Declassifying Coronavirus Lockout

(Educational Approach)

Word of Experience

Teens like the funnies. Everyone used to have their own favourite but Covid-19 mass hysteria has become a hit getting joy de vivre out of students' heads. It is this aspect of miscalibrated Coronavirus that makes today's comics valuable as a training tool and a method of coping with stress and fear.

     Effective training is no laughing matter – but it could be if you do not subscribe to the social media hysteria peddled by the country's political elite. Just open the Sunday paper to the funny page and grab a pair of scissors...

     So, if you like the idea of using comics for learning, the resources to do so are right at your own ink-stained fingertips, which are hives of nastiness and are home to various types of bacteria, fungus, and yeast - pandemically speaking, of course!

     Time: 15 - 30 minutes depending on variation chosen.

     Materials:  several dozen colour comic strips from the Sunday paper.

     Variations: 

1. Spread a few dozen comics on a desk and invite pupils to read them with a metaphorical eye. What aspects of the characters or stories relate to the topic you are teaching? Are there parallel connections or opposite views that point out contrasts and contradictions? If someone were to write a sequel to a particular comic, what would it be? 
2. Change the Equation. Take one of the comics and re-purpose it for your own use. Change the dialogue to tell a story or make a point that's relevant to you.
3. Instead of comic strips, try using screenshots from debunked RT television network fakes... 
4. Get Creative! Distribute comic strips with the words blacked out. Ask partners to write dialogue for the comic characters so the strip illustrates a key learning point.

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Word of Innocence

Rescued from the shelves of linguistic oblivion, 'decrassify' is a wonderful old word you are probably meeting for the first time. Decrassify is the act of removing what is unrefined, unsophisticated, or unintelligent in something...

I still wonder what the world would be like if we simply had more people who cared about us and fewer people who controlled us. So face-time with family, greet the teacher across the street with a cheery wave, celebrate your Faith, celebrate your hopes and wishes for the world and for each other. We need a bit of good news to look forward to, for a change.