It was a Tuesday in Marcel Caissie's Ecole Evangeline classroom - but it's not an ordinary day.
Instead of going through his normal lesson plan with his Grade 10 students, Caissie was quietly sitting at his desk, just watching them go about their business.
Some are talking into microphones, their classmates huddled around them, while others are having discussions in small groups. They're all working on a project that Caissie hopes will change the way he teaches in the future.
"I'm trying to stay out of it - because the idea is for the students to teach it," he remarked as he watched them.
The students were digitally recording themselves teaching math problems, giving examples, and explaining the reasoning behind the answers.
They're sort of doing Caissie's work for him - which, he laughed, was the plan all along.
He's a proponent of a style of teaching called a reverse pedagogy or "flipped classroom."
The idea is that the students will do their classwork at home and their homework in class.
For example, a student will go home with an assignment to listen to a lesson plan that's been pre-recorded for them.
They would come to class the next day and spend the whole time with their teacher, asking questions and practising what they learned at home.
"The students seem to like it better because they really don't have to do something (at home) that they don't necessarily understand, they don't have that pressure anymore. And at the same time they get an extra 30 minutes of help time when they are actually in class," said Caissie.
That's where the recording equipment comes in.
"So to do that, a teacher needs to record somehow his or her lesson and make it available to the students at home," he explained.
Caissie's class recently received a grant from ArtsSmarts P.E.I. It's a partnership between several government departments, school boards, and community groups that encourages artistic collaboration in classrooms.
They got $2,500 so they could purchase some video editing software, equipment, and eventually a small green screen for making movie effects.
They're recording math problems they covered a couple of weeks ago, so Caissie can use the recordings with his next batch of students.
While recording their videos the students get to review their previous lessons, and learn computer skills.
Part of the Arts Smarts grant is being used to bring in retired filmmaker and local resident Denis Robert to teach the students how to create and edit their videos.
Robert comes in to the class every few days to lend his expertise.
It's all been a nice change of pace from their regular classroom lessons, said student Lucas Arsenault.
"I think it's a pretty good project, because sometimes you miss school or something ... and it's really easy to go home and watch our video online. You're basically in class," he said.
It will be interesting to see how next year's students respond to the movies, he added.
Hopefully, they will learn as much as he and his classmates have.
"It's just a different way of learning. Easier maybe. And we're trying to be creative, so you don't get bored at the same time," he said.
"It makes a cool project in the end."
