I am an Ottawa native, father of three and an elementary school teacher in the Ottawa Catholic School Board. I have always been an avid hockey fan from collecting cards, playing throughout my youth, eventually refereeing and having contributed as a writer for Dobber Prospects and The Hockey Writers. As an educator, I believe that all students have the capacity to learn and that incorporating cards in class is another way to think outside of the box, make connections and support student learning.
Our Story
As a child, I used to love collecting hockey cards. Opening packs, placing cards in pages and sleeves and piecing together sets was such a great hobby. When the 1990s boom really took off with inserts and subsets, my head was spinning on what to collect, so I only bought Upper Deck sets outright to make sure I had all the rookie cards, but even then, my interest in the hobby fizzled out at the end of the decade.
Without knowing it at the time, I learned many applicable skills while collecting. Cards taught me about sorting and staying organized. Learning player nationalities helped me think about the geographic locations of other countries. I was constantly reading bios and write-ups on the backs of cards. I learned about numbers and statistics and how to calculate them. I had been on both ends of many bad trades, which helped me learn about negotiation and, most of all, taught me about honesty and integrity.
Turn the clock ahead 20+ years, I am now an elementary teacher in the Ottawa area trying to teach those same skills to my students.
In 2018, I began teaching at a care and treatment centre for students that need support with social and emotional learning. Once calm and regulated, many students learned best through manipulatives and hands-on activities. Early on, I found that many of my students were toting in binders of Tim Hortons hockey cards and boasting about their GX Pokémons. As an educator, I am always trying to meet the students where they are at and trading cards seemed to be the hook. I dusted off my old collection and spent many a night stuck in a time warp of memories flipping through pages and boxes. I eventually found all of my doubles and quickly put them to good use in class.
The students loved sifting through my cards and asking about them. The cards served as great starting points for lessons and helped build on Math concepts and Language skills.
When students needed to regulate themselves, the cards were a positive calming tool to browse through and analyze. They were also an excellent social skill builder and an ice-breaker to help students interact and collaborate with each other. Moreover, the cards really helped me build a rapport with my class.
After the surge of excitement I had bringing my cards to class, I contemplated with the idea of collecting hockey cards again, but the hobby has intensified and changed so much. New products are tremendously exciting and diverse, it is difficult to find your niche and focus your efforts. Instead, I have chosen to channel my efforts towards providing students with the same joy I had as a child and blending in academics at the same time. I will admit, though, I do have a soft spot for wax boxes of old hockey cards. When they are available, they are hard to pass up. It is just too much fun to break open packs of cards with friends and relive the glory days.
Card Curriculum 