Pilimmaksarniq 2015 – Part 3

GG David Johnston

The last full day of the conference began with a formal affair.  David Johnston, Canada's Governor General (GG), had been scheduled to address & speak to the 300 teachers of the Qikiqtani Region about how a robust education system in the territories is the key to the success of Canada's north.  He would also answer four prepared questions from the audience.  The address would be done through Connected North, a video conference initiative created by Cisco Systems.  Connected North's aim is to deliver "immersive and interactive education and healthcare services to remote northern communities through high-definition two-way video and collaboration technologies."

            

The layout of the gym at Inuksuk High School was drastically changed.  All the tables were removed and the chairs were rearranged into a large semi-circle facing the stage.  A large white screen covered the stage.  In between the screen and chairs stood a camera - (so that the GG could see everyone) - and a microphone on a stand.

            

The Governor General's Address promptly began at 9am.  The computer technicians dialed a number and established a secure connection with Ottawa.  I'm not sure where Johnston was speaking from in Ottawa, but on the big screen, he appeared sitting at a round table inside a classroom/conference room with a big whiteboard in the background.  He greeted everyone with a smile & a wave of his right hand.  He launched into his prepared speech, praising us teachers for the hard work that we do in & outside the classroom.  He then spoke about needing to improve high school graduation rates in the territory and communication between communities.  He concluded his speech by summarizing everything that's being done in the North, calling them the "four s's".  They are sovereignty, signals, science, and stewardship.  You can read more about them here.

            

Question 1

Question 2

Four pre-selected teachers came up to the microphone one at a time and asked the Governor General a prepared question.  All four questions were related to education and Nunavut development.  Unfortunately, I can't exactly remember the questions or how the GG answered them.  All I know is that the GG's responses sounded scripted but were well received by the audience.  The 30-minute video conference ended with the GG & the teachers waving to each other. 

            

James Igloliorte

James Igloliorte, retired judge and head of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission (QTC), continued the conference with his lecture on the QTC and how its investigations into Inuit life between 1950 & 1975 relate to education.  The QTC was established in 2007 by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) "to create a more accurate history of the decisions and events that affected Inuit living in the Baffin Region from 1950-1975".  This is done by collecting oral histories from Inuit elders from across the territory.  I previously mentioned in another post that one of QTC's first significant investigative reports was about the alleged conspiracy that the RCMP systemically killed thousands of Inuit sled dogsduring the 1950s & 1960s in order to force the Inuit to come off the land and live in communities. 

            

The first workshop I had after the 15-minute Nutrition Break was Nunavut Sivuniksavut: An Overview.  NS, as it's commonly called in the north, is an "eight-month college program based in Ottawa.  It is for Inuit youth who want to prepare for the educational, training, and career opportunities that are being created by their land claims and self-government agreements."  I had heard about NS since I began teaching in Nunavut but didn't know a lot of details.  Thankfully, the NS staff who were present at the workshop were able to "fill-in-the-gaps" and provide valuable information for those in attendance.  We also got to take brochures back to our communities. 

            

Shawarma lunch

I had a craving for a shawarma at lunch time.  When the clock struck noon, I almost bolted out of the high school and headed down to Yummy Shawarma near the airport.  I walked-with-a-purpose.  I enjoyed a large beef shawarma sandwich before returning to the high school.

            

My first afternoon workshop was Bullying and Healthy Relationships, facilitated by Dr. D. Pepler, a distinguished research professor from York University.  She is a member of the Department of Psychology which is attached to the Faculty of Health.  Her research focuses on bullying, aggression, and other forms of violence.  She spoke about how bullying can be curbed by establishing healthy relationships between youth, parents, peers, schools, and neighbourhoods.  She also talked about PREVnet - Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network - "a national network of leading researchers and organizations, working together to stop bullying in Canada." 

            

What stood out for me were the undercover videos & recordings she played from one of the research programs she conducted.  Elementary school children who were identified at risk of being bullied were given hidden microphones and video recorded from a distance during recess time.  I, and everyone else present, was shocked to see & hear what happened.  Let's just say there was a lot of bad language from the kids and a lot of ignoring from the recess duty staff.  We were also shocked when Dr. Pepler told us the principal of the school where the study was conducted routinely denied that bullying existed at the school, even with the evidence presented to them.  That kind of approach never works. 

