Teams of educators from several districts joined a year-end Zoom meeting to share what projects they hav been focusing on this school year. Along with our CGI book club, districts have chosen from our three areas of focus: story, place and data.
The SD37 team shared a data project they began in the fall, collecting leaves from their school park and identifying the trees that they belong to and then collecting data about the numbers of trees. The plan was to do this as a cross-district project and compare the story of data about the trees at Delta schools but that didn't unfold as planned. Maybe next year! The SD37 team was also inspired by Vanessa's calendar/weather data project from last year and did a colours of the sky data project using beads.
Vanessa and Jen from SD35 shared how they engaged in a data project with their students about their community, including using tally charts to rec old the different types of vehicles they saw in their neighbourhood. Vanessa also shared how she used her weather data from the student calendars again this year to create a data visualization. The students "noticed and wondered" about the differences between the two calendars.
Laura from SD45 shared how she also was inspired by the calendar/weather data project and did this in her class as well. She also shared how her students investigated where they saw spirals in the outdoors.
The SD36 team focused on stories of place and collaborated with an Metis artist who created felt mats, plants and animals of the Semiahmoo and Sto:lo regions. Connected to their study of the maps, some classes visited places in their region and collected data, such as species found in the intertidal zone at the beach.
The educators from SD39 shared how they used Indigenous Storywork principles to think about how they might create mathematics learning experiences connected to Indigenous picture books they read with their students.
The idea of "What story does this data tell?" was a common focus for many districts and will be reflected in a collaborative resource that will be put together this summer.
At the end of our meeting, we looked ahead to next year and gathered some information about priorities.
We look forward to growing our project and community next year!
~Janice