On June 18, I attended a virtual/digital atelier with atelieristas from Reggio Children in Reggio Emilia Italy. This atelier was titled: "The poetics of paper between geometries and transformations" which intrigued me. It was amazing be with educators from all around the world, playing with materials and ideas together. I represented BC with my friend and colleague and BCAMT president Sue Robinson from Salt Spring Island where she is a secondary math teacher.
The ateliers are interactive and you are sent a list of suggested materials and tools to have prepared. This is how I had my dining room table set up for the 6am PST start (time zones!!).
The two hours went by so quickly and when I reflected on this, it was because the majority of the time I was so immersed in investigating paper and seeing what I could make it do as I thought about shapes, size and symmetry. The atelieristas invited us to tilt our laptops at 45degrees so they could see what we were doing with our hands and materials. It was intrigued by playing with the idea of transformation which I think paper is such an excellent material to use for this. I ripped, cut, and folded different papers to transform them, often focusing on 2D to 3D transformation.
What mathematical connections might you make as you play with paper? What are the possibilities of paper for thinking about mathematics? What memories and stories does paper evoke for you? What metaphors do some shapes hold for you?
I am looking forward to hosting a paper atelier with teachers and/or students this fall!
E-Learning opportunities with Reggio Children can be found HERE.
~Janice
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