            

My second workshop of the afternoon, and the last one I attended for the conference, was Inuit Social History, facilitated by David Serkoak.  The Inuit social history class focused on the changes that occurred in the Arctic, from the 1950s to the present time.  The biggest change was coming off the land and moving into the communities.  I already had some prior knowledge of the changes, but I wanted to know more details from personal experiences. 

            

Roast Beef Dinner

The last dinner of the conference was very well prepared by the Frobisher Inn catering service.  Roast beef was being served and you could choose either rare, medium-rare, medium, and well-done.  Of course, if you had the stomach, you were allowed to sample all four selections!  I just went with a medium-rare piece of roast beef, some salad, and a bun.  It was delicious and filling.  I certainly hope the leftovers will go to the homeless shelter & local soup kitchen, I thought, Iqaluit's needy are going to eat like royalty tonight.

            

Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna

The closing ceremony featured speeches from Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna and NTA President Terry Young.  The Aqsaarniit Middle School Choir and Fiddle Club also performed several songs and received standing ovations from the audience.  I filmed both performances.

            

With Pilimmaksarniq 2015 now officially done, it was time to have one last outing before the majority of teachers flew back to their communities on Friday.  Several of us went over to the Legion for karaoke.  I didn't sing; I was just a part of the audience.  There are quite a lot of good singers in Iqaluit.

            

Shawarma beef plate.

The Arctic Bay crowd wasn't scheduled to fly out until Saturday afternoon.  I'm sure we all spent Friday doing last-minute shopping.  I checked out of the Discovery Lodge and checked in my luggage at the airport.  I then proceeded to Yummy Shawarma to have my last meal.  Since I wouldn't be eating shawarmas until June, I ordered a beef plate to hold me over.  When I came back to the airport, I was shocked to hear that the flight to Arctic Bay had been cancelled due to a mechanical issue.  We were rebooked to fly out the next day and First Air put us up at the Frobisher Inn for the night.  Unfortunately, room service was still unavailable because of the conference.  We flew out the next day without any problems.

            

Overall, the Pilimmaksarniq Conference was a success.  I learned a lot from the workshops I attended and networked with teachers all over the Qikiqtani Region.  If the conference was just a few days longer, I could have attended more workshops.  The trip also gave me the opportunity to purchase supplies for my classroom.  Next year will be the big Nunavut-wide teachers conference in Iqaluit.  The last time that happened was in 2012 when I first started teaching in the north.  I can't wait!   

A First Air cargo plane being unloaded at the Iqaluit Airport.
I photographed it before being told that my flight had been delayed until Sunday.

End of Pilimmaksarniq 2015 mini-series.

Pilimmaksarniq 2015 – Part 2

The conference planners had made arrangements to have a school bus pick up the teachers from their hotels and drop them off at Inuksuk High School.  I chose to walk, preferring the fresh arctic air.  Walking was my main mode of transportation when I resided in Iqaluit two years ago, and from it, I learned that all the important locations were within walking distance. 

            

Brown Building where Frobisher Inn is located.

Breakfast was being served at the Frobisher Inn but I chose to sleep in.  I arrived at the high school at around 8:30am.  It was Tuesday, February 17th.  I proceeded to the  gymnasium for the morning announcements and opening keynote address.  Rows of tables and chairs occupied the middle of the gym.  Once everyone was seated, the conference began.

            

The conference would be conducted in English & Inuktitut.  Since many attendees were not bilingual, translators were hired to convey what was being said.  The translators sat in booths at the back of the gym and spoke into microphone headsets.  Their translations were picked up by small portable receivers that you could borrow for the duration of the conference. 

