Day 11 - Brian Simmons, Learning Leader, Twelve Mile Coulee School

This story begins with a challenge: “Design a recreation centre for the youth of Tuscany.” This challenge came from a conversation with a visiting parent and set out to address a perceived need for this age group as there are currently few recreational opportunities for youth from 12-18 years of age in the community.

That’s it - that was the whole challenge. A simple sentence that led to weeks of survey construction, data collection and analysis, and careful architectural design.  A few teams felt unsure about how to proceed until one courageous and innovative group, with two students that did not view math as a personal strength, asked a simple question: “Can we use MinecraftEdu?”  

Suddenly, for some teams, everything changed. Using this tool they were able to create highly detailed plans for large and complex recreation centres. Instead of struggling with traditional procedures for creating scales and finding area/perimeter of large and unusually shaped areas, these teams could now show their ability to work through these challenges using a non-traditional method, one that is no less authentic or accurate in demonstrating their true understanding. Student leadership developed as these teams engaged in conversations around math concepts with ease and confidence, speaking clearly about the rigorous planning and careful calculations they were conducting in order to create their highly detailed designs, some of  which included functioning showers and food dispensers (and even a secret passage or two…)

So, what did WE learn? We learned that rigor takes many forms and that an understanding of math can be shown in many different ways.  We also learned that, sometimes, it takes a bit of ‘out of the box’ thinking (and your favourite video game) to create renewed passion and confidence.

Brian Simmons (@bw_simmons) is a Grade 5 Math/Science teacher at Twelve Mile Coulee School. He believes in approaching all aspects of life with an open mind and a sense of adventure.