Experiments in Teaching

I don't know whether I've sunk to a new teaching low, or have just figured out one of the more creative (and less stressful) ways of teaching my English students story plot structure. After going over the structure of plot for the last week (and short story theory), I gave my students a worksheet to take home over PI break to work on. Well ... none of the worksheets came back (surprise surprise?).

Today, I figured, well, might as well just review the concepts and see what we all remember and work at trying to work through the worksheet. Well, we got through the theory review ... and just by looking at them I could tell that there was no way that we were going to be getting through the reading / analyzing part today, and they really needed a practice run that wasn't too taxing .. I dug through my desk drawer of DVDs and pulled out Futurama, handed out plot structure worksheets and we analyzed an episode of Futurama.



And ya know what? They got it! I did have to throw in several leading questions, and pausing the episode several times and point out that this was part of rising action and then asking what was going on. But it worked - my students understood what was going on. I think I'll be doing this a couple more times before we start our larger novel study and get them to analyze episodes for different things (characters, setting, plot). But whoo-da-thunk that Fry, Bender, Leela and Prof. Farnsworth could teach my students plot.

Explore Biodiversity

Yet again .... all I can say is WOW .. and where was this site when I was in school? This would have made all of those boring biology classes sooo much more entertaining!

The Wild Classroom: Biology Vidoes and Podcasting via Ecogeeks

All I can say is WOW. Science educators ... rejoice!

Canada's Arctic

Canada's Arctic is a site with a wealth of knowledge on Canada's Polar Life and Canada's Polar Environments.

Listening to Our Past

Listening to our Past is an amazing site on Inuit Culture and Traditions covering many topics such as traditional Inuit knowledge, cosmology and shamanism, traveling and surviving on the land and when North meets South.

The site allows teachers to create questionnaires and other activities for their students to engage in while learning about the Iniut culture in Canada. The site is loaded with pictures of life in Nunavut and of the Inuit culture as well as audio and video segments and downloadable pdf summaries of each section.

Living Traditions: North American Indigenous Games

The Living Traditions: Museums Honour the North American Indigenous Games is a site maintained by the Virtual Museum of Canada on North American Indigenous Games.

The site includes information on a variety of NAIGs, its history, as well as online flash activities and a teachers corner that has many ideas, activities and links to information that teachers can use in the classroom.

The Canadian Atlas Online

Might as well keep going with the educational resources theme of the day (hehe).

For you geography teachers, or those that just love looking at maps ... head on over to The Canadian Atlas Online, an interactive atlas ... all on line.

The Territory of Unrequited Dreams

In 1999, Nunavut, Canada's newest Territory was created ... and on April 1, Nunavut celebrates it's 10th year as a Territory and it's joining in the Confederation.

In today's mail I received my first copy of my subscription to Canadian Geographic.. and but what was it's feature? Nunavut turning 10.



I thought that it was pretty freaky that my first issue would be one about Nunavut turning 10. At the same time, I was sure that Darcy was gonna snatch the magazine right out of my hands and run into the night (as I think he was more excited about the issue than I was).

And in the spirit of Education, as I know many of you teachers that check in on this blog, in preparation for Nunavut's 10th Anniversary (sounds kinda strange).... you can learn all about it's history and beginnings here at Nunavut 99 - Changing the Map of Caanda.




Also, if anyone out there has a copy of the January/February 1999 Canadian Geographic that had the feature article about the creation of Nunavut, I would love to get my hands on a digital version of the article.

A Great Teacher Resource

When I first stumbled onto worksheetworks.com, I jumped for joy - as I really don't like having to wrack my brain out coming up with worksheets and exercises for my English students to work on in class.

And not only does Worksheetworks.com make English resources, they have tons of other easily downloadable pdf worksheets covering a variety of subjects (math, geography, puzzles ....).

Currently it is in the beta phase, and is free to all to use. So head on over and check it out!



Oh yes, and don't forget to pass this site on to all of your colleagues!

Six Phases of Teaching

This was sent to me by a fellow teacher .... I think I am in phase 5 ... although, at times it feels like phase 6 :-)


PHASE ONE


You are listening to jazz -- Your first day at work is great. Your fellow teachers are wonderful, your classroom is cute, you love your students, and your principal is the best!



PHASE TWO



You are listening to pop music -- After a while you are so busy that you are not sure if you're coming or going anymore.



PHASE THREE



You are listening to heavy metal -- This is what you feel like after ONE month.



PHASE FOUR



You are listening to hip hop -- You become bloated due to stress, you're gaining weight due to lack of exercise because you are so tired and have so much school work to do when you get home, you feel sluggish and suffer from constipation. Your fellow teachers are too cheerful for your liking and the walls of your classroom are closing in.



PHASE FIVE




You are listening to Gangsta Rap -- After more time passes, your eyes start to twitch, you forget what a 'good hair day' feels like as you just fall out of bed and load up on caffeine.



