The Flash and Deadpool might be well advised to take a long look over their shoulders.
About to steal the scene could be do-gooders such as The Hitter, The Amazing Blob, Weakling, Super Spirit Girl, Bloodwrath and, wait for it, The Undercover Super Teacher’s Pet.
That’s if the Grade 4 students at Westwind elementary in Steveston get their way in the aftermath of their first ever Comic Con.
The original superheroes — borne of the minds of the mostly nine-year-olds and starring in the kids’ hand-drawn comics — were on show and “for sale” to the rest of the school Wednesday.
And as the lunch hour approached, the buzz of excitement reverberating around the small classroom was almost levitating for the dozens of students and teachers visiting from other grades and classes.
This was a comic convention like no other, as Mr. (Carlos) Victoria’s army of writers swarmed, in the nicest possible way, around the curious “buyers” with their sales pitches, photocopied comics and detailed descriptions of their characters.
It was hard to believe, given the energy swirling the room, that the kids were working and, most likely, being assessed at that very moment.
“A small group of the students came to us (late last year) and asked for help to set up a comic club,” said Victoria, the Grade 4 students’ teacher.
“They were staying behind after class, up to a half hour after everyone else had gone, to work on this.
“But I thought, wait a minute, here are students willing to stay behind, there’s something here. So, in January, I basically threw out persuasive writing and went with this (Comic Con) instead as part of their learning.”
The Comic Con, said Victoria, has been nothing short of a revelation and is tailor-made for the new inquiry-based curriculum, being made mandatory by the B.C. government for K-Grade 9 this fall and currently being trialed across the province.
Students will continue to learn the basics like reading, writing and arithmetic, but the new curriculum, according to the Ministry of Education, will also focus on collaboration, critical thinking and communication skills to better prepare them for college, university and the work force.
Callan Wevers created “The Hitter,” a short story about a kid hitting others and being taught the error of his ways by a superhero; Jake Jensen dreamed up the The Adventures of the Undercover Super Teacher’s Pet, who defends the virtues of Westwind elementary; while Sam Levin’s The Jall and Fick just “popped into his head.”
“Some of these guys were up at 5 a.m. today to put the finishing touches to their comics,” said Victoria.
“(Another student) thought he was going to have to choose between going to Disneyland and attending the Comic Con. He chose the Comic Con before being told that the two events didn’t actually clash.
“This is an amazing group, with 22 boys and eight girls, all with lots of leadership potential. But I noticed straight away that, when engagement goes up, such as with this Comic Con, everything else — such as disruptive behaviour — almost disappears.”
Victoria said he never framed the comic idea — the students had to come up with two original comics; one about a superhero who defends the school’s virtues and a more freestyle one about a sound — as class work.
“They don’t see it as such; the task was always enjoyable,” he said.
“And in this day and age, when kids are easily distracted and their attention spans are sometimes very limited, this kind of engagement from the students is incredible.
“Teachers need to capitalize on students’ strengths and that’s why I was happy to let persuasive writing go and replace it with the Comic Con.”
One of the main concerns expressed thus far by parents about the new curriculum is how accurate assessment of their child’s progress will be, given the subjective nature of the proposed, new curriculum’s content.
Victoria understands the angst, but wants to assure parents, despite the fact he still has many questions himself, that students will still be learning what they need to be.
“Today, we sat in a sharing circle and one by one, the students dedicated their work to someone they knew; there were moms, dads, grandparents and even me, which was very flattering,” explained Victoria.
“But there’s a part of teaching that requires you to be OK to fail. This, however, has been a huge success.
“It helped kids experience having the power of choice; it empowered them to be in charge of their learning. And both comics covered language arts, responsibility and the fine arts, so it was every bit as valuable as persuasive writing.”
Furthermore, as expressed by many teachers since the new curriculum started to hit the headlines late last year, Victoria said the concept of inquiry-based learning is “nothing new.”
“It’s a lot of things that we’ve been doing for some time. It perhaps brings things to the surface, but it’s not about checklists. And it gives teachers more choice to explore ideas and allows students the same freedom.
“In terms of (grading) for the Comic Con, we set little goals as we went along; what needs to be in the draft; what needs to be in the good copy and things like an author profile.”
Students’ progress was then monitored, added Victoria, through that structure and parents will be able to see where their child is at.
“You could see for yourself today, they were in total control,” he said.
“I asked them to greet their own guests and show them around the Comic Con. They were very empowered today. They were communicating, thinking for themselves and connecting.
“To parents, I would say, just be open to it and explore it.”
