St. Nicholas Day is coming December 6, and it is a holiday I always teach my students about. Normally, as I shared in this post, I usually have students leave one of their shoes in the hall, and then “Saint-Nicolas” leaves a treat in each one. This year that’s not really feasible with social distancing and what not, and some of the students learning completely virtually. After talking to my colleague Robin, who teaches the 8th grade students, we decided on a plan to introduce the holiday that accommodates our hybrid model. We will teach students about the holiday this coming Monday and Tuesday (we have 60 minute block classes so it takes two days to see all students). I will be sharing the slideshow below, which is only a part of my lesson for the day [edit 11/30/20: added a slide to explain the difference between St. Nicholas and Santa Claus] (email subscribers will have to view the post on the blog to see it):
As for treats, every student who is a hybrid learner only comes into my classroom one day a week. On the day they come in, they will receive a piece of paper with a clipart photo of a shoe filled with treats (so they don’t have to remove their shoes), and a treat. Virtual students will have their treats mailed to them. Even though St. Nicholas day is not until Sunday of next week, we have to teach students about it on Monday and Tuesday, otherwise students in the earlier cohort would not understand why they were receiving treats.
Although it’s not how I normally do it, I am happy we have come up with a way to continue with this fun cultural tradition and include it in our curriculum.
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