PHASE SIX



You are listening to the voices in your head -- You have locked your classroom door to keep people out, You wonder WHY you are even here in the first place and WHY did I become a teacher!

Inuit Myths and Legends

As a teacher in the North, I often get emails from teacher friends down south asking about Inuit Mythology and if I know where they can find some resources to share with their colleagues and students. Here's several that I've found pretty useful in planning for courses next term.

Inuit Myths A site developed through QIA (Qikiqtani Inuit Association) and a variety of Government and Non Government organizations, to provide a resource for Nunavummiut and people from around the world who want to learn more about the Inuit storytelling tradition. There are downloadable copies of Taiksumani (a publication of Inuit Myths that are distributed to schools and libraries) and information of Mythological beings.

Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo a digitalized version of Henry Rinks 1875 collection of Myths and Legends.

Eskimo Folk-Tales a digitized version of Eskimo Tales collected by Kund Rasmussen (1921).

First People an online collection of American Indians, First Nations and Inuit Mythology.

If anyone has any other ones that they would like to add to this list, send them my way.

Read for 15

Today we participated in the Read for 15 challenge as part of Nunavut's Literacy Week (September 29, 2008 - October 3, 2008). For 15 minutes we all got together in the gym with family and community members to read and promote literacy.

Wacky Science

For the last week and continuing until the end of the week students here have been treated to hands on science experiments through Elephant Thoughts who sent us up a facilitator who traveled all the way up here to the high arctic with all sorts of fun and educational science activities for k-12.

Teacher Doubts French Assessment Accuracy

Teacher Doubts French Assessment Accuracy

I knew it was only a matter of time! And I was thinking this way back in '98 when my French proficiency level was assessed.

Why New Brunswick.... why?

Usually I don't get involved in "political matters" here on Tales from the Arctic, but this one just rubs the wrong way.

Report recommends elimination of early French immersion in N.B.

Bilingual NB fails miserably when it comes to graduating bilingual students

Oh come on NB! What on Earth do you think you are doing? Eliminating the early FI program? What about the plan to make every graduate of the FI program fully bilingual? This sure ain't gonna happen now.

So why oh why are we moving away from the early FI program?? Because two researchers, concluded this (among other things): "early French immersion program, which currently begins in Grade 1, is not meeting its objectives and should be grandfathered out of the provincial education system".

Uh, Iets' stop and reflect here for a second. I went through the early FI program. I didn't drop out of it, I excelled in all of my classes (and even took all of my Math and a couple of Science courses in French in high school), learned a second language, graduated from the FI program .... and then went on and took a four year BA in French linguistics and literature. Now, mind you, I also had tons of parental language support at home too as my parents both spoke French.

Oh, and here is another no-brainer: "Currently, the core French curriculum is a non-immersion program that makes French a mandatory subject for students in Grade 1 to 10 and an elective subject in their upper high school years. About 75 per cent of all New Brunswick students participate in that program". And the other 25 per cent is enrolled in the early FI program right?

And let's also stop and think about the number of students that continue their French studies in high school. For students enrolled in the Core program, they only have to take it until grade 10. THERE ARE NO OTHER FRENCH REQUIREMENTS PER GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS.

What about students enrolled in the early immersion program? Most of us have a couple of options:
1. Take one French requirement and never take another French class
2. Take three years of FILA
3. Take a certain number of courses (any where from 8-12) to get the FI graduation certificate

and then this all depends on the size of your school too - so not all students enrolled in the FI program are even eligible for the FI graduation certificate.

So, what can we do to improve the FI program?

1. Student and Parental comitment - both students and parents need to be comitted to the FI program You are there to learn a new language and culture. You are not there because FI classes typically have a smaller class size and less "problems"

2. Teaching resources - books, magazines, audio, movies, cultural events, anything that will increase and enhance the learning experience

3. Government support - support teachers in what they are doing with the FI program

4. Teachers enforce the "rules" - encourage your students to speak French, don't let them get away with talking in English during class time, make a "French only rule" in the classroom.

The FI program won't work on it's own, and it isn't contained in a bubble - EVERYONE - parents, teachers, administration and government - all need to support the program and work together.



And if it really costs +30k per student in FI and +367k per student in the core program ... the French teachers are way underpaid.

Educ/Info Links

This is for all of my southern teachers/school readers who are (or were) studying the Inuit and life in the North ... and also for those that are curious too.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
This site contains a lot of information about the Inuit, Inuit Syllabics, Arctic Wildlife, traditional knowledge and other info about the North.

Civilization.ca
This site contains information about the Inuit and their origins.

Library and Archives of Canada - The Kid's Site of Canadian Settlement
This is a Government of Canada initiative for youth / students to learn more about the Inuit. Contains lots of Educational resources, activities and links to other sites.

Arctic Adventures
Grassroots project from Grade 3/4/5 at Earl Grey School in Saskatchewan.

Inuit Art of Canada

Inuit History

Inuit Games and Songs


More to come