First Indoor Recess of the Year!

Although the blizzard warning was removed this morning, there were still strong winds and drifting snow.  The schools decided to re-open, as it was forecasting nicer weather by mid-morning, but the bus could not run until then. This meant that most classrooms were only about half full at the start of the day and students trickled in throughout the morning.  The wind was still super strong at recess (making it feel like it was -35 out with lots of blowing snow), thus it was decided that the students would stay inside.

Apparently this was the first indoor recess of the year.  I have been out on duty when it has been this cold before, so am assuming it was due to the drifting snow not the temperature that students were being kept in.  Myself being new to the school, and my practicum teacher only being here for one year himself, did not know what the protocol was for indoor recesses... it had never come up!  We stuck our heads out the classroom door and decided that most teachers were just staying in their classrooms, so we followed suit.  It was apparent that this was a novelty for the students and you could see how much they enjoyed and appreciated the free time within their classrooms.

This afternoon I had the privilege to sit in on two high school classes, a grade 11 social studies class and a grade 9 english class.  I had been informed that generally the attendance rate in high school drops the higher you go in the grades.  I am not sure if it was the day, but this seemed to be true for the classes that I sat in on and witnessed while walking around the school.

In order to help students receive their grade 12 diplomas the high school here in Cape Dorset has made it possible for students to receive partial grade completions.  This means that there are scheduled exams throughout the year and if a student successfully completes that portion of the class and exam, they will receive credit for that part and not have to repeat it later if they stop attending the class for some reason. It is an interesting idea and I am curious to know if there is a positive correlation with individuals receiving their diplomas versus not.