Review, Final Exams, and ACR

I was unable to attend the fishing derby award ceremony at the community centre on Tuesday, May 19th, because of my occupation.  There were only two weeks of May left and that meant review and final exams.  My apologies to anyone who wanted to know who the winners were.  I immediately went to work putting together review activities & handouts, and writing up the final exams for my English & Social Studies classes.  My guitarists would have a final performance test.  I had to work quickly because I would be camping with the army cadets the weekend before exams. 

            

Putting together a final exam is not a simple task.  Many hours must be put into research, writing, revising, and if desired, creating an answer key.  (Having an answer key makes marking exams, and tests, much easier).  There is a constant battle happening inside the teacher's mind.  They want to include everything, but can't, because the exam would be too big and take too long to complete.  Therefore, you need to be selective.  I only pluck and insert several questions from previous exams.  I view using exams from the year before in their entirety as being lazy & apathetic.  And doing so wouldn't have been possible anyway because I differentiate the content every semester.  But this is not enough.  You also have to review the required material with your students and that calls for handouts, activities, and games.  For teachers, administering a test is a project all on its own.

            

Final exams for high school students were scheduled for the last three (school) days of May.  There was still school for the first week of June but that week was devoted to spring camp and year end activities (more on those in a future post).

            

In Grade 10 English, we finished our film study of Lean on Me.  The students really liked the plot and the main character, principal Joe Louis Clark.  I included letter & essay writing in our film study because these skills are essential in the senior grades and beyond.  The final exam tested my students' knowledge in three areas: short stories, our study of the novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and the film Lean On Me. 

            

My Grade 11 Social Studies students finished learning about the rise of ultranationalist political parties in Italy, Germany, and Japan - the Axis Powers.  We also studied the relationship between ultranationalism and genocide.  I explained the meaning of word, who coined the term (Raphael Lemkin), and briefly mentioned some examples in history.  When it came to explaining the 8 Stages of Genocide, I used the Canadian Residential School System as the example.  I stressed that the system was a form of "cultural genocide".  The final exam focused on: WW1, Women's Rights, The Russian Revolution, Ultranationalism, and Genocide.

               

The final performance test for my guitarists challenged them to play a selected piece in front of the class.  I made the list as diverse as I could so that there was something for everyone.  Right away, I assured everyone that they would do fine and that playing in front of the class would be a lot easier than when they played in front of the school in February.  I tested my guitarists several days before the official "exam week".  All of them performed well.  I even commended one of my students who sang a song in front the class.  It must have taken a lot of courage.

            

I received some bad news the week before exams, but in a way, it was a blessing in disguise.  The cadet Field Training eXercise (FTX) that was scheduled for the 2nd last weekend of May had to be postponed due to bad weather.  The local Canadian Rangers made the call and we had to obey.  In the north, Rangers provide polar bear protection on cadet FTX's; if they won't go (for any reason), we don't go.  The FTX was moved to the last weekend of May, and I used the extra days to do last minute additions & changes to my exams. 

           

3045 Army Cadet Corps held its Annual Ceremonial Review (ACR) Parade on May 27.  The parade normally takes place in early April but we had to move it to a later date because of local events and the European trip.  The parade would feature promotions, awards, and summaries of the European trip & other events throughout the past year.  I prepared the English programs and got them translated into Inuktitut by Kataisee.  She is the high school Inuit Culture teacher. 

            

The parade began at 6:30pm inside Inuujaq School's gym.  The 3-man flag party marched on parade and planted the Canadian & Cadet Movement flags on both sides of the Dias.  The flag carriers took their positions as left markers and the entire corps marched on.  The commanding officer of 3045 Army, Lt. May, marched in, escorting the guest reviewing officer to the Dias.  The reviewing officer this year was the mayor of Arctic Bay, Philip Kalluk.  He inspected the cadets on parade and was treated to a March Past.  The cadets were kept in step by the sound of a beating bass drum.  We borrowed one of the school’s bass drums for the night, and it was played by cadet Master Warrant Officer Reid.  He received excellent crash-course training from the school’s music teacher (me).       

            

Promotions to the rank of Lance Corporal.

Sergeant Akikulu

There were plenty of promotions to hand out.  All the junior cadets and several senior cadets were promoted by one rank.  The ranks were presented by a local Canadian Ranger, the mayor, and the commanding officer.  For Master Corporal Akikulu, his promotion to the senior rank of sergeant was extra special because he also received a red sash to wear with his green dress uniform.

            

Marksmanship Team.

Biathlon Team.

There were also plenty of awards to distribute.  Cadets received awards for marksmanship, best boots, best drill, and best athletes.  The marksmanship & biathlon teams were called out to be recognized for their hard work, dedication, and accomplishments at competitions. 

            

The families present at the parade received a debriefing on the success of the European Trip from Officer Cadet Swoboda.  Swoboda has resided in Arctic Bay for many years and is the community’s mental health nurse.  Everyone heard about how excited the six cadets were to visit a faraway country and learn about the Second World War.  I think this was first time the cadets had travelled overseas.  Some of them had never seen, nor touched real trees before.  The trip started in Amsterdam, progressed down into Normandy and ended in Paris.  The cadets learned a lot of history, culture, language, and developed better appreciation for the sacrifices Allied soldiers did during the war.

            

Three senior cadets that are aging out soon.

The commanding officer called upon the three most senior cadets to line up in front of the Dias.  He explained to the audience that this would be their last ACR because they would be aging out in fall.  In the Canadian cadet program, a cadet ages out when they turn 19.  The commanding officer gave them each a black backpack with the army emblem on it as a way of saying thank you for their service and dedication.

            

The last portion of the program called for the celebrating of two birthdays.  The two lucky/shy cadets were called up to the front where they were presented with a large cake baked by OCdt Swoboda.  When the candles were blown out, Swoboda left the gym to cut the cake into equal pieces.  The parade was dismissed after the closing remarks.  Everyone made their way to the reception area.  Another regular cadet training year had come to an end.