Our teachers are dynamic in assessing student needs and adapting lessons to meet those needs.
They noticed the addictive algorithms of today’s technology reducing both student physical activity and attention spans. Additionally, they saw that students who were overscheduled in planned activities, both inside and outside of school, were having issues with lack of imagination and critical thinking skills.
So, they took action… in the funnest way possible for students.
Last Wednesday, Hubbard hosted a Global School Play Day event, in an effort to break the hold of addictive technology on students and reintroduce them to the creative wonders of unstructured play.
Global School Play Days began in 2015 in Rochester, NY, when educators there noticed the deleterious effect that a lack of unstructured play had on children. The Feb. 5 event at Hubbard was the second of four events planned for the school this year.
“Everything kids do now is either structured and told to them, or in front of a screen,” said Physical Education teacher Brandi Muise. “Everything is either told to them by a coach or a parent or a teacher, and they don’t have the opportunity to just go and be bored and find that creativity, because that’s where innovation comes from.”
Hubbard students were definitely up to the task of creating via independent play. Each of the school’s classrooms was dedicated to some creative theme, whether it be building blanket forts, working with Lego, jewelry making, dancing, drawing, and more. Teachers monitored each classroom while students went between them taking part in that classroom’s theme in whatever way they liked.
“I liked the gym and my favorite thing in the gym was basketball,” said Grade 5 student Sylas Dormer. “My favorite class was Mme [Ashley] Deviller’s with mini sticks. I made a mini stick with a broken ruler and carboard.”
Students strengthened their problem-solving skills by playing together in an unstructured environment, Muise said. With little or no unstructured, child-led playtime, “they’re not gaining the skills that actually help them with the academics, or the confidence that they need.”
Lack of unstructured, child-led playtime can even affect the sort of childhood muscle development that helps with writing dexterity, she said. “I think that this is what we focus on now to help them with their social, emotional, and cognitive development. And I think that will, in turn, help them with their academics.”
“…they don’t have the opportunity to just go and be bored and find that creativity, because that’s where innovation comes from.”
Physical Education teacher Brandi Muise
Grade 5 student Lexi Antoshin may not have been thinking about his social, emotional, and cognitive development when he took part in activities that would strengthen all three. He just had fun pursuing his disparate interests.
“I mostly played in the gym, which I think it was the best room,” said Antoshin. “I played gaga ball and volleyball for the whole morning. I also went in the music room and made a song with my friends.”
Said Hubbard Vice-Principal Cindy Miller, “My hope is that students will realize that you can have fun without technology. You can build, create, draw or make puzzles and still have fun.”
