Residential+Schools+Feedback

Post Face-to-Face Meetings comments
To the Brave and Courageous teachers, qujannamiik, quana, mahsi cho, thank you, merci, for your input, hard work and dedication to this process. Liz.

I wanted to thank everyone for their contributions last week, and during the pilot. You have broken some new trail for northern, and Canadian, educators. We have already been incorporating many of your suggestions in the revised version of the unit that will go into publication this summer. We will be meeting with the Legacy of Hope archive and design people in a week or so to begin that work.

I have put my mailing address on the 'Contact info' wiki page. I would appreciate receiving your student surveys as soon as you have completed the unit. These will be important signposts for what impact the unit is having with northern students.

We look very much forward to involving as many of you as possible in the in services being planned for October 2-4. We will continue to be in touch about that.

In the meantime, we hope the rest of your school year goes exceedingly well, and wish you a wonderful summer break after the hectic work of year-end that is fast approaching.

John - on behalf of the working group.

//Ken, Liz, John, Heather and I met to incorporate all your changes...then with the help of Heather...I've spent the last week doing the nitty-gritty and going back over all the notes. I really feel the document is much stronger because of the hard work you have all put in. It has been such a pleasure to work with such a dedicated group. I'm now on my way to Ottawa to meet up with John and the Legacy of Hope team to make it even better (images, design etc.). We'll be in touch!// //Mindy//

This page will provide pilot teachers with a place to give their reactions to, suggestions for and examples of their experiences with students during the pilot unit activities. They are organized by Activity.

This is a protected wiki site. Only the pilot teachers and Teacher Advisory Committee members can access it, and we hope, therefore, that you'll feel free to provide frank feedback in a timely way that will benefit both those of us responsible for modifying the unit, and other pilot teachers who may be a lesson behind you to to anticipate what might happen or come out of a lesson, and how they can profit from your experiences and troubleshoot any challenges.

Thanks in advance for your contributions !!!

[To input your comments, touch 'edit' button, then click your cursor within the cell beside your name and type your comments. If you have a digital photo, work document, pdf etc to attach, use 'file' button above.]

with Mindy/Liz || = Next teleconference = = April 17. 4 pm MT = || //at home 867-699-3228 - done// || Teleconf || //my home number. I am on holidays then. done// || Mtgs ||
 * ~ Teacher Feedback ||~  ||~   ||
 * || Time/Date for first contact
 * Joanne McHugh || //Thursday Apr. 5th 10am 867-445-1508 done// ||  ||
 * Scott Willoughby || //Tuesday April 3rd done// || Go to ||
 * Frank Isherwood || //Thurs. Apr. 5th 2:30 phone # at school 588 4361 done// || Contact ||
 * Michelle Gordon || //Thurs. March 29 4:00 867-371-4228 home done// || Info ||
 * Laura MacKinnon || //Thursday morning 867-699-3131 or Thursday after 4pm//
 * George Hill || //Any time next week by calling 1 - 867 - 561 - 5027,//
 * Charlene Patterson || //Monday April 2nd at 11am 18678574223 (work) OR 857-4388 (home) anytime after 5pm done// || Page ||
 * Jay McKechnie || //Wed. March 28 4:00 867 899 8864 (school) - done// || for Agenda, etc. ||

Parent Letter Examples - Please attach a copy of the one you used to help us design 'the best' one
[To post a Word - or other- document, go to the top of the page and click on the 'Edit' button. Once you're in edit mode (the whole wiki page sort of changes to a different look and feel), click your cursor in the right space in the 'Post your parent letter here' column in the little table I've created just below this message. Then put your cursor up on the little green box in the menu bar at the top of this page that says 'file'. When you click that it will ask you to upload the file you want to attach. Double click the upload button and it gives you a window that allows you to hunt in your computer for the file you're looking for. Once you find the file, double click it, and it will begin to load up. Once it has, double click on the file and voila - your document should appear in the table. Remember to hit 'save'.]

= Pre and post unit personal inventory/survey = Hi there. This is the survey that Jackie forwarded. It is for you to complete - for yourself - twice. Once now/as you're beginning the unit, and once when you're finished the unit. While some of us may be pretty sure we've 'seen and heard it all before', as you engage with some of the issues related to residential schools, you may be affected in ways you are unaware of. We will be talking about, working with, this tool at our May meetings. Don't post your surveys here, but print them off and bring them with you to the May meetings.
 * ==Pilot Teacher== || ==Post your parent letter here== ||
 * Joanne