Fast Times At Inuksuk High

The previous week was probably the shortest week of the entire semester.  There were several events that made it so brief.  For starters, there was no school on Monday (May 21) because it was Victoria Day.  I used the extra day to sleep in, prepare classes, and teach my cadet drummers at the squadron building.

            

Tuesday got off to a good start and I spent the first period teaching & testing my Grade 9 guitarists.  I only managed to test a few because the majority needed more time to prepare.  It wasn't until the second period that things got derailed.  My Grade 11s were watching Stand & Deliver again because several students had missed several key scenes.  During the repeated viewing, the electricity suddenly shut off.  The students cheered and the teachers groaned.  With no power to the SmartBoard, we couldn't continue watching the movie.  Teachers & students were informed to stay in their dark classrooms until further notice. 

            

Near the end of the period, we were informed that much of Iqaluit had lost power, including the airport, and that classes would be cancelled for the rest of the morning.  I passed the time in the staff room, sharing previous power outage stories with other teachers.  Since power was not restored to the high school by 1pm, afternoon classes were also cancelled.

            

The town continued to suffer from rolling blackouts until 4pm.  The power shut off twice in the apartment complex where I reside.  Naturally, the problem arose from the town's only power plant where the four main generators are undergoing repair & maintenance.  The generators are around 40 years old. 

            

Alternative sources of electricity are being discussed and researched by the government.  Hydro, solar, and wind are the main contenders.  Wind power sounds like an obvious choice but the northern winds may be too fierce for the tall spinning structures.

           

The other unforeseen event happened on Thursday morning, ironically during my second period English class.  This time the fire alarm went off.  Everyone evacuated the school in under a minute and we waited under the bright sun in our designated areas.  I was glad that this unplanned fire alarm happened in the spring because I was still wearing my dress shoes.  While the fire department searched the high school for the cause of the alarm, I and several other teachers kept the students at bay.  I found this peculiar because during classes, students act like they want to get out of school.  Now they were acting like they wanted to get back in.  Teenage behaviour is hard to comprehend.  After a few more minutes, the all clear was given and everyone returned to their classes.  There would be no more interruptions for the rest of the school day.  The cause of the alarm was traced to a sensitive smoke detector in the cafeteria's kitchen. 

            

Only Wednesday & Friday were regular days and those flew by really quickly.  Despite the events listed above, I was able to get through most of my lessons.  With Stand & Deliver behind us, my Grade 11s will be revisiting English grammar and paragraph writing.  As for my junior & senior musicians, they're continuing to prepare for their final performance exams.

            

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, Arctic Ventures has now added the works of Gilbert & Sullivan to the list of tunes they play to keep loiterers away from the front entrance.  Trust me, the comic operas of G&S are really annoying.     

            

The original plan called for the inclusion of the cadet Annual Ceremonial Review Parade in this post but I realized that it would have made this entry too long.  The ACR will be covered in a separate post, which is coming up next.                          

A Quiet Week

This past week was pretty quiet and uneventful for the most part.  Several students (including mine) were in Edmonton taking part in a trade skills competition and wouldn't be back until the 18th.  And there were others 'playing hooky' (or sleeping in) and not bothering to show up to class.  It's tough when you're competing with the weather.  Speaking of weather, Iqaluit has been experiencing extended periods of sunlight.  Daylight no longer disappears completely; night is more like constant dusk.  I'm guessing that in a few weeks, daytime will be constant. 

            

The feeling of having to deal with 24-hour sunshine brings back old memories of my family trip to the Yukon back in 1997.  It was quite a challenge for all of us to fall asleep; we had to close all the hotel blinds and face away from the windows.  I do a bit of that now but not to an extreme.  Since then, I have often wondered what the world would be like if the days were longer than 24 hours?  How would a 30 hour day work?

            

Speaking of work, I have been keeping myself busy preparing final exams.  Naturally, all my music classes will have performance tests.  My grade 10s will also have to deal with a theory test.  The performance marking sheets are done; it's just the theory test that needs to be written.  As for Grade 11 English, I'm still researching on what I can put together for a final exam.  All final examinations begin on the second week of June.        