            

The morning announcements consisted of reminding participants to make sure their timetables were full, choose (an)other class(es) if their original choice(s) were cancelled, and to not throw out any leftover unwrapped food from the boxed lunches.  The leftovers would be donated to local homeless shelter and soup kitchen.  Unfortunately, some instructors would be unable to attend the conference due to travelling issues.  Air travel in the territories can be good or it can be really bad.  Mother Nature is the ultimate decider.  I have heard stories of people being stranded in communities for days & even weeks because they can't fly out or their plane can't land in a community because of adverse weather. 

            

Professor Dale Willows from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) was the first keynote speaker.  (OISE is part of the University of Toronto).  Her presentation was an overview on the Balanced Literacy Diet (BLD), "a framework that presents literacy concepts using the familiar terminology of a healthy diet."  The English language centered framework/program has been around for several years and currently caters (pun intended) to the Pre-K to Grade 6 Grades.  From the research & videos professor Willows presented, the BLD appears to be a successful program.  If you want to know more about the framework, check out their detailed website.

            

Everyone went to their respective workshops after a short 'Nutritious Break' that offered coffee, tea, fruits, and fresh muffins.  The snacks were prepared by the catering services of the Frobisher Inn.  The workshops would be held at the high school and Aqsaarnit Middle School.  A school bus was available to transport the teachers between schools.

            

The first workshop I attended was Adding Inuit Language & Culture to Classroom & School, facilitated by David Serkoak, a former principal of Joamie School.  The workshop focused on "how to incorporate Inuit language & culture in all aspects of teaching."  Participants also shared their ideas as well as life experiences.  The workshop was conducted in Inuktitut & English.  Many veteran Inuit teachers attended the workshop and shared stories of what education was like before the creation of Nunavut.

            

Take only one bagged lunch.  You're being watched.

Downtown Iqaluit.

After lunch, I walked over to Aqsaarnit Middle School for my next workshop.  I snapped photos of Iqaluit as I walked along the main roads.  I stopped at a nearby QuickStop convenience store to buy Tim Hortons donuts.  The workshop was titled, Writing Forward! Creative Writing Prompts for Teachers.  Sarina Candillo facilitated the workshop from Toronto, via video conference.  We did a lot of brainstorming and team activities.  I could see myself using a few of them for my English classes.

            

The last workshop of the day was Dyslexia: A Reading Disability not a Learning Disability.  The facilitator was Kenton Pennington, a Nunavut teacher who is dyslexic.  The workshop took place at the high school.  (This time, I took the bus from the middle school).  His workshop focused on dispelling common myths about dyslexia and how to handle the students with the disability.  I was glad he also taught us some basic methods on how to spot students with dyslexia.  Many people feel stigmatized and do their best to hide the disability.    

            

Craft Sale

A craft sale and coffee house was held at the high school later that evening at 7:30pm.  The entire gym was transformed into a large flea market with hundreds of people selling their crafts, prints, portraits, goods, carvings, Inuit drums, homemade clothes, and books.  The funny thing was that this craft sale was small in size.  The high school holds craft sales that occupy the gym as well as the entire ground floor of the high school.  The gym was swarming with shoppers.  It took time to walk around the gym and view all the merchandise.  In the end, I bought only one item: a sealskin tie with an inukshuk.  It was expensive, but worth it.

            

One of the many performers at the evening
coffee house.

The coffee house was held just outside the gym in the large high school foyer.  (The foyer is called Tisi and is a large square room with a stage in the middle).  The event was a talent show, giving visiting teachers the opportunity to showcase a hidden or well-known talent.  Most performers either sang a song or did a comedy routine.  If I had more time,  I would have prepared & performed a piano piece or two.  Two teachers from Inuujaq School performed for the audience.  The Grade 6 teacher sang a song and the high school Inuktitut teacher did a comedy routine.  I filmed both performances.

            

Usha James

Wednesday, February 18th, followed the same routine.  The keynote speaker was Usha James from The Critical Thinking Consortium.  The Consortium "is a non-profit organization [that] support[s] thousands of educators through face-to-face, online and print resources and services."  James's presentation focused on: how we critically think, how to assess thinking for students, and how to create thinking classrooms.  The best part of her presentation was her example of three students trying to solve a math problem: 4 x 7.  Student 1 says 28, Student 2 says 13, and Student 3 doesn't have a clue.  What made her example entertaining was the accompanying video she played.

