Week 1 & 2 - Passion Project 2018 - Inspiration for an Interdisciplinary Unit

I have chosen to devote my Passion Project time to developing a new Interdisciplinary Unit for grade 8 students. Over the past 15 years, I have been part of the grade 8 Entrepreneurship Interdisciplinary Unit. I love this project, because students have a chance to work collaboratively, to problem solve, and to see that subject areas which are typically taught in isolation do not have to be separate and distinct from one another all the time. We don't stop using our language skills, just because the bell rings to signal the end of Language Arts class!

Next year, I am planning to implement a new IDU, on the theme of the Bay of Fundy. A colleague and I presented the Entrepreneurship IDU to middle school teachers in May 2017, and the process of putting together the presentation inspired us to start thinking about building a new IDU for our own students. We live in an area with a lot of biodiversity, the highest tides in the world, and a rich history - we fell in love with the idea of developing an IDU based on our geographical location.

To begin this process, I will need to identify the curriculum outcomes from each subject that could be combined, to develop a final task, and to decide on a timeframe and framework that would be feasible within a school day.

This endeavour will be collaborative with other grade 8 teachers, but I plan to lay a lot of the groundwork myself so that we are ready to implement the new Interdisciplinary Unit in October 2018. I'm excited, and ready to get started!