             

The last unit of the semester for my Grade 11 English students is a film study.  I decided to have them watch and analyze the 1988 film Stand & Deliver.  This American drama film is based on the true story of Jaime Escalante, an East Los Angeles high school math teacher.  In the 1980s, he successfully prepared his students to take & pass the difficult AP Calculus placement test, which awards students with college credit.  However, conflict arises when the Education Testing Service questions the validity of the scores due to similar errors but Escalante believes that it's because of the students' race and economic status.  I won't spoil the ending but I will say it's a good film.  My students will finish the film unit this coming week.  After that, it's review.

            

For senior music, my students received three new pieces: The Final Countdown by Europe, Mister Cool by Mike Steinel, and Cartoon Symphony arranged by Larry Clark.  The Final Countdown is a popular 1980s rock song and it was requested by one of my students.  Since the original song was written for electric guitars, drums, and synthesizers, I had to rearrange the entire piece for a brass & reed ensemble.  On top of that, I also had to transpose my arrangement to the key of D Minor because the original F Sharp Minor version proved too difficult.  I chose D Minor because the key makes the song sound like it was written during the Middle Ages.  

Arranging can be just as difficult as composing.  If you have a large group of players, as was the case for me, then you need to make sure that everyone has a part to play.  Sometimes, the original composition may not provide enough parts for a larger ensemble, meaning you have to write an accompaniment yourself, be it a harmony or counter melody.  In my case, I only had to write one: a simple counter melody for the second clarinet.     

Mister Cool is a jazz piece specifically written for student jazz ensembles.  I assigned the demonstration solo to one of my flute players.  And Cartoon Symphony is a compilation medley, sampling many favourite Warner Brothers cartoon themes.

            

My Grade 10s only received one new piece to learn: Louie Louie. Written by Richard Berry, the song was originally recorded by The Kingsmen back in 1963.  It's a very simple tune, revolving around three primary chords, one being repeated. 

            

The Victoria Day Weekend was dominated by cadets.  Two practices were held on Saturday & Monday.  On Saturday, while walking to the high school to collect my drumming equipment, the Iqaluit fire station was holding a fundraising car wash for Team Arctic.  Operating as an effective chain: one firefighter directed traffic; several firefighters soaped, scrubbed, and hosed the dirty vehicles; and one firefighter gave the vehicles a final high powered rinse using the hose that was attached to the main fire truck.  The long line up of vehicles was to be expected considering there isn't any other car washing facilities in town.      

            

At the air cadet hall, my drummers and I went over the entire demonstration many times, practicing & perfecting every detail.  If all goes well, it'll be the most electrifying two minutes of the Annual Ceremonial Parade, scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 26.  It's starting to look like the parade will be around two hours long because of team demonstrations and the handing out of awards.

            

And to conclude, there were short periods of snowfall on Sunday & Monday.  It's a far cry from the type of weather that southern Canadians are currently experiencing - a bright sun & plus 20 degree temperatures.

Art & Music

With every passing day, there's more brown and less white.  Only the ice in Frobisher Bay refuses to follow the yearly trend.  The streams of melted snow have stopped flowing in the town centre, leaving deep canyons in the unpaved roads.  Some even appear to cut the roads in two.  Thankfully, the city jumps into action and fills the small canyons and potholes with fresh brown dirt.  As I watch countless vehicles traverse over the freshly laid dirt, I wonder how much it would cost the government to pave all the residential roads?  The melting snow also reveals rock gardens and carefully crafted rock sculptures.

            

Arctic Ventures, one of the main local stores in town has stopped blaring classical music outside its main entrance to drive away loiterers.  The business now plays Indian music (and I mean music from India).  Maybe in a few weeks they'll switch to country?       

            

Last week, I assigned my Grade 9s their last guitar test of the semester.  They have a choice: either perform a chosen piece from a list of three; or play six popular music riffs.  For extra credit, they may perform in front of the class.  The chosen piece is written in traditional notation whereas the riffs are written in guitar tab.  Riff is a guitar word for melody.  Guitar tablature is similar to traditional music notation except it only shows the strings and fret numbers.  It doesn't show the rhythm and which fingers to use on the left hand.  The player would have to listen to the song in order to figure out the rhythm. 

