Fun and the Games!

Our belated Winter Festival aka Carnival is finally underway! It has been delayed by snow days, report cards, an unexpected sports tournament and then a respiratory virus that is sweeping the community. But we had our first day of fun today, and what a great day it has been!

We started off with four teams. Two teams came into my room and went on a scavenger hunt, in and around the schools. They had to find a pop can that was NOT a Coke or Pepsi can (a hard task indeed, LOL!); they had to find a certain teacher and get a photo with her after asking for her birth onth; they had to get the phone number from teh fuel tank and a photo; they had to build a six-person human pyramid; they had to make a poster that said, "Paatsaali Rocks!" and put it up on our display board, and take a photo of everyone pointing at it; they had to take a photo of one team member in a locker; and all sorts of other fun shenanigans like that. They had a blast!

Meanwhile, in the gym, the other two teams faced off for Keep-away, a sort of dodge-ball form of soccer. Tomorrow the two teams switch places. After recess, we had mini fun games. Some students had to take toilet paper and wrap team members up like mummies. Others had to blow a ping-pong ball across the floor with a straw. (Deb, do you remember 'Survivor' and the frozen peas? Guess where this idea came from, LOL!) Then we had a ball relay where you had to run with the ball between your knees. There was a variation of beer pong with only the pong part as a tournament. There was a frisbee target toss. And so on. A lot of laughter, a lot of cheering, a lot of fun.

In teh afternoon the elementary school came over and we had nine teams build cardboard qamutiik (sleds) which we then took out and raced as a relay. 3 pullers took 2 riders from Nuiyak to Paatsaali, and then 3 other pullers took 2 different riders back to Nuiyak. We only lost one qamutiik, so it went well! Into the gym for a quick frisbee dodgeball game, hot dogs and hot chocolate, and home. The kids were exhausted but all smiling when they left. Everyone had such a good time.

Tomorrow we have the same first activity, as mentioned, and then Inuit games with a stick pull, a one-foot kick, knee jumps, and so on. Then in the afternoon we join schools again to skate, toboggan, or play hockey. The night caps off with a fundraiser with my running girls. We're having a music night, a time of spot dances, a hip-hop contest, a broom dance, and acouple of other games with some gift certificates generously donated by the Northern Store and the Mitiq Co-op. Our canteen will be open and we are charging admission, so it should be a good night for the club. We raised over $800.00 in March alone, excellent for this area! So there may be a trip in June for a race. Our application with Sport Nunavut is currently under consideration for funding and I am keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, and if anyone ares to donate some thing to our auction, if you mail them fast they could arrive in time, LOL! Hint, hint! Box 202...hint, hint! And there are four lovely miniature paintings that I just KNOW someone will want to bid on, say maybe $200.00? Hint! Hint!

And somewhere in all this, we have to move to our new unit, which is lovely and has a HUGE storage area. Huzzah! Well, I can sleep all summer, I guess...catch up on my downtime then. Oh, and four weeks until the Science Fair! Oi vey...

TTFN!

Terri

A return to normalcy...almost!

Sorry that I have been invisible lately. It has been crazy busy! I have a running club that trains with me three times a week, so naturally we fundraise, so naturally I am setting up movies, canteens, baking cookies and so forth at the school all weekend. I have also been working on a professional improvement course, which has taken pretty much all of my remaining free time. What has been leftover has gone to either plans for the Winter Carnival or the upcoming Science Fair. I will need the whole summer off to make up for it, LOL!

Last night was nice. We got a phone call to say that so many people were out ill that school could not open today. So I stayed up until 11:00 pm (a rare occurrence for me). I'm glad I did. Just before I went to bed I peeked out of my bedroom windo to see this...

And that's why I live here! I'm off to school now to run, finish my last AQ assignment and do some marking, and then home to pack for our move to the new unit (it's gorgeous, with TONS of storage space!) so until next time, TTFN!

Terri

Piliriqatigiiniq Conference

It's almost all said and done now. Closing ceremonies tonight, one last session tomorrowand we'll be off to our home in Sanikiluaq. As promised, here is my awful picture meeting my idol, Dr. David Suzuki.

Yay for Dr. Suzuki!!!!

Here's me, outside Inuksuk High School. The rib bones are from a bowhead whale that the community caught this fall.

And of course, the inuksuk that gave its name to the school.

It has been a busy, fun, at times frustrating but always exciting week. My own presentation went extremely well, and I will put on more the next time. As I said at teh start, one last presentation tomorrow and then off to the airport and home...to get snubbed by the cat, no doubt!

TTFN from Iqaluit!

Terri of the North

There's always a hiccup in the north, LOL!

So, the best schemes plans o' mice and men gang aft agley! To whit, we were all set to head to Iqaluit. Oops...blizzard warning...ONLY for Iqaluit! Weather was clear in the ENTIRE remainder of the territory yet Iqaluit got socked in. So. Our flight was first rescheduled as First Air has a plane go mechanical and our flight was diverted on a rescue mission. We were rebooked onto Air Inuit. By the time THEY were ready to head out, the blizzard had hit and we were stranded. So. Grr. But we are much more fortunate than many other towns. Some had only one shot at a flight and will not make it out at all. We are scheduled to leave at 10:00 this morning. To put things into perspective, even Dr. David Suzuki did not make it into Iqaluit.

