First Day of School

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

My first official “First day of school” as a teacher is finally over. Even though the schedule was shortened (all classes were condensed into the morning) and the afternoon was filled with games and crafts for the students, I hope not every day is this long. The day started with a whole school assembly. I have never seen an assembly so disorganized (I think mainly because students were not taught assembly etiquette in the past?). Walking in, children were running around the gym, students were listening to iPods, wearing hats and chewing gum. According to the staff, there seems to be no school wide rules. Any rules you want to enforce is up to you. That aside, some teachers and I tried to get all the students to sit down on the floor so the assembly could start. We were successful with the primary students however with the senior students, they continued to stand in the back half of the gym while still wearing their sunglasses, and baseball caps. Even though some things as simple as hats and gum is so strictly enforced back in southern schools, I guess we should be happy that they were even at school to begin with.

Before I continue, you have to understand that schools in these communities have one major issue that has only gotten worse over the years...and its definitely evident in my school. Attendance. As we were told, today is the only day when most students show up. To put it in more concrete terms, attendance at my school was at 68% 15 years ago and as each year went by, that number only got worse. Last year it went down to 51%! So for an average class of 20, it is almost impossible for students to be in the class all at the same time. As the year progresses, more and more students will stop attending and even drop out. This is obviously more evident in the higher grades, which by the end of the school year, you could only have 10 students left in your class. This is one of the biggest issues in education in Nunavut. Imagine planning lessons to only having half your class show up? Luckily, fingers crossed, I’ve been told that the attendance for my class is fairly consistent and that most of my students are regular attendees.

Overall, I got a pretty good impression of the students in my class. Some quiet ones and some not so quiet ones, but still well behaved and had caught on quickly on some of the procedures and routines I was trying to enforce. Having given them a short writing task that involved listing some of their favourite things (food, book, colour, things to do, etc) I was evident the students who had difficulty with English. Even though for most of the time their spoken English is understandable, many had trouble spelling words. For example, words like fish, pizza, and soccer were some words students needed assistance from me with spelling. On the opposite end, some students had no problems finishing that writing task. This is definitely a mixed ability group...one that consists of students far below grade level and some not far from grade level. I wish I bought resources more appropriate for the Grade 2-3 level. That put aside, the students were all smiles, enthusiastic and excited to learn. Even though there were times when they seemed quiet or shy to participate in class, I’m sure they will eventually open up to me in class. Just like how they have no problems coming up to me outside of school to strike up conversations.