Welcome to Innovation Hour!! What a fun and exciting day!!

Innovation Hour is so special because it allows students to explore technology in ways they may have never learnt outside of this event. Today we had five stations. They were button-making, Go Cubes, Microbit AI, Chomp Saw, and an Unplugged Activity (Brain in a Bag). Our cohort, along with other cohorts, worked the stations all day for a local elementary school grades K-6. It was so fulfilling seeing all the students explore through innovation and technology.

First up, I was at the button-making station for the grades 5-6. This station was really fun, and I think my group worked well together. The students started by creating their designs on a small piece of circular paper. They could either draw or choose a cut-out design that was previously made on the Cricut. After the design process, students were able to create their button using the button-making machines. They loved this!

For my second station, I chose to explore the Microbit AI station for grades 2-5. For this station, we used MicroBit watches that were programmed with AI to present a visual whenever students made a movement that matched that shape. For example, if a pair of students gave each other a fist bump, a llama shape presented itself on the watch. Although it was somewhat hard to describe AI to this age of students, it still taught them that AI isn’t perfect the first time, and it takes several tries to get where you want to be. The students did really well with this activity. They were very open to being silly and trying new movements. I was definitely in my element. Sadly, I feel like we didn’t really find our flow until the last group, but I personally learnt a lot, and I still had so much fun!

For the last session of the day, I was at the cardboard paper airplane station where we used stencils, Chompsaws and cardboard hand saws to create a cardboard paper airplane. This station was overwhelming and honestly kind of a blur. I often felt like I was sinking. For this station, we had K-2. This was really challenging as the students were unable to trace the stencil and were not strong enough to maneuver the cardboard through the Chompsaw. With that, we were fortunate enough to have help from two lovely grade 6 helpers and our instructors. Thankfully, we were able to adapt, pull it together and successfully get everyone through! Although I feel like it flew by, I had one interaction with a little boy in grade one that I previously worked with at another school the year before. This boy has an IEP, and is the sweetest soul you’ll ever meet. The joy that the Chompsaw brought him made it all worth it. I can still hear his little giggle, and it just reminds me how important it is to slow down. Even though I felt like I was letting my station down, that interaction made my whole day.

Innovation Hour Final Reflection

This day was extremely rewarding and exhausting! It’s been a long time since I spent a full day being “on” all the time. Even so, I loved every minute of it. I loved being surrounded by all the joy and smiles. I often asked students what they thought of each station before they moved on, and I never heard a single semi-negative comment. This event truly highlighted the importance of Innovation Hour, which is about creating space for students to explore technology and experiment with intention, while providing support when they need it. No matter what skills were being tested, each station was designed to help cultivate a vibrant and joyful learning experience. I’m so grateful I was able to participate in this experience and am already looking forward to next year!!