Getting The Job Done

Starting from the 17th of September, my Grade 10 guitarists had their first test on the drum set.  They were required to play 4 simple backbeat patterns.  Even though the course is supposed to be about guitar only, I decided to incorporate other instruments as well.  My students will learn a bit of percussion, bass guitar, electric guitar, and piano.  Usually, these instruments are present whenever there is a guitar, so why not?  They spent the remainder of the week working on chords in order to prepare for their chord test on the following Tuesday.  Most were prepared while several others required more practice time.  To finish off the month, my guitarists looked at several well known melody lines, such as, Sea Shanty and La Bamba.

            

In Grade 11 English, we continued with the poetry unit, looking at poems by E.E.Cummings, Edgar Allen Poe, and Robert W. Service.  E.E. Cummings, the famed 20th century American poet, was perhaps the only poet I ever enjoyed reading in high school because he broke most, if not all, the rules on writing poetry.  With Edgar Allen Poe, my students looked at his most popular poem, The Raven.  And of course, the chosen Robert W. Service poem was The Cremation of Sam McGee.  As a review of the first two units, my students had a short story/poetry quiz on the 18th.  For the following week, we looked at sentence structure and how to avoid writing padded, overloaded, and run-on sentences.  Next week, we'll be starting the novel unit, studying the classic novella, Of Mice and Men.         

            

I know it's early, but I decided to hand out several Christmas themed pieces to my senior & junior musicians for the upcoming Christmas concert in December.  Nothing wrong with getting a head start, right?  With the month of October just around the corner, I have also been thinking about putting on a Halloween concert on Wednesday, the 31st.  I have already found two pieces with scary undertones.  I'll be handing them out to my juniors and seniors on Monday.  I'll need to find more because two pieces are not enough for a concert.  All that's left is to speak with the principal about whether a concert can be arranged on that day.

            

Concert planning aside, my seniors have been looking at a variety of songs, ranging from Disney to TV themes.  My students have taken a liking to the Disney tunes, Under the Sea & I Just Can't Wait To Be King.  The TV theme they have chosen is the old Hockey Night In Canada theme song.  We can't learn the new theme because I don't have the score and we lack the required bagpipes.  For next week, my seniors will be looking at more theory, starting with minor scales, because we're running a bit behind.

            

My junior musicians have steadily improved in the last two weeks and are beginning to sound like a concert band.  There still is the random squeak here and there but that is to be expected.  We're all glad that we have passed the noise-making stage and are in the transitional period of going from sound to music.  In musical theory, they looked at dotted notes & rests, musical ties, and basic time signatures.  Next week, we'll be looking at more complicated time signatures and tones & semitones.

            

With all of the above happening in school, my time outside of school has been mostly spent on marking class work and recording marks.  This isn't a difficult task; just time consuming.  I know some teachers can do what I like to call 'speed-marking' but I haven't developed that skill yet.  I like to take my time and make sure that I'm marking everything correctly.

            

For the last two weeks, the delayed sealift vessels have arrived and been offloading large shipping containers onto barges that are then towed to the shoreline.  The towing can only happen during the high tides in the middle of the day.  I'm guessing one of those containers contained all the new furniture that arrived at the high school on Friday, September 21st.  As I was leaving the school to enjoy my weekend, I was surprised to see so many stacked boxes in the main foyer.  The boxes contained new tables, chairs, bookshelves, and desks, all of which were distributed to newly renovated classrooms and the library.    

            

On the evening of September 25th, the high school had its first 'Meet The Teacher Night'.  Wearing black dress pants & shoes, a silver collared shirt, piano tie, and a name tag, I stood with the other teachers in the cafeteria and chatted with parents.  I was expecting to meet the parents of all the students I taught but unfortunately, that did not happen.  Visiting parents & their children were treated to a well prepared reception of caribou stew (I had two servings), bannock, cookies, and juice.  Overall, I think the meetings with parents went quite well. 

            

The last week of September was Nunavut Literacy Week, an event organized by the Nunavut Literacy Council.  The event is designed to promote literacy and to encourage young people to read in Inuktitut, English, and French.  Three school wide activities took place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Monday's activity was having students read for 15 minutes.  On Wednesday, chosen classes had to create posters that showcased what books students' read.  And the most creative activity took place on Friday, where classes were organized in groups of three and engaged in a round-robin of story writing.  My Grade 11 English class had to write a beginning, middle, and end to three different short stories.  Let's just say there were a few hilarious moments.  The activity reminded me of the game Mad Libs. 

            

On Thursday, September 27, the entire high school participated in a garbage cleanup of the school grounds and surrounding area.  My group was assigned an area across the Brown Building.  Armed with black garbage bags and blue plastic gloves, we picked up whatever we could find: pop cans, newspapers, cigarette cartons, chip bags, candy wrappers, and more.  We also found some interesting items, such as: a sweater, suitcase handle, and an iron bar.  When the cleanup was finished, we all headed back inside for hotdogs and juice.  I was glad to see students doing their part in keeping the town clean.

            

On the air cadet front, the squadron staff met the Commanding Officer of the Regional Cadet Support Unit (RSCU) from the Prairie Region.  Lieutenant-Colonel Rob W. Kamphius was touring Nunavut to see what the cadet scene up north looked like.  Due to the recent budget cuts by the federal Conservative Government, the Northern Region (Yukon, Northwest, & Nunavut) has been merged with the Prairie Region (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, & Western Ontario).  The reactions are still a bit mixed because the Prairie Region is not like the North, but there are some benefits to the merger.  The most obvious is that Northern Cadets are now able to compete in Prairie competitions (band, drill, biathlon, sports, etc.), thus giving northern units more exposure and more units to compete with.

            

Moving on to local news, Iqaluit has still been experiencing a few power outages as city workers upgrade the town's power grid.  The good news is that the outages were planned and citizens were given advance notice.  It still would have been nice if the outages did not happen at all, but it's a necessary annoyance considering that the 40 year old power plant & power grid are in need of upgrades.

            

On October 15, Iqaluit residents will be heading to the polls to vote for a new mayor, and to decide whether the city should be allowed to borrow enough money to pay for the construction of a new aquatic centre next to city hall.  The current pool at The Brown Building has become too small for the needs of residents.  It can only hold 35 people and is prone to breakdowns.  The new aquatic centre is designed to accommodate up to 250 people in a 25 metre pool.  There will also be a leisure pool, water slide, fitness centre, larger change rooms, and an Elders Area.  For $40.6 million, I hope the town votes yes.

            

Lastly, the federal government recently announced a pledge of $77 million to improve the Iqaluit International Airport.  The money will partially cover the $250 - $300 million that is needed for the entire project.  The project calls for a new terminal building, expanded aprons, new lighting systems, and an upgraded runway.  Construction is to take place between 2014 & 2017.