Science, School, & Fish

I was unable to attend Inuujaq School’s annual Spring Camp because I was in Victoria, B.C.  I was escorting and coaching 3045’s Marksmanship Team at the National Cadet Marksmanship Competition.  (The trip is extensively documented in six parts if you haven’t had the chance to read them.  They’re located in the May 2019 archive folder and Part 6 precedes this post). 

I asked my students & colleagues how did Spring Camp go and they said it was alright.  They went out hunting, fishing, sewed with elders, and played sports.  In turn, they asked me how was Victoria?  I replied the city is a nice place to visit and the competition went well for the cadets.  We didn’t win but we had a good time.  There were still plenty of pictures to review, edit, crop, name, and organize.  I did get through them all and used the best ones for my blog.

ACTUA sent two of its members to Arctic Bay to hold electronics workshops with students & teachers.  The high school workshop was held on May 17.  According to its website, “ACTUA is a national charity that is preparing youth, age 6-26, to be innovators and leaders by engaging them in exciting and accessible STEM experiences that build critical employability skills and confidence.”  STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

My classroom was used for the workshop.  The two instructors brought tablet computers and electronic balls that could be programmed to move in specific patterns.  The instructors taught us how to use a simple program to program the balls to move at certain speeds, pause, change direction, and light up.  The commands are presented in blocks that can be organized into chains.  It’s a simple way of introducing students to coding. 

The students spent some time getting comfortable with the program and enjoying seeing their balls move around the floor.  The instructors then laid out paper on the floor, making a path.  The challenge was to be the first team to correctly program their ball to move along the path, from beginning to end.  The challenging parts were the sharp turns.  One team managed to get it right after much trial & error.  The other teams got close.  The last activity we did was programming the balls to move around an obstacle course in the hallway.  Some of the obstacles were recycling bins, garbage cans, and tape.  Prizes were ACTUA t-shirts, pens, and notepads. 

In the world of academics, my Grade 10 Social Studies students finished studying Canada’s Residential School system.  The Grade 11 Social Studies students finished their study of globalization and its effects on Canada and the world.  The Grade 12 Social Studies students learned the causes of the Second World War.  If I had more time, we would have examined several key moments and Canada’s involvement in the global conflict.  They also worked on their final projects.  The project replaces the final exam and requires students to write an essay, make a product/visual aid of some kind and present their project to a panel of judges.  The presentations are scheduled for early June, but the essays and products are due at the end of this month.  Working on the projects has become slightly easier, thanks to the recent introduction of 4G internet in Nunavut.  It’s a little faster but still relies on satellites.  Undersea fiber optic cables would be a big help.

My Grade 10 English students learned a fair bit during the second half of the semester.  They did poetry, visual multimedia, and oral pieces.  The majority of this month has been spent on the class film project.  We brainstormed ideas in April and began principal photography when I came back from my Victoria trip.  I was able to convince my students to make a short film after showing them last year’s film project.  We’re making something new, not a sequel to Mr. Putugu’s Classroom. 

So far, we’ve had a lot of fun filming scenes inside the school and outside on the playground.  I’m not a professional filmmaker nor teaching a film class, but picking up a camera and filming something does give students a break from the monotony of paper work.  Plus, a film project fits into the visual multimedia unit. We’ve been able to recruit a few students and teachers to participate which is always beneficial.  I’m also starring in the film, but I’m more of a secondary character.  The students are the stars.    

I would like to thank Skills Canada for making this possible because they gifted the school a Canon XA-20 professional camcorder in 2018.  We’re putting it to good use!  My plan is to have all the scenes filmed before summer vacation, a rough cut by October, and a final cut just before Christmas.

The annual Fishing Derby occurred over the Victoria Day Weekend.  Once again, I was unable to participate because I had to work on final exams.  (The last time, which is really the first time, I “participated” was in 2016).    I cancelled cadets that weekend because everyone is thinking about fishing and wanting to be outside.  I photographed people fishing & jigging out on the frozen ice on May 20.  There are quite a few people who don’t have the resources to travel to the far lakes to catch large arctic char.  The organizers designate one or two areas around town to let these people compete without having to travel very far.  Cash prizes range from a few dollars to the thousands.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to attend the awards ceremony because I was planning a camping trip for cadets.  More on that coming up.