            

For Grade 11 English, we concluded the media unit by examining product placement, propaganda, and viral marketing.  Product placement is where products and/or services are advertised through movies, tv shows, radio plays, and music videos.  Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing a group of people towards a common goal or position.  Although originally meant to have a neutral position, propaganda has garnered a strong negative connotation due to its use in political warfare, and promoting negative messages.  Viral marketing is used to promote products and/or services via 'word of mouth'.  Next week, we'll be looking at the last unit of the semester: feature film study.

            

The highlight of the week was the high school art show on Thursday, May 10.  Linda, the art teacher, had been planning the afterschool event for several months.  The art show would give students a venue to display and sell their works of art to their friends, families, and the visiting public.  As mentioned in my previous post, Linda had asked me if the music students could provide background music for the event.  I agreed and we practiced as much as possible until the big day.

            

When the final school bell rang at 3pm on Thursday, several senior music students and I moved all the necessary equipment (music stands, drum set, bass guitar, keyboard, amps, cables) down to the main hall.  The large squared hall is located in the centre of the school.  Hundreds of paintings and drawings were posted all around the walls and tables were set up around the perimeter, displaying crafts & jewelry   The bands would be performing in the centre of the hall.  Fifteen minutes before our scheduled performance, my music students assembled in the music room to tune their instruments and organize their pieces.  Taking deep breaths and putting on brave faces, we marched down to the main hall.

            

The art show began at 5pm but we began our concert at 5:15.  The hall was filled with chatty parents, students, teachers, and curious customers.  I would later learn from Linda that in the middle of our concert, the number of visitors would peak at 200.  After being introduced by Linda & one of her art students, I took centre stage and opened the festivities with Eye ofthe Tiger, a rock song written by the 1980s band Survivor.  The piece was performed as a mass band; the seniors were supporting the juniors.  In total, I had 10 players (2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 tenor saxes, 2 trumpets, 1 baritone, & 1 drummer).  I would have had more but several junior students were away on field trips.  The juniors had been learning the song for quite a while and I wanted to give them a chance to perform in front of an audience.  Overall, they played very well.

            

After the juniors left the stage, the seniors and I continued the concert with an excerpt of Handel's Water Music.  After that, we moved on to Yellow Submarine by The Beatles.  Giving my seniors a chance to relax and rest their lips, I performed a piano solo.  I chose the piece Failing Virtues by Patrick Griffin.  My performance was good but it was a challenge to get used to the sounds coming out of the amp.  I'm used to playing on a traditional piano.  I stayed on the keyboard and played The Pink Panther theme along with my students.  From there, I hopped over to the drum set for the Latin-jazz piece Song for San Miguel.  One of my tenor saxes played the solo for the enjoyment of onlookers.

            

My next piano solo turned out to be the most daunting because the selected composition had never been publically performed until now.  The piece is called Tattoo and it was written by me over the course of two years.  It is based on a girl's tattoo I saw back in 2007.  Tattoo is split into three equal parts and written in the style of classical music.  The melody is similar to the main theme of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky.  I originally didn't want to perform it but my seniors convinced me to change my mind.  Despite a few mistakes, I received a positive reception from the audience.

            

The final two pieces were I'm a Believer and Cyberspace Overture.  I'm a Believer is a popular rock song written by Neil Diamond but performed by The Monkees and Cyberspace Overture is a band work in one of the music textbooks that we have been using throughout the semester.  I played drums for both.

            

In my view, the concert was a success.  We played a variety of music and had a blast.  While we were putting away all the equipment, I received numerous compliments from the principal, teachers, and parents.  However, I would like to apologize for not taking any photographs or videos of the concert.  I was more focused on putting on a solid performance. 

