Those Last 2 Weeks were SiC!

 According to https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/slang/more-american-slang.html, the term "sick" means cool or good, because "slang words often mean the opposite of their conventional meaning". I definitely want to convey that the last two full weeks of school were cool and good, but - as is typical of my class - they have coined a new acronym expression (to go along with VAC). 

To be SiC in my class is to be the Student In Charge. 

When we learned that we would not be returning to in-person learning for June, it was a real hit to class morale. The students and I had hoped to end the year physically together. Plus, it is hard to find motivation to stay as engaged and focused in lessons at this time, both because "it's not for marks" (although I've worked hard to disassociate learning with grades) and because we are all just really tired. We needed something exciting to look forward to and this idea popped into my head. I may have been inspired by many similar concepts, such as passion projects. This proposal was slightly different. 

I wondered if it would be possible to let the students be the teachers, on a subject of their choice.

I discussed it with my students, and they were intrigued. Together, we drafted a list of regulations.

RULES / REGULATIONS

The student-in-charge must run the class (cannot dismiss the class early) The student-in-charge must plan a lesson that is not illegal or inappropriate or offensive or impossible The student-in-charge must be prepared for teaching the class (e.g. slide deck, links, activities, etc.) The student-in-charge must take attendance (and Mrs. Maliszewski will submit it) The student-in-charge is in charge of a single (40 min) or double (80 min) period sometime between June 14 - 28 If the student-in-charge is partnering up with someone to co-teach, it must be a double period (80 min) The lesson does not have to be directly related to the curriculum but the other students must learn something at the end (information, skills, etc.) The lesson can include class work but no homework The student-in-charge must have their microphone on for most of the time  The student-in-charge should either share their screen or be on camera for most of the time

They brainstormed possible topics and decided whether to teach solo or with a partner. We used an online spinner to help us fairly determine who would teach on what day. The rest of the time was used for planning and consultation. I have to tell you that, once again, my expectations were exceeded. Let me tell you a bit about the different lessons, and also what it revealed to me about student ideas around teaching and learning.

This is the list of the various lesson topics offered from June 16-25.

• Speaking Jamaican Patois
• Coding in Scratch
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Google's Be Internet Awesome + Using Dialogue in Scratch
• Drawing Techniques + Tips on Writing Quirky Short Stories (Slice of Life Observations)
• Preparing Eggs
• Flex Tape
• King Crimson (time powers as seen in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)
• Lego
• Animal Facts + Rapper Statistics
• Toronto Raptors 
• Speaking & Writing Tamil + Making Breakfast Quesadillas
• Fortnite
• Baking Japanese Cheesecake

I wish I could thank by name all the students who did such an outstanding job preparing and delivering their lessons but my blog is too public to do that. If you are one of my 2020-21 Grade 5-6 students (or related to one of them) and are reading this, know that I am completely awed by the effort everyone put into their projects. 

Here are a few images taken from the various offerings.

I think the students learned a lot about what it's like to teach, and to teach online, from this experience. For instance, the power of a voice cannot be denied. I made sure that SiC lessons began the morning or afternoon, which meant the students were required to do attendance. The usual routine in the online version of my class is that you are courteous and turn on your microphone to answer the sentence starter. Due to either malfunctioning technology, inattention or disinclination, recently some students have not been replying orally. The Students in Charge found it harder to take attendance when they received no answer, or when they noticed a delayed response typed in the chat box. I think students also realized that they were holding me to a much higher standard than they hold themselves. The students became concerned if they did not see me constantly on camera and with my microphone activated. This constant gaze can get exhausting. They agreed that if they were going to perform in the role of teacher, they would have to abide by that rule. Most of them did, with varying results. I believe that many students also realized that there are a lot of balls to juggle when teaching. Do attendance properly, monitor the chat, ensure that the screen sharing and other tools are working, and watch for participation. That's a lot!

I also learned so much from the students. I was absolutely enchanted when at the beginning of a lesson, the students would ask the leader, "What do we call you?". They understood the flexibility of name protocols, and that if someone wanted to be called Mr or Ms So-and-So, that was acceptable. If students can manage this, they can manage pronouns and other honorifics. I was also so impressed with the quality of their preparations. For instance, sometimes when there's spare time after a lesson, we play Spot It. The game involves looking at two cards and trying to find the similar item on both. Usually I just hold up the cards to the camera. One pair of students greatly improved the game by a) personalizing it with photos of objects from their own homes, b) reviewing the names of all the potential items, and c) creating a slide deck with the cards so it would be easier to see. That's so much better than the way I do it! I loved seeing how certain concepts and practices of mine have been internalized by the students. I think every lesson had some aspect of choice build in. VAC rides again! Some students made a point of responding thoughtfully when sentence starter answers revealed things their classmates were feeling; comments like "well, I hope you feel better soon" or "that's very interesting" showed that they were paying attention to the content of the respond and not just the response itself. I was pleased with the unexpected surprises in the lessons too. A couple of lessons involved showing a video and the leaders gave an advance warning that they were a bit long. I wasn't looking forward to watching things like this, but it turns out that some were really fascinating documentaries on their subjects. (For instance, I think I finally understand how Fortnite is played.)

These SiC lessons made the last few weeks of school worth attending. In fact, one of my students that had Internet connectivity issues said she regretting missing some of the presentations. We have two days left of school. I'm going to really miss these students!