I usually begin the first week with a few diagnostics including providing them with one of the stories from 'Red Clouds' and having them complete a reading diagnostic. Although many of the students would find reading a graphic novel challenging, I look for indication of reading strategies being used like infrencing, reading between the lines, and analyzing the images for meaning. I also play the audio version of the story and ask some simple media related questions on how the music and voices help them better understand the story. 

For our 'Sharing stick' we discussed what the Talking Stick looked like and how it was used. During our walk on the Don Valley, students went looking for the 'perfect' stick in groups and we eventually chose the one with the highest votes. The class decided to keep the stick simple and not add any decorative pieces as they liked the natural look of the stick. During our walk, we also discussed the Land Acknowledgement which they hear every morning and what that means for us as CALC students. 

The next part of the class included having the students go into groups and research the protocol for the Talking Circle and Talking Stick. Students used inspiration from their research and created new rules that would fit the 'Sharing Circle' that we were trying to create for our NBE Class. Here are the 8 rules that we eventually narrowed down to and prioritized for the circle. 

We began our sharing circle at exactly 9:00 AM and students changed the configuration of the class to create a circle in the middle of the room. Each student introduced themselves with their name and answered the check in question which I wrote on the board. 

Today students were grateful for:

• Waking up this morning

• Participating in the sharing circle 

• Coming early to class and not being late

• Their dog and family

• Their mom

• Life

• That they were healthy today

Students filled out a preparation sheet prior to the meeting but were asked to not read this material to the class. Instead, students had to have a conversation with their classmates and share cultural stories whilst also connecting their cultural folklore creatures to the Wendigo. The sheet asked for the general story, the image, a compare and contrast, and lastly a strong statement that concluded why they believed their creature to be similar to the wendigo. 

This activity created a lot of conversation, especially since my class has a lot of the same ethnic groups so creatures such as 'Satan', the 'Buda' and 'Jinn' were popular topics of conversation. Students shared their stories and there was a lot of laughter and fun. 

We ended up having a conversation until the end of class! Students shared their stories, personal experiences and more. Eventually, I turned the conversation over to our current activity which was about the gender roles that Men and Women have in their communities and what they believe Men and Women should behave and act like including what roles they should have in the home and outside. 

This was a very hot topic and students loved challenging each other and learning new perspective. Some of the topics that we discussed was 'mahr' or 'marriage dowry', prenups, last names, who pays the bills, and the inability to have children. 

We ended the circle by clapping and giving thanks! I hope that our next meeting will be on the introduction of Indigenous music, clothing, dance and song and hope that the sharing circle will include the students sharing their own cultural components and making connections to Indigenous culture.