            

The first workshop I attended that morning was Follow The Money, facilitated by Dominic Tremblay.  He showed us how to transform our classrooms into a mini-economy with a specific project.  The example project he used was getting us to build the tallest tower that could support a 1 kg weight.  The materials at our disposal were tape, straws, paper cups & plates, pencils and other things.  We had to buy these materials with play money or could trade them with other groups.  I was surprised by how many topics you could teach with such a project.  The topics included: borrowing, online shopping, taxes, buying supplies, the impact of counterfeit currency, and selling services.  Unfortunately, the tower my partner & I built wasn't the tallest.

            

In the afternoon, I attended workshops on effective presentation skills and Inuit social history.  I signed up for the presentation workshop because I wanted to strengthen my public speaking skills.  The technology and differentiation workshop would teach me how to incorporate more technologies into my lessons and keep them fresh & exciting.  Students today are heavy into digital technologies, so it's only fair that teachers find ways to incorporate them in the classroom.  Otherwise, you lose your audience.

            

Many teachers chose to go out for dinner rather than stay at the high school.  One of the good things about Iqaluit is that it has a selection of bars and restaurants.  Many of us teachers congregated at the Storehouse Bar & Grill, a pub/restaurant located in the same building as the Frobisher Inn.  Over the course of the evening, I met & spoke with teachers from all over the Qikiqtani Region, and learned what teaching was like in their communities.  I also shared my experiences of living and teaching in the north.

          

To Be Continued . . .

*My 100th Post!

Pilimmaksarniq 2015 – Part 1

The third week of February is Professional Improvement (PI) week for Nunavut teachers.  We are given five school days to complete professional development training of some kind that will upgrade our teaching abilities and benefit our students academically.  The training can be done individually or in a group.  The location can be in the town you teach, in another northern community, or down south.  (There's more paperwork to complete if you choose to travel outside of the territory).

            

This year, a learning conference was held in Iqaluit for all the teachers in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, aka, the Baffin Region.  (The Inuktitut word for Baffin Island is Qikiqtaaluk).  Around 300 educators from thirteen Nunavut communities converged in Nunavut’s capital to partake in a variety of workshops.  Teachers and administrators in the other regions held PI activities in their respective communities.

            

All but a few teachers from Inuujaq School flew down for the conference on February 15^th.  Those who chose to stay behind completed their PI activities at the school.  It was an uneventful flight but it was my first time seeing a passenger plane full of teachers.

            

Shawarma beef plate.

Upon arrival, everyone picked up their luggage and proceeded to their assigned hotels.  I was told that all the hotels in town were booked for the conference.  Not all 300 teachers had hotel rooms; many opted to stay with family & friends.  I was assigned a room at the Discovery Lodge.  I had stayed there before without any complaints.  After checking in and dropping off my belongings, I proceeded to Yummy Shawarma for lunch.  It would be the first of many visits during the week.

            

February 16^th was registration day.  All teachers had to report to Inuksuk High School to sign in and pick up their welcome bags & timetables.  The bags contained pens, brochures, information about the upcoming workshops, and other goodies.  It was great to see the high school where my Arctic adventure began three years ago.  The outside structure was the same but the interior appeared to have undergone more renovations.  The most noticeable renovations were done in the gym: fresh coats of paint, newly installed sound proofing panels, and murals of inuksuks and huskies painted everywhere.  The high school adopted a new name for all its sports teams a year or two ago: the Inuksuk Huskies.

The Frobisher Inn was hired by the Nunavut Teachers Association (NTA) to look after all the catering needs of the conference.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in between.  The people of Iqaluit would have to make do without access to The Gallery for the duration of the conference.  I walked around the high school greeting familiar faces while eating freshly prepared fruits & muffins.  After some time, I decided to leave the school and explore the city.  We weren’t required to be back until 7pm for the opening ceremony.

