HUMBOLDT — Cardboard boxes. Paper plates, plastic cups and disposable utensils. Legos. Rusted metal springs and pop cans.
Those items may not sound like robot material, but that’s exactly what sixth grade students in Humboldt used for a special project designed to keep them reading during these weeks of distance learning.
Teachers Darcie Croisant and Kelly Mauk know it’s challenging to engage middle school-aged children in reading under the best of circumstances. But those challenges are magnified when you throw in a global health crisis and the closing of school buildings that forced students to work online and from home.
Efforts to connect with students through virtual meeting platforms typically met with a success rate of less than 50%. In a class of 43, only 17 to 19 would participate.
But ask them to build a robot — whatever type of robot they wanted, using whatever materials they could find — and all but one or two students jumped on the opportunity. During online Zoom meetings, they talked over each other in their eagerness to show off their robots.
“This project really brightened their spirits,” Croisant said. “I think it gave them confidence and self-expression. I could see their personalities shining through in their robot.”
“It was the most fun I’ve ever had at a Zoom meeting,” Mauk added.
Take one student in particular, who Croisant did not want to identify. He’s more of a “hands on” learner and not particularly fond of reading or worksheets.
“This was right up his alley,” Croisant said.
Another student is quite an introvert and is generally too shy to speak up in class or draw attention to herself. But in the comfort of her own home, behind the safety of a computer screen, she blossomed.
“That made my heart happy, just to see her confidence shine through,” Croisant said.
Even though it may be difficult for some students to participate in the online meetings, the virtual approach allows some students to feel more relaxed and comfortable, Mauk observed.
“Some of them come out of their shell more,” she said.
“Of course, we miss the kids and they really need that connection. Middle school kids would never admit it, but they miss school.”
THE PROJECT began with a book, “Ungifted” by Gordon Korman.
