Late November (2013)

Happy New Year Everyone!

The third week of November (18 - 22) is Anti-Bullying Week, an annual event that aims to raise awareness of bullying and to find ways of preventing and responding to it.  The campaign is geared towards children and young people.  The awareness campaign originally began in the United Kingdom back in 2004 and has been observed and promoted in other countries including Canada.

            

Unfortunately, bullying is not foreign to the students of Inuujaq School.  It is just as much of a problem as it is for schools down south.  On Tuesday, November 19, the high school students gathered in the science room to watch Bully, a 2011 documentary film about bullying in the United States.  The film follows the lives of five students who are bullied on a daily basis, how the students' families fight for change & action, and what can happen to victims of bullying if they don't receive help (ie. suicide).  The film was directed by Lee Hirsch, who also runs The Bully Project website. 

            

After viewing the film, the teachers and students discussed the problems that were addressed and related them to their own experiences or situations they have witnessed.  It was surprising to hear the comments and observations that were shared.  Before being dismissed, the students were reminded to not ignore bullying behaviour but to report it to a teacher or to someone they trusted.  Bullying does not stop when good people do nothing.

            

My Grade 10 Social Studies students were quite busy in the second half of November. They wrote a definitions test, made biographic posters about the Inuit land claim negotiators (ie. Tagak Curley, Paul Quassa, John Amagoalik), created timelines showing the most important events of modern Inuit history, and looked at a cartoon analogy of how the Nunavut territory came to be.  I had to increase the pace because December was fast approaching and I didn't want to leave any important details out.

            

My Grade 11s learning about the Syrian Civil War.

For Grade 11 Social Studies, I decided to have my students examine the quality of life and standard of living of one more country: Syria.  In particular, the current civil war that has been ravaging the country since 2011.  Since the lessons progressed, (or regressed, depending on your interpretation), from developed nation (Canada), to One-Child Policy (China), and to famines (Ethiopia), I felt that naturally, civil war would be the next topic.  My students had minimal knowledge of Syria because it was on the other side of the world and not on 'their radar'.  However, they soon became interested in learning why the country was experiencing internal conflict and how it was affecting those who lived in and around the country.                

One of my Grade 11 students decided to turn my mouse . . . into a mouse.

My drummers spent the remaining two weeks of November practicing the two Christmas pieces I arranged and a familiar warm up that would serve as the 'opening number' at the evening concert.  After attending the first Christmas Committee meeting, to which I am a member, I learned that my drummers would be the second last act in the program.  The staff of Inuujaq School were always the last act.

            

Friday, November 22, was a unique day for my drummers because we put on an exclusive demonstration workshop in the gym for Ina's Grade 2 class.  Several days prior, Ina explained to me that she wanted her students to see the various drums up close, and understand how they worked and sounded differently.  I accepted her request and came up with a plan.

            

The workshop kicked off at 1:30pm when Ina & her students arrived in the gym.  I spoke in English and Ina translated into Inuktitut.  I began by introducing myself, the drummers, and the drums that we played (snare, bass, quad-toms).  After each drummer played a few sounds on their drums, I passed around the large white Ralph Hardimon snare sticks my drummers' use when playing on the practice pads.  The Grade 2s were surprised by how heavy they were.  I then took one of the snare drums off its stand and held it while each Grade 2 student hit it with a drum stick.  The Grade 2s also got to hold the large bass drum mallets. 

            

My drummers and I played a few simple and complicated rhythms; all were received with "ooohs" & "aaaahs".  I think by the third rhythm, the Grade 2s were drumming along with their hands on the gym floor.  For the last activity, I taught the students two stick tricks where the sticks bounce off the floor.  I was taking a huge gamble because there is a risk of breaking and/or snapping the sticks down the middle of the shaft.  I only had 6 pairs (12 individual sticks) and I didn't want to lose any.  Thankfully, that didn't happen.  The students had fun catching the sticks in the air.  At the end of the workshop, Ina & her students thanked us for a great performance and left the gym wanting to learn more. 

            

My Grade 12 Social Studies students had their last test for the semester.  They were no longer required to write a departmental exam; the Social Studies Project would be their final assessment.  One of the major components of the assessment is the 20-minute presentation where students talk about their topics, give a brief outline of their essays, and showcase their products.  The product is something that addresses your topic but also benefits the greater community (ie. video, website, model, artwork, radio show, etc).  The remaining portion of the presentation is fielding questions from the audience and panel of judges. 

            

Like most high school students, my Grade 12s were getting jittery as the date of the presentations approached.  I had scheduled them for the first week of December.  To put their minds at ease, we reviewed the presentation process, how to plan & prepare, but most importantly, how to present oneself (ie. maintain eye contact, speak clearly, don't chew gum, and engage the audience).  I also advised my students to brainstorm what they were going to say and write out how they were going to say it.  But I stressed not to write a detailed speech; just the most important points.  Writing in a formal tone was the main challenge because English is their second language and they normally speak common English amongst each other.  But they took the challenge in stride and with my assistance, it appeared the final results would be good.  Of course, I wouldn't know for sure until the day of presentations.

Having fun with silhouette photography.