My first place of visit was NorthMart (aka Northern Store in the communities).  I didn’t have anything in mind to buy; I just wanted to see if the layout had changed since my last visit.  Once I walked into the large store, I was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer amount of products on sale.  Anything & everything I could think of was on the shelves.  This was a far cry from the lesser amount of goods that are sold at the Northern Store in Arctic Bay.  Though, the prices were still expensive.  I think a good ten to fifteen minutes went by before I realized that I had been walking aimlessly for a good ten to fifteen minutes.  I had been  just staring at the stocked shelves the whole time. 

I felt like Igor Gouzenko, who had written in his book, This Was My Choice, that one of the main reasons for his defection to Canada was to have access to plenty of food and other products without having to worry about constant shortages & long lines.  Igor would spend a lot of time just window shopping at Canadian grocery stores, seeing them as symbols of true freedom.

Now I know why so many people in Nunavut want to move to Iqaluit, I thought.  The grocery stores & Co-ops in the communities are smaller and don’t have as much variety as the large city centres, like Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.  For example, Iqaluit’s NorthMart has a bakery, a section dedicated to sushi, and a small area that sells ready-to-eat meats.  I didn’t end up buying anything but left with a better understanding as to why the Inuit, who live in the communities, fly down to Iqaluit (or Rankin Inlet), and come back carrying bags of groceries . . . and Tim Hortons donuts.

The next store I visited was The Marketplace, aka, Arctic Ventures.  The days when the store played loud music to keep loiterers away from the main entrance are long gone.   The store is smaller than NorthMart but still maintains large stocks of food, clothes, and appliances.  The Source and a gift store are also located in the same building.  The only items I bought were two printer ink cartridges from The Source.

Behind The Marketplace sits a video rental/confectionary store that used to occupy a space in The Marketplace.  Renting movies is still popular in the north due to high Internet costs and slow streaming speeds.  One of my former Inuksuk High School students was working when I entered the store.  We chatted for some time before I bought a few movies for a couple of bucks.  I proceeded to the Arctic Survival Store, located just across the video store.  Here one can find Canada Goose products, firearms, hunting knives, camping supplies, binoculars, and ammunition for sale.  There were a few products that interested me but the prices felt a little steep.  However, I did enjoy looking at all the firearms that were hanging on the walls behind the front desk.

The last store I visited was Tittaq, an office supply store near the post office.  I had a list of office products I needed to buy for my classroom.  Once I bought everything on my shopping list, I dropped it all off at my hotel room and walked back to the high school for the opening ceremony.

Lighting of the qulliq.

NTA President Terry Young.

The ceremony began several minutes after 7pm with the lighting of a qulliq (kudlik).  The qulliq is a traditional Inuit oil lamp.  The lighting was followed by a welcome speech from NTA President Terry Young.  Before being elected president, Young was the principal of Inuksuk High School.  I had the honour of working under his leadership when I first came up north.

Nunavut Minster of Education, Paul Quassa

Nunavut’s Minister of Education, Paul Quassa, followed with a speech welcoming all the teachers to Iqaluit, and highlighting his government’s commitment to improving & expanding Nunavut’s education system.

Nakasuk School Choir

The Nakasuk School Choir took to the stage to welcome everyone by singing a few songs in English and Inuktitut.  I stood at the back of the gym so that I could take pictures of the performance.  The children wore traditional Inuit clothing.  The choir received a standing ovation after singing their last song.

The Inuksuk High School Choir continued the ceremony with a 30-minute set that included songs, drum dancing, & throat singing.  I filmed the entire performance.  The all-girl choir was led by the music teacher Mary Piercey.  When she went on maternity leave in 2012, I looked after the high school music program in her absence.  The choir’s performance was very well done.  I particularly liked the drum dancing and throat singing.  The girls also received a standing ovation from the audience.  I would give a copy of the recorded performance to Mary the following day.

      

Everyone was dismissed for the rest of the evening.  We were instructed by the conference planners to be ready to go at 8:45 the following morning.  Before calling it a night, I bought a shawarma beef sandwich for dinner and to celebrate the beginning of the conference.

              

To Be Continued . . .

