VICTORIA, BC – The Construction Foundation’s Skills Ready team was at the University of British Columbia in January to host a pair of evening workshops with up-and-coming elementary school educators. The workshops enable young educators to see the potential and benefits of introducing woodworking projects to their class, while getting a hands-on experience of creating those projects.
The first night of back-to-back classes was attended by 25 elementary school teachers who were preparing to jump full-time into their education careers.
“UBC’s Teacher Education department has a very knowledgeable ADST (Applied Design, Skills and Technologies) advocate in Yvonne Dawydiak,” said Randy. “She assisted us in setting up two workshops for elementary teacher candidates. What was very noticeable in observing workshop participants was how excited and engaged they were to make a wooden project that they could make with their students.”
After a brief introduction, Randy went through a PowerPoint presentation and finished off the opening part of the workshop with an instructional video that provided a step-by-step guide to creating a cell phone/tablet holder. The holder is one of several projects included in the Skills Ready ‘Wood Innovations for the Classroom’ project book.
“As a shop teacher myself, I felt very successful in demonstrating how they as teachers could provide a different learning experience for “hands-on learners”, added Randy. “Some of us just learn better by doing.”
Following Randy’s presentation, the class indulged in a gourmet pizza dinner before diving into the process of creating their own holders. Tools, materials and safety equipment were provided for participants who were assisted when needed by Randy and Skills Ready Career Catalyst Rene Ragetli.
“Randy’s workshop is excellent,” said Ragetli. “It shows teachers at any grade level how they can bring the ADST (Applied Design, Skills and Technologies) curriculum to life with simple woodworking projects. In turn, their students will end up with projects they can show and use at home.”
At the conclusion of the class, each participant walked out of the door with their own cellphone/tablet holder and an introduction to the possibilities of introducing woodworking projects to their future classrooms.
Skills Ready’s ‘See the Potential: Wood Innovations for the Classroom’ project book was used as a basis and reference for the workshop. The book is available online at projects.skillsready.ca.
About the Construction Foundation of BC
The Construction Foundation builds community through engagement in charitable initiatives and a commitment to industry focused education and research initiatives that benefit all British Columbians. For more information, please visit www.constructionfoundation.ca.
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