PI Week & Postal Shoot

PD Cake. Made by JF.

February 15 - 19 was Professional Improvement (PI) Week for all teachers in Nunavut.  We are students for the duration of the week, learning new skills & acquiring knowledge that will benefit us and our younger students.  Regular classes are not held during this week.  The majority of teachers in the Qikiqtani Region - (where I teach) - would be completing their PI in their home communities.  (We had our regional conference in Iqaluit last year - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  Of course, several teachers would be completing their PI outside their communities and even down south.  I would be staying in Arctic Bay. 

            

Greg & Greg.

For the first two days, I participated in a SMART Board Training workshop, led by Greg, the Grade 6 teacher.  (Teachers are allowed to organize workshops as part of their PI, as long as it falls under certain criteria).  I have worked with SMART Boards in the past, but that was several years ago, so a review/upgrade of my abilities was necessary.  Many teachers at Inuujaq School were taking the workshop because the school is in the process of acquiring more SMART Boards. 

            

Greg began his workshop by welcoming everyone to his classroom and briefly explaining that a SMART Board is an interactive white board that encourages experiential learning and collaboration.  He added that the board has been a "big hit" with his students and that it would also be well received by students from all classes.

            

John's digital B-Day card.

John cuts the PD cake.

Our first lesson was to learn/review how to write & erase on the board using the specially designed pens & eraser.  We concluded the quick lesson by signing a digital birthday card that Greg had prepared for John, the Grade 8 teacher.  As the day progressed, we learned many things, such as, how to draw, insert/import pictures, save, duplicate objects, and create lessons.  We also learned how to properly transport the mobile SMART Board between classrooms.  Greg made sure to give the teachers plenty of time to work with the board.

            

SMART Board training.

During the second day of the workshop, we learned more about the SMART Board software and SMART Exchange, a website where one can find a vast amount of content made by the company, teachers, business people, and enthusiasts.  We concluded the workshop by brainstorming ideas for lesson plans and some teachers began working on lesson plans that incorporate the interactive white board.  Overall, we learned a lot from the two-day workshop.  Thanks Greg!

           

Me & JF try to move a balloon between
our heads without using our hands.

Several teachers & I got quite a workout on the third day of PI Week.  We signed up for Cooperative Games, a workshop organized by Jean-Francois (JF), the high school math & science teacher.  The workshop would give participants a list of team building games to use for their PE classes.  (I don't teach PE but I wanted to try something new and see if I could use the games for cadets).  The workshop is geared towards K-9 classes but I thought maybe the high school students would enjoy playing the games.  The core feature of the games is that no one gets eliminated; everyone participates from beginning to end.  This would be quite an adjustment for me because I grew up playing games with elimination (ie. dodge ball, capture the flag, paintball, video games).  I think the other teachers shared similar views.

            

JF on a gym scooter and me moving
him around.

We had the whole gym to ourselves for the day.  We emptied out the equipment room to see what we had at our disposal.  There was a lot of resources we could use.  We learned and played a variety of games, some of which were quite funny.  Some of the games we played were: using our heads to move a balloon around, passing balloons through hula-hoops, and moving people using gym scooters.  We also learned a plethora of parachute games because they are always a hit with the younger grades. 

            

Parachute Feet. Picture taken by JF.

Abbie (kindergarten) and I inside the
parachute. Picture taken by JF.

To finish off the workshop, JF instructed us to come up with our own cooperative game using the materials in the equipment room.  (He reminded us that no one was to be eliminated).  We were able to come up with a "game" after much thought and trial-and-error.  The "game" involved passing a volleyball around and running to touch the nearest walls.  There's more tweaking to be done.  In the end, we all had fun and learned some pretty cool cooperative games.  Thanks JF!

            

During the last two days of PI Week, I devoted my time to professional reading.  I had received funding to purchase books on the following topics: differentiated learning, preventing/solving disciplinary problems, and creating a trauma-sensitive classroom.  I also purchased course materials from ASCD on how to teach children with learning disabilities.  The latter resource requires more than two days to review.  My plan is to become proficient in the course over the following months and teach it to the staff in the fall.

            

I particularly liked the books on preventing/solving disciplinary problems and creating a trauma-sensitive classroom.  Both books are easy to read and give many ideas & suggestions that teachers and administrative staff can use.  I'm still working my way through the differentiated learning book.

            

Other activities that teachers completed during PI Week were: sewing, classroom management, Inuktitut typing, translating resources, and learning Inuktitut.  Overall, PI Week was mostly a success.  There was only one serious incident that unexpectedly occurred.  (More on that in a future post). 

            

Stage II Postal Shoot.

On Sunday, February 21, 3045 Army Cadet Corps held an afternoon Stage II Postal Shoot to determine if we were eligible to send our marksmanship team down to Gimli, Manitoba, for a Stage III shooting competition.  Each team member had to shoot three sets of targets: two prone & one standing.  The adult staff would score the targets and then mail them to Winnipeg for verification.  If the overall score is the highest, or one of the highest, from the total number of corps participating in the Postal Shoot, then our team would be allowed to attend the competition down south.

            

There are four shooting competition stages in the cadet program.  Stage I is for local corps only.  Stage II is a postal shoot that determines who can go to Stage III.  Stage III is a provincial/territorial/regional shooting competition, and Stage IV is a national competition.  Only the best from Stage III compete at the national level.    

            

There was a lot of excitement and anticipation from the marksmanship team that afternoon while they set up the firing range in the school gym.  The cadets would be shooting targets at 10 metres with the Daisy Air Rifle.  For standing relays, the cadets had fifteen minutes to shoot ten rounds.  For prone relays, the cadets had thirty minutes to fire twenty rounds.  The only sounds you could hear during the relays were lead pellets hitting the targets and the cadets pumping the air rifles.

            

I think our marksmanship team has a really good chance of being selected for the Stage III competition in April.  We'll find out which corps have been selected next month.