Late January, Early February

An attendance awards assembly was held in the gym on January 20.  Students who attended school every day for the month of December were recognized with a certificate and having their names placed into a draw for year-end prizes.  For K-9 classes, the year-end prizes would be new bicycles, but for high school, the prize would be an iPad.

            

Grade 2.

My job was to be the backup cameraman.  I stood at the back of the gym and took pictures of the winning students.  Ryan, the school's media teacher, was the primary cameraman and took all the close up photos.  The pictures were later printed by the principal and posted around the school for all to see.      

            

By the end of January, the sun inched closer and closer to showing itself above the mountains.  There was more sunlight every day.  At midday, the sky would be filled with colours of blue, purple, pink, and white.  I captured one of these moments on camera on January 24th.

            

When the month of January came to a close, I passed three significant milestones in my teaching career: accumulating 365 days of classroom teaching experience, teaching in Arctic Bay for two years, and living in Canada's north for three years.      

            

The sun is back.

The sun made it's triumphant return on the morning of February 5th.  I snapped several photos of the special occasion from my classroom.  The school held a brief afternoon sun celebration on Friday, February 6th.  Students & teachers made posters of the sun and walked around the school with them for several minutes.  Everyone then assembled in the school's gym to watch a qulliq being lit by a local elder.  The elder also told a story in Inuktitut about how the Inuit would celebrate the return of the sun when they lived out on the land.

            

My guitarists & I were the last act of the ceremony.  We played two songs: Ode to Joy, and You Are My Sunshine.  We ended up playing the second song several times because the audience wanted to sing along in English & Inuktitut.  It was the first time I had my guitarists play in front of a large audience.  We were nervous but persevered.  I shook the hands of my guitarists at the end of the ceremony, congratulating them on a job well done.

            

Arctic sunrise - February 9, 2015

The last week of January and the first two weeks of February were busy times for me.  There was much teaching & inspiring to be done before the upcoming Professional Development Week (more on this in a future post).  My Grade 10 English students read several more short stories and finished the literary elements module.  We then moved on to the grammar unit.  We quickly reviewed nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns before moving on to other topics, such as, sentence writing, avoiding double negatives, tenses, and how to properly use commas.  Near the end of each class we either played Mad Libs or other word games on the Internet.

            

In Grade 11 Social Studies, we finished the industrialization section and moved on to imperialism.  Similar to last semester, my students studied how European countries expanded their colonies and spheres of influence into Africa and Asia in the 1800s.  This was often done through the use of force.  With it came Christian missionaries, diseases, slavery, forced assimilation, but also access to European goods, railroads, & modern farming techniques.  We also did a film study, watching & analyzing the film Zulu.  I selected the film because it is set in Africa during the 1800s and is based on a true story.  A small British outpost comes under heavy attack by a large Zulu army, but miraculously, the outpost survives after a 2-day battle.     

            

My guitarists prepared for their first concert of the semester by practicing Ode to Joy and You Are My Sunshine.  The sun was to return in early February, and I wanted my guitarists to have an opportunity to showcase what they learned to the school.  (You can read about the concert in the paragraphs above).  My guitarists also did music theory and, in the days following the concert, learned several basic guitar chords (G, G7, C, D).

            

Over the first weekend of February, Kataisee, the high school Inuktitut teacher, held a 24-hour famine event at the school to raise money & awareness for hunger in Nunavut.  Food insecurity in Nunavut has been in the news recently, ever since APTN did a story called Wasting Away.  (Click here to read about the Nutrition North Controversy).  Kataisee's students also helped with organizing the event.  For twenty-four hours, the participants only drank tea & water, and passed the time watching movies, playing sports, and making posters about hunger, mental illness, and overcrowding.  The students told me it was tough not to eat solid foods for an entire day but they were glad that it was finally over.  But they did understand that for many in the world, hunger is never over.      

            

And finally, during the second week of February, Kataisee was showing old film strips to her students about Inuit living out on the land.  What made this so intriguing was the projector she was using.  It was a really old school film projector, maybe from the 1960s or 70s.  I was surprised that it still worked.  It was a blast-from-the-past moment that I just had to capture on camera!