Ashleigh Hudson: Stimulating children with technology and cross-curricular activities

Note: Some footage used in this video was filmed prior to the pandemic and may not depict social distancing measures.

Transcription – Ashleigh Hudson – 2020 Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence

[Photo, with voice over. Photo: Teacher and seven students smiling in front a blackboard. Music playing.]

"I would say the number one factor that contributes to student success in my classroom is believing in their creativity, and really fostering that."

[Fade to black and then up to white with medium shot of woman, smiling, on the left side of the screen, with the following words appearing, line by line, on the right: Ashleigh Hudson, Vanier Elementary School, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Fade to black and then up to close-up of Ashleigh in the interview setting.]

"So I usually spend the first part of my schoolyear, I teach Grade 4. And I build skills with the students. And throughout the latter part of the year I'm really giving them a chance to express how they want to demonstrate their learning. And they choose all different types of media."

[Cut to photo, with voice over. Photos: Ashleigh and student standing behind playdough and wires attached to a computer; Ashleigh and four boys sitting on the floor of a classroom playing with microbits; students dressed in Star Wars costumes standing in front of a green screen; one student filming another student dressed as a mermaid in front of a green screen; Ashleigh and a student looking a computer; students smiling around plants.]

"And I really think allowing students to be hands on in creating their own knowledge with the curriculum is probably the most important thing that I feel like I give them. I'm definitely a big proponent of the maker culture. I've got a maker space in my classroom where everything is kind of organised by material. All of them are going to make a green screen. All of them are going to make a stop motion. All of them are going to learn how to code. Everyone is going to learn how to use micro bits. We had a garden in our classroom and the students actually made sensors with micro bits."

[Cut back to Ashleigh in the interview setting.]

"They coded different things to kind of give data and information. Recorded that information. They 3D designed different holders and ways to support plants or to hold the micro bit sensors. And we learned all about our science unit on habitats and how the plants could adapt to different things. And it was really awesome."

[Cut to photo, with voice over. Photo: Ashleigh and students in the classroom preparing food]

"We actually like took all the harvest and we made pizzas out of them."

[Cut back to Ashleigh in the interview setting.]

"And we actually had parents come in for – this is pre-COVID. We had parents come in and we did like a fractions and decimals cafe. Where we had parents order different fractions of pizzas, or different treats and then the kids had to actually add up their bills based on decimals, and give change. So I like doing stuff that's real world, and impactful for them."

[Fade to black and then up to Ashleigh in the interview setting.]

"If I had one piece of advice for inspiring new teachers I would definitely encourage them to not be afraid to learn alongside their students"

[Cut to photo, with voice over. Photo: Three boys showing a computer and airplane.]

" A lot of the things that I've kind of picked up over the years I kind of took one thing and I started to teach myself along with my students."

[Cut back to Ashleigh in the interview setting.]

"And the students would actually teach me, and show me things that I didn't know even would exist in the technology."

[Fade to black and then up to Ashleigh in the interview setting.]

"I think all teachers really deserve to be recognized. We all work really, really hard. And there's so many amazing, great teachers out there. And the biggest thing that's come out of this aware for me is that I feel very valued, and honoured. And it's created a celebration in our school. And that's kind of created more of a culture of sharing, best practices, and working together."

[Cut to photo, with voice over. Photo: Ashleigh and students posing with Frisbees; Ashleigh and students standing in line smiling for the camera.]

"And it's made – it's something that our school can really be proud of. So you know, as much as I feel like I won the award I also feel like my school and my community got to share in that award."

[Fade to black, with the Government of Canada FIP and then the Canada Wordmark appearing in white.]

Year: 2020 — Province: Newfoundland and Labrador
Certificate of Excellence Recipient

Vanier Elementary School
French immersion, all subjects, grade 4
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

I love how she makes learning activities fun. … I will miss how she challenges us to be better. I love that Mme Hudson lets us make stuff instead of just writing it down or reading about it.

students

For Ashleigh Hudson, teaching is not just about thinking outside the box. It's about figuring out how to make the box, why making the box is important and what else the box could be used for. As a result, teachers and classes in all grades quickly pick up new teaching method or technology she introduces.

Teaching approach

As a French-immersion teacher, Ashleigh seeks to create as rich a learning environment as possible, since she not only has to cover the curriculum but also introduce a new language and the culture and history associated with it. To that end, she takes her students' learning out of the books and into their hands.

In the classroom

  • Integrates technology, coding and digital literacy into all subject areas: as students build skills they also develop a familiarity and ease with, for example, 3D printing and video production, and then demonstrate their learning through collaborative projects, such as making interactive posters or recording podcasts.
  • Emphasizes video creation as a learning tool: students created video tutorials about math strategies; this helped them retain the concepts and develop problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and communications skills during production; the videos are on YouTube for other Grade 4 teachers to use.
  • Fosters multi-modal learning: for example, students created a scale model of a community of the future—including recreation, transportation and infrastructure—using coding, robots and 3D printing, learning about healthy eating, safety, community structure and math concepts such as perimeter and area along the way.
  • Expands learning through projects with outside organizations: using knowledge of fractions, students slice pizza made with produce they grew under provincial Little Green Thumbs program; sold seeds from school-grown kale and tomatoes at the farmers market and learned about the economic benefits of agriculture.

Outstanding achievements

  • Recognized twice in the provincial legislature for class's environmental efforts using technology: students produced a green-screen video about climate change and a second one, "Don't be that guy," about the dangers of single-use plastic, along with essays asking for a legislative ban on single-use plastic bags.
  • Inspired the school by her example to make technology access and STEM a goal for the full student body; school targeted fundraising efforts to build a school learning commons for all classes to use that includes a variety of technologies, including a 3D printer, iPads, Chromebooks, and robotic and film equipment.
  • Shares her ideas—and help for other educators looking to implement new forms of technology in their class—through her blog "Adventures in Technology Education," offering how-to guides and best practices, and through Twitter.
  • Featured in Brilliant Labs Magazine and the Brilliant Labs Maker Minute Podcast; a student-created video about rocks and minerals, which also featured a song the students wrote, was profiled on the CBC.

Get in touch!

Vanier Elementary School
85 Ennis Avenue
St. John's NL  A1A 1Y7

709-754-2440
ginaducey@nlesd.ca
https://www.nlesd.ca/schools/schoolprofile.jsp?id=242
Twitter: @VElementary, @mmehudson