{"id":4856,"date":"2019-12-16T11:44:43","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T19:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideout.abbotsfordchristian.com\/?p=4856"},"modified":"2019-12-16T11:44:43","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T19:44:43","slug":"27-days-and-counting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/2019\/12\/16\/27-days-and-counting\/","title":{"rendered":"27 DAYS AND COUNTING"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had been waiting for it and somehow, I missed the call. For real? I emailed the City of Abbotsford awhile ago with some deep hopes of partnering with them on a \u201cWhat\u2019s in My Backyard?\u201d<\/a> project. A project\u2014that post-Newcastle Island trip and amidst FSA writing in grade 7\u2014was due to be presented at Presentations of Learning Night in 27 short days!<\/p>\n

As grade 7 teachers, we weren\u2019t stressed at all!<\/p>\n

We had a plan, but just needed buy in from the city to allow us access to a few areas up for development near our school so we could ecologically evaluate how the development might affect the flora and fauna of the area.<\/p>\n

Student reflection:<\/p>\n

My teacher kept talking about POL night. She would go on and on about how fun and exciting this project would be and the whole class would stare at her. Aren\u2019t we all doing the Civilization Fair like the grade 7\u2019s did last year?\u201d POL night is one of those things almost every student looks forward to. Many of us have older siblings at this school, meaning we have watched them do POL night EVERY SINGLE YEAR throughout middle school. We knew what to expect this year, so when our teacher told us we were waiting on the city\u2019s approval there was a ton of confusion and some disappointment. The classroom had this nervous energy as we anxiously waited to hear the \u201cyes\u201d from city hall. When our teacher (slowly) told us what they had planned for us there was a bit more excitement<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nervously, I called them back. If they said no to our proposal, we were really going to have to scramble to come up with a legit project the kids could put together. A friendly voice on the other end of the phone greeted me.<\/p>\n

Anxiously I waited. Yes? No?<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we aren\u2019t able to get you onto the properties you requested\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

My mind started to spin. \u201cNow what?\u201d 3.5 weeks to come up with a project tied into ecology\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026but we do have a counter-proposal, if you are interested?\u201d<\/p>\n

START THE CAR! Interested? Ummm\u2026. yes, we are!<\/p>\n

As I listened more intently on what their counter-idea was, I grew more excited!<\/p>\n

An area of land that is city owned and up for development? The kids could decide what to build there and how it might affect the area, the green space, and Abbotsford? For real? If there was a teacher\u2019s Christmas, this present just ended up under our teacher tree!<\/span>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

27 days. We could meet next week to chat about how this could all play out. Minus Thanksgiving Day and the Pro-D Day after, plus the Professional Development Day on October 20. That is 16 school days. We CAN do this!<\/p>\n

Now, how to sell this convincingly to my teammates and our students!<\/p>\n

Student reflection:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s October 9 and our teachers just told us we only have 12 more days to complete this project. \u201cWe only have 12 more days to get this project done?\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ve barely scratched the surface of what were supposed to do!\u201d I\u2019ll admit we were excited about building 3-D models and being able to use the 3-D printers for a project! It was fun being able to think about building anything with no restrictions (except for no space stations) in that area and then doing it.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thankfully, the clientele was willing. After the initial grumble about a project and work, the students became engaged. As the challenge became real and comments such as, \u201cWe can build anything?\u201d \u201cI love this!\u201d filled our teacher buckets to persevere.<\/p>\n

Student reflection:<\/p>\n

After we got over our disappointment about not being able to present a Civilization Fair, we got into our groups and it was clearer what the task was ahead of us. Being in a group with friends made the experience so much more fun and the ability of being able to create anything without having to worry about money and stuff made the experience all the better.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve always loved myself a good rodeo and the gate of this project-based rodeo was open. We were completely saddled in on this project. As teachers, we hung on tight as we met kick after kick this project presented, and tried to stay mounted.<\/p>\n