to his students about their key-chains. He talked to them about the success criteria attached to the assignment, asked them to reflect on it, and together we made notes about how the machine works and how to maximize what the technology can do and the connection to the design process.

I left school on Friday feeling good about the support I was able to provide the teacher and his students and look forward to what comes next with respect to their learning and bringing it to life with the 3D technology.

As I was pondering this blog post this morning, I received a message from one of the Grade 3 teachers asking about providing him support this coming week with the technology. Of course I said yes and can’t wait to see what his ideas are and how his students respond to the challenges that will be presented.

Sometimes, a spark is needed to get people to take a risk and try something new - something they are not comfortable/familiar with. When it comes to technology and its integration into the classroom I don’t necessarily need a spark, but I recognize that others do. These teachers have started their learning journey - I can’t wait to see and hear their students in action as they embark on the same risk taking that their teachers have undertaken.