Hitting the Ground Running

The first two days at the school have been jam packed! Arriving at school between 730-8am and not getting home until after 6pm...and remember I do not have a far commute!  It has been great!  The staff are amazing and very friendly, always checking in to see how I am getting along and fielding my many questions as though they have all the time in the world (they don't! it is a very busy school).

There are about 20 students in my class, mainly grade 3's with a few grade 4's.  There are a number that generally do not come very often.  I have been told that it is rare if not unlikely that I will see a full class during my stay.  They are EXTREMELY active, not wanting to be confined to chairs or desks, but who can blame them!   They definitely have been keeping me on my toes.  Although, I have finally memorized the Inuktitut for 'how old are you, what's your name, and how are you' so this helps.  These are the questions the students seem to love to ask multiple times a day.  They find it hilarious when I attempt to then ask them the questions back, answer in Inuktitut or try to answer yes or no questions using only facial expressions in the traditional Inuit way. I get the impression that they also respect me for trying.

The first day was very interesting as it was parent-teacher interviews.  I was able to sit in on a number of them, which was great as I was then able to meet some of my students parents.  I was not sure what to expect for the interviews, but quickly realized they were not much different from the ones that I had been to during my practicum's in Halifax.

Our school has a couple of after school programs.  One is a 'sports' program which is run by a number of students from the high school. Each day they take a different age group to partake in gym activities.  This program runs daily from 4-6pm, with the students being bused home afterwards. 

Another program, called the "Huskies Program", is run by some of the teachers at our school.  It consists of a small group of students who remain after school until 5pm.  They have free time on the computers and then head up to the weight room which is above the gym in a loft style attic.  The students do 2 minute rotations on the machines and equipment.  Afterwards they gather as a group and take turns telling their classmates what they noticed they did well that day.

I had the opportunity to attend the "Huskies Program" today after school.  It was so great to see the students supporting each other, and I had the opportunity to share what I had been noticing with them as well.

As I sat down with my practicum teacher today to go over our lesson plans for the next couple weeks we quickly realized that due to a number of events coming up at the school (two PD days, half a day assembly and a Winter Carnival) there are actually only 10 teaching days left!!