The First Two Weeks of May

Source: Isuma.tv

The Inuit language, known as Inuktitut, has experienced a period of revival since the creation of Nunavut in 1999.  Obviously, the language has been spoken extensively across the north before this time, but to me, it is more visible and promoted today.  (It is safe to assume that one of the main reasons behind this revival is to reclaim the language that was actively suppressed during the Residential Schools Era).  The Nunavut Government is perhaps the biggest promoter and enforcer of Inuktitut use in the territory.  One initiative they have is Inuit Language Week where schools and communities organize reading, writing, and speaking activities.  Elders are also included in these activities.

            

Inuit Language Week occurred during the last week of April (which also included the first day of May).  At Inuujaq School, K-9 teachers set aside more time towards Inuktitut language learning during regular classes.  On Friday, May 1st, the student body participated in an afternoon of Inuit language activities.  The activities were located all over the school and were managed by several teachers & elders.  The remaining teachers were tasked with supervising and leading groups of students to each activity while following a round robin schedule.  The groups were similar to last year's spirit teams.  I was in charge of Team Rabbit last year; however, this year, I was assigned team Killer Whales.  (I was carrying a lot of weight on my shoulders).

            

I wore my sealskin tie and kamiks for the occasion.  I also "brushed-up" on my Inuktitut by quickly reading over my "Little Orange Book of Inuktitut Phrases".  (I think I mentioned in a previous post that since coming to Nunavut, I have been collecting a variety of 'every day' Inuktitut phrases & their English translations in a small book for me to review.  The book is up to 34 pages so far, but many more will be added in the near future).

            

Killer Whales get ready to act out "A Promise is a Promise".

I escorted my killer whales to their first activity; listening and acting out the story A Promise is a Promise, written by Robert Munsch.  The activity was led by the new Grade 6 teacher, Greg, who has experience in drama and acting.  (He started a school drama club this year).  To prepare his classroom for the activity, he had his students push all the desks, tables, and chairs to the sides, creating one large open space in the centre.  While an audio recording of the story played over loud speakers, he instructed everyone to listen, visualize the story in their minds, and then act out the main plot points.  Greg led the interpretive acting session.  Many of the younger students participated while the older students stood off to the side, too shy to participate.  I used my camera as an excuse to not act and instead take pictures.

           

Our next activity was overseen by Kaitlynd, the school's student support teacher, and took place in the library.  The activity required the students to listen to a selection of short stories being read in Inuktitut.  They also followed along by reading the text from the books provided.  The students were divided into three small groups; each group had their own stereo, audio CD, and earphones for each person.  I noticed one group was listening/reading a funny story because they periodically chuckled out loud.  Kaitlynd & I walked amongst the groups, making sure the students were on task and the equipment was working properly. 

            

Kraft Dinner prepared by Grade 7 teacher Spencer.

The Killer Whales spent the next session in the computer lab, completing Inuktitut activities that required the use of the Internet.  The Internet was slow but we did the best we could.  We then had two story time sessions with two elders, followed by a snack break.  My students feasted on Kraft Dinner in the Home Ec room before going to the high school science room to learn how to make smoothies.  (Yes, both feel out-of-place, but having snacks in between activities is warranted).

            

Ikey

Tootalik

The last two sessions for the Killer Whales were again with elders, but the focus was more on Inuit culture.  The first session was led by Ikey, the school's shop teacher, and it took place in my classroom.  He did a comparison between the tools that Inuit hunters used to use out on the land and the more modern tools they use today.  The second session was with Tootalik, the sewing teacher, and she showed the students a large variety of traditional Inuit clothing made from animal skins.  The workshop took place in the high school Inuit culture room; one of the long tables was covered with parkas, amautis, kamiks, mitts, and pants.  I hovered around the table, snapping photographs of the lesson.  There was a moment when my kamiks were used as an example because they were of a darker colour.  When Tootalik completed her lecture, the school bell rang for dismissal.

            

The next big event was on Monday, May 11th.  The school organized an afternoon of "Fun In The Sun" sports & games activities out on the frozen bay.  The activities were originally scheduled for Friday, May 8th, but had to be postponed due to strong winds.  With the arrival of May, the arctic sun was now up in the sky for 24 hours a day.  The midnight sun was here.

            

High school students play football.

Everyone headed down to the frozen bay at around 1:30pm.  Several people assisted in bringing down all the necessary sports equipment.  Ironically, the sun was not out; the entire sky was covered with overcast clouds.  This was a strange turn of events because the sun was visible during lunch time.  Once again, the activities were organized as a round-robin, but this time, the students just stayed with their classes.  High school became one large group.

            

Parachute games.

As always, I had my digital camera at the ready.  However, I would also use my GoPro camera to shoot several action sequences.  I would then take the best shots, edit them together, add some awesome music, and create a short featurette of the entire afternoon.  I recruited two high school students to wear the camera while they played sports, thus making the project more inclusive.  The only shortcoming was that I had one GoPro.  Professionals usually have 2 - 4 cameras at their disposal to capture multiple angles at once.  I would just capture as much raw footage as possible and hope for the best.

            

Snack time.

The sports that had been organized were: soccer, football, baseball, soccer baseball, parachute games, and relay races.  A snack station offering granola bars & juice was also included.  Each class spent about 10 - 12 minutes at each station.

            

I did three jobs that afternoon: photographing, filming, and supervising.  Michel & I supervised the high school students.  Michel is the high school science teacher.  Everyone enjoyed playing the games and I was able to capture it all on camera and film.  The two students I recruited as cameramen enjoyed walking around with a GoPro and capturing video footage from their point of view.  The high school students even came up with their own game by vertically spinning hoola hoops and trying to pass through them without making them stop.

            

I spent many hours reviewing and editing all the GoPro footage.  I also spent some time deciding what kind of a soundtrack to include in the featurette.  I originally thought about using a song that talked about the sun but none of the ones I sampled worked.  In the end, I chose the one song that kept resurfacing in my head throughout post-production.  You can view the featurette here.  Be warned: there are some shaky camera effects.

            

The arrival of another month meant that it was time to move on to new teaching modules.  My Grade 10 English students were finished with poetry, so I decided to continue with a feature film study.  This semester I chose the inspirational film Lean On Me starring Morgan Freeman.  The film is based on the true story of Eastside High principal Joe Louis Clark who turned around the once drug & gang-ridden school by expelling all the troublemakers, being strict with teachers, students, and parents, and using a "tough-love" approach to education.

            

My Grade 11 Social Studies students spent the month of April learning about the Russian Revolution and wrote their final test during the last week of the month.  For May, we would study the term ultranationalism, its meaning, and examine several examples in history.  This was my first time teaching this module from the brand new textbooks.  The first examples my students would study are the rise of the Axis Powers in Europe: Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Imperial Japan.

            

And finally, my guitarists were getting pretty good at strumming power chords, but they needed more practice with regular chords.  They also began looking at songs with more accidentals (sharps & flats).  I made this a little more challenging by forcing the students to figure out the notes by reading traditional notation.  It was frustrating at first, but after much perseverance, they eventually got it.  As a reward, I let them practice the songs they chose for the class fake book.