The Power of Yurt:

With permission The Science Teachers of Ontario Website 

ELEMENTS online Return to stao.org

The Power of Yurt ««« By Paul Kelba By Paul Kelba. Paul Kelba was a preservice teacher at Queen’s University when he wrote this article. He was a recipient of the STAO Pre-service Award with this submission. This information is recommended for use with the Ontario Curriculum, All grades, Structures and Mechanisms As a pre-service teacher, I am bombarded with effective teaching strategies: hands- on and student-centered learning were a few I latched on to. In theory they sounded fantastic; however, putting them into practice during my first practicum placements was easier said than done. As my year ended I had sought out a unique opportunity at Rideau Heights Public School in Kingston for my alterna- tive practicum. During March and April 2004, the entire school built a twenty-four foot diameter yurt [a circular structure used as a portable dwelling in the Gobi dessert]. The finished product would give the school a unique outdoor classr- oom. I was responsible for bringing this project into every class in the school while providing curricular support and meaningful assessment from junior kindergarten to grade 8. The end product of lesson planning was a roaming con- struction extravaganza wherein a class would spend a period or in some cases, a half of a day, working on a part of the yurt. Fellow teacher candidate Jenny Meens and I split up and spent three weeks visiting as many classes a day as possible. Roving from class to class was an absolute bless- ing. Each grade would jump at the notion of yurt construction and using tools. When the yurt building commenced, the instructional methods were as follows: Introduction of a yurt and Mongolia, tool safety in-service, and explanation of tasks... and then off we went! A daily updated picture board to praise the unintentional learning was a special touch that padded the already unbridled excitement. For the younger grades, a catchy yurt song added to the allure of the com- munity of the project. Once the yurt construction was in full operation, the ‘yurt community’ took a shape of its own and became an unoffi- cial theme of the school. The grade four class traced the origin of the wood used for the structure, the grade six class created blueprints for their own dream yurts, grade three students documented the progression of the major features, and the grade one class built mini-yurts and a model of Mongolia at the back of the classroom. A yurt being built at Queen’s University.

The Power of Yurt – Page 1 Volume 28 • 3 January 2007

ELEMENTS online Return to stao.org

How do you assess such an undertaking? In a perfect world we would have followed pre-planned science les- sons and assessments. However, with this project that was not the case. Instead we provided the teachers with a simple checklist with expectations taken directly from the Ministry documents. An interesting aspect of my experience was that no stu- dent really questioned why any of this was happening. In many cases the ‘why’ was too abstract for the students and this common misconception sucked the life out of the ‘how’. With this project, the raw experience of being trust- ed with a tool and learning its intricacies was enough to cover the curriculum documents. Personal insights? Experiential projects are worth the energy that is needed to see them into fruition; addition- ally, the involvement of the entire school created a dynam- ic learning atmosphere, full of unlimited teachable moments. There are two points to keep in mind in a school-wide experiential project: First, safety must be the focal point of your introduction and trust building. Second, the process of the lesson is more important than accomplishing every- thing that was planned. Many days were spent after school ‘polishing’ up a section that was worked on previously. All of this extra time was rewarded when the entire school witnessed the raising of the structure’s roof. There was an impressive picture of the yurt in the local paper. The school now has an outdoor classroom complete with a tiny piece of ownership from each student. Many students who were normally easily distracted ,were engrossed by the manual nature of the activities. It was fun, and also challenging, to use complicated tools; it was rewarding to see progress. The magic I witnessed has lead me to brainstorm plans to last me my entire career. The students and staff at Rideau Heights revealed to me that anything is possible, and I am not even a teacher yet!

The Power of Yurt – Page 2 Volume 28 • 3 January 2007