So, I have my camera at the ready, and I'm all packed and ready to go. YAY!!!!!

TTFN, and I'll write from Iqaluit and the big Piliriqatigiiniq Conference! Oh, and I get to stay at the Frobisher with its fitness centre and movie theatre and restaurants and convenience store and BAR!!!! And I DO plan to raise a glass or two, LOL!

Terri

Just too, too busy...

Sorry, all, I have not posted for a bit. It is CRAZY busy here. My AQ takes a lot of my time, and with report cards, pancake mornings, planning for the conference, registration night and so forth I have not had time to have a second think coming, LOL!

Just one quick post today. I got a pic from Nicky, grade 5, as the town people were chasing the polar bear away from behind the school. Just thought you all might like to see it!

You might need to zoom in a bit, or right-click to save it and view in your "pictures" folder where you can enlarge it. But, cool nonetheless.

One week til Iqaluit and the Piliriqatigiiniq Conference! (And yes, I can pronounce that, LOL!)

TTFN!

Terri

So what's new...

Not too much is new up here, but it is worthwhile keeping the folks at home updated on the happenings in the life of their inveterate arctic explorer.

I have registered for an Additional Qualifications course, so I will be as busy as blazes for the next three months. Since I am teaching Math, I thought it might behoove me to become qualified as a Math teacher! The qualifications requirements are not as stringent here as they might be in larger population centres. The thought is that if you have learned HOW to teach, the WHAT you teach becomes immaterial. Good point. I always felt that, given a text and a curriculum, I could manage my way through any subject. It is reassuring to see that belief reflected in my employer!

I have talked to the boss with regard to moving into a more permanent contract as soon as one comes available. He is delighted! The words were something to the effect of "hitting the jackpot" when I was hired. Yay! Way to make the employee feel appreciated! Colour me a happy Northern camper! :-D

I am also up to my elbows in plans for my seminar presentation at the Piliriqatigiinniq Conference for all Nunavut teachers this February. I plan on running them through many of my hands-on classroom activities, such as my homemade clinometers to show the special tan ratio for a 45 degree angle, my "key" understanding activity for Math "Sign" language, using pizza fractions to have conversion races from improper to mixed fractions, as well as a variety of games like MULTO, Math Snap, Krypto, and the Area game. It will be a very active 90 minutes!

Not like I haven't already planned for enough work to fill the next few months, in addition my roommate and I are busy planning a two-day Winter Carnival for March, complete with Inuit games, an igloo-building competition, ice fishing, scavenger hunts and other fun activities for the two schools. No set date, as it is very weather-dependent and we have certainly had our share of blizzards this year with another one predicted for tomorrow...number 10? 11? I have lost count...I must take a picture of some of the huge snow piles and drifts!

I have re-embarked upon my exercise plan. I am recording my activity and nutrition information on a very helpful site at http://www.fitday.com/. I highly recommend it, as it calculates calories for you, tracks how well you are meeting basic nutrition requirements, and even has a mood and body journalling section. I am using teh gym at lunch to walk/run/stair-climb for 20 minutes each day. Yesterday I did 2 walking/3 running laps for 30 minutes. It felt GREAT!!! (Oh yes, the arthritis medication has arrived, see previous post, LOL!)

And once again, I am already hard at work planning the Science Fair. When we had the grand opening of Paatsaali School, CBC North and APTN News were in attendance. They were fascinated by my magnetic levitating globes and I asked if they would be interested in covering the Science Fair. They said that they would be VERY interested, so I must set a date and get Sanikiluaq into the news in the best possible way, with students having a great time learning how much fun science can be.

I think that this summer, I am going to curl up in a ball and hibernate for two months, LOL! For those who think teachers get too much time off, let me say this: we have put in the extra time busting our behinds for 10 months working crazy hours, so we have definitely earned it! And I definitely enjoy it!

TTFN!

Owwww.....

You know, there is something to be said for the notion of taking it easy in your advancing middle years, which are advancing a lot faster than I planned! I have restarted my exercise program in preparation for the ordering and delivery of my new treadmill. My roommate and I are both planning to watch our eating and put in some serious exercise as we both try to shed pesky, persistent and problematic poundage. I hope to train for a 5K this year, 10K next year, and 20K the year after. So this necessitates my actually getting off my fanny and moving.

Here's where the "Owwwww" comes in. I have, again, forgotten to call and reorder my prescriptions in a timely manner. The arthritis medication can now only be ordered 30 days at a time. I cannot quite seem to coordinate my brain around this fact. So my medication bottle rests empty at my bedside. I have, naturally, decided to push ahead anyway and start working out daily for 20 minutes at lunch time. Stephen and I go into the gym and are doing walk/jog splits as a way to ease back into running. My head is crying, "Yes, yes!" My body is crying, "WHAT IN THE #!**!#! ARE YOU THINKING??!!??" I can barely move today, LOL! I'm determined, though, and have hopes of the 5K/10K Toronto run in August if the school schedule permits.

Who knows? In a few years, I may get to run that marathon after all!

Painfully yours,
Nanook of the North