            

The many days of practicing piano before the concert has reignited my desire to relearn some of the 'old' piano pieces I played while studying under the Royal Conservatory of Music program.  One of those pieces is the difficult and intense Prelude Op. 23, No. 5 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

            

On the 795 air cadet front, my drummers are practicing hard for their demonstration on the Annual Ceremonial Review Parade on May 26.  Last week, they began practicing with their drums on the parade square.  The drill hall has a loud echo so I made sure they didn't play too loudly.  With extra practices planned for the next two weeks, the drummers will be ready.  Even though I only volunteer at the squadron on weekends, I feel like a full member because my face is visible on the squadron's Facebook page.  One of the officers came into the practice room with an iPad and took several photos of the drum lesson.  He also filmed us practicing in the drill hall.

            

Into May

About a month ago, Renata, an experienced English/Drama teacher who works at the high school, told me that she personally preferred the winter months over the brief summer months because of the change of scenery.  Due to the lack of vegetation (trees, grass, etc), the land around Iqaluit goes from white to brown & grey.  There are some 'green spots' where one can find many plants, flowers, and bushes but for the most part, the brown ground & grey rocks dominate the landscape.  Her words are starting to make sense now that we are in the month of May. 

            

The temperature averages slightly above 0ºC.  It feels like Ottawa in March.  There still is snow on the ground but not as much as before.  The melting snow has given way to small streams of brown water, running along the paved & unpaved roads.  Hundreds of small brown puddles litter the unpaved roads and the sidewalks are muddy because they too are unpaved.  This forces me to continue wearing my winter boots so that I don't get any mud on my dress pants.  I also have to watch where I step because if I slip and fall, I'll be covered in mud.  On the plus side, I no longer have to worry about fierce blizzards and windstorms.  (While writing this post, there were two brief periods of snowfall on May 4 & 6).
                  

I'm now into my fourth month living in the north.  My, how time flies.  Final exams are just five weeks away and after that, summer vacation.  I have been working feverishly, preparing final exam outlines and weekly lessons.  Student absenteeism is now the main problem for teachers & school administrators.  I have noticed a significant drop in attendance for my Grade 11 class last week and several teachers have told me that it may stay that way or get worse.  The only thing we teachers can do is call home and encourage parents/guardians to instruct their kids to attend all their classes.  With land trips and out-of-town field trips taking place around this time, the school looks deserted sometimes.  

            

Last week, two of my Grade 9 guitar classes were taught by Greg Simm, a well experienced guitar player who is associated with the Tusarnaarniq Sivumut Association (TSA).  The TSA is a music organization that runs guitar & fiddle workshops in Pond Inlet, Iqaluit, and Pangnirtung.  This time, Greg was in Iqaluit, holding guitar/fiddle workshops at Nakasuk & Aqsaarnit Middle Schools.  When his name was mentioned to me several weeks prior, I happily agreed to let him meet and instruct my Grade 9s.  He taught them the standard 12 bar blues and I assisted by playing drums. 

            

In English, we began the Media Unit, looking at advertising, creative advertising, and the persuasive techniques that are used by companies & politicians to sell their products & ideas.  Creative advertising is relatively new, aiming to capture the attention of consumers by being unique, life size, humourous and 'thinking outside of the box'. (See the above pic).  The students analyzed three commercials and five creative ads.  Judging from the faces of the attending students, they really enjoyed the examples I chose.  Next week, we will be looking at the news, propaganda, famous photographs, and viral marketing. 

            

For junior & senior music, we're getting ready for a concert on Thursday, May 10th.  An art show is taking place at the high school in the evening and I was asked by the art teacher if the bands could provide some background music.  I agreed and a variety of pieces are being prepared.  For suspense, I'm not going to say what those pieces are. Additionally, I will be performing two piano pieces to give the brass & woodwinds a chance to rest their lips.

            

And lastly, 795 Iqaluit Squadron is having its Annual Ceremonial Review on Saturday, May 26.  With the final parade just three weeks away, many are wondering what kind of team demonstrations there will be?  The topic of a musical display came up during my meeting with the commanding officer on Saturday.  Reflecting on the progress of the newly created drum line, I concurred that they could perform a simple demonstration for their family & friends.  My drummers were immediately onboard with the idea and hastily decided when would be the best nights to hold extra practices.  My drummers still have a lot of work to do but I know they will succeed.