Helenenorth

 Hello Welcome to winter--and I understand old man winter has visited the sunny side of Canada too!! We have just come through a 3 day blizzard with winds of up to 100 miles an hour, blowing snow and drifting snow.  Yes, there is a difference.  Blowing snow is when it is falling and blowing.  Drifting can happen when the wind blows it across the landscape.  All three can happen at the same time making any kind of outdoor activity, including walking, extremely dangerous.  I have no idea how the Inuit of past gone days ever lived or survived here.  Yes, they had the ice houses--but they had to build them--and what kept them warm--not a stick of wood anywhere--so they had to depend on the whale oil or seal oil--not exactly something you could buy at the local Hudson's  Bay Store!!   With school closed on Friday, I invited my Inuit neighbour in for coffee.  She is the kindergarten teacher.  She is about 45, has three children, is d...

 Hello all 12 full school days left or fewer, depending upon the weather--but who is counting!! As always, each day brings tears, delights, frustration and great joy, plus a few surprises. On Monday afternoon, two little girls came in after lunch.  We had launched into a social studies lesson, and the girls were just starting on their seat work, when one child told me that she had seen a man with a black mask on a ski-doo with a hand gun near the back of the school.  She also said that this man was uttering bad words, and pointing the gun at the school windows.  The other little girl agreed.  I immediately called down to the office for the principal--he was their in seconds.  He questioned the girls, and the story was exactly the same, so within 10 minutes, the police arrived, and we were in lockdown.  Not only us, but the whole community.  This lasted for about an hour, and then we were released.  Yes, their was a suspect--but who, what, whe...

 Hello all It is all been a blur since Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, I got the dreaded Covid, and although I had 4 shots, I suffered from an extremely sore throat, runny nose, dry cough and exhaustion.  I was able to go back to work after 5 days, but the cough, stuffy nose and exhaustion have held on.  Fortunately for me, I missed only two days of school---there was bad weather, and illness in the community, so the school was shut down for several days. Now, with Remembrance Day gone, we are in the count down to Christmas.  I have volunteered to organize the Christmas Concert, and it has been fun talking to all staff members about what their plans are.  After 2 years of no concert, the community is looking forward to a big splash.  The grand finale will feature a guitar band of about 10 staff, with the entire staff singing Silent Night and Felice Navidad in Inuktitut, French and English. I have also been invited into more Inuit homes.  Everyone is...

                            Happy Thanksgiving from Grade 3 and Grade 4 English Thanks, Brenna, our teacher support Thanks, Malayia and young brother Hurray, Lydia, all by herself!! And I have a cute video of the children reciting "The Turkey", but I can not figure out how to upload it on this platform.  If you wish to see it, let me know, and I can easily send it to you on messenger. It is beginning to snow, think I  will take a walk. wishing you all love and hope on this Thanksgiving weekend. Helene

 Hello all Another fun filled week with grade 3 and 4.  I was so excited to find some very nice music instruments in the music room.  Brand new tone bells, brand new-machine head ukes, rhythm band instruments, boom whackers, and some Orff instruments.    There is also a big selection of drums, so I can see doing drum circle. My students are ready for music.  They were very attentive, and they totally got the rules.  The instruments are real, they are not toys, and as such, they need to be handled properly.  After singing a couple of rounds, I introduced 5 rhythm instruments, and then we marched around the room to Col. Bogey--my favorite march--you should have seen them--they picked up their feet, stood tall, and kept the beat--with not a word from me.  When the music stopped so did they!!   Today, we had dental program come in--yes those kids need to brush their teeth--you can see after the little experiment they did!!  The vis...

 September 17, 2022 Hello, everyone Another week, and another dollar.  And, I literally mean that!!  By the time I about 1200 dollars in provincial and federal taxes to Quebec, and another huge amount to income tax, I am working pretty much for free!  But, it is not the money that draws me here!!   We are totally engaged in learning now, and it is an uphill battle.  Students still are operating on summer time clocks, and by the time they get to school, they are really not well rested, so by the end of the day, they have had it.  Unfortunately for me, the time table puts all of their academic time with me in the afternoon, so it is really hard work. Fortunately for me, we now have a learning assistance person.  She did the Literacy camp last summer, and is known in the community.  Her background is social work, nevertheless, she is terribly sweet, and a worker, so she is catching on quickly in the education realm.   She comes la...