Kickball, music or Minecraft: Program lets middle school students decide how to start their day

Every morning,young students at Henry G. Izatt Middle School get to make a choice few other kids in Winnipeg do: they decide for themselves what they want to do tostart their day.

The school's innovative"interactive start" program offers Grade5-9students the choice to learn to code in the library, use power tools in the woodworking studio, dance, play a board game with friends or practise an instrument, among other options.

The only limit is time they have up to half an hour starting at 8:45 and then it's on to second period by 9:15 a.m.

Theidea is to fosterindependent learners and a sense of acceptance, says Henry G.Izatt's principal, Peggy Hobson.

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"Middle years is an important time for exploration," she said. "They can try on lots of different activities and feel free to do that."

She helped introduced the new interactive start about five years ago.

"Kids were engaged immediately and in fact many said this was their favourite time of the day."

The program is different from the more common active-start programs at other schools, which mainly funnel students into sports or physical activity in an effort to help them burn off energy, but don't allow forintellectual or artistic pursuits.

On Friday morning,several kids in the school's computer lab were already coding and playing Minecraft before the firstmorning bell.

For Kira, a Grade 6 student, it's a bit of a toss-up every day between spending her interactive start time on the play structure, dancing or doing a little coding.

On Friday, she decided to make a short animation on the computer.

"Sometimes I go outside, sometimes I'm in here. It just gives me a chance to settle in to the school day," she said. "It helps me focus when I get into class."

'I enjoy being in here'

Others at the school choose to work on makingwooden writing utensils using giant tabletop drillsin the schools workshop.

"I enjoy being in here. I like to make stuff so I'm usually in here every day," said Drayton Williams. On Friday, he was putting the finishing touches on a wooden door that will eventually attach to storage shelves.

While soccer and kickball games drew perhaps the biggest crowds Friday, there wasmusic too. On Friday students were pracisinga piece by composer Rob Grice calledPinnacle.

Band instructor David Pelletier notices whenhis studentsspend the extra minutes with their instruments.

"I'll always invite them in. Practise, do whatever you need to do, and I'm more than willing to help them out during that time as well," he said.

That one-on-one time students get with teachers during their interactive starts is one of Hobson's favourite things about the program. It helps break down barriers between adults and kids at the school, and makes classrooms more productive,she said.

"To methe key is relationship building, because adults and children are working together on things and they're talking together and they're feeling accepted."

Hobson said watching the success of the program makes her want to look for ways to increase flexibility in the day to give students more space to decide for themselves what they want to do.

Students choose how they start their day

7 years ago

Duration 1:59

Every morning, young students at Henry G. Izatt Middle School get to make a choice few other kids in Winnipeg do: they decide for themselves what they want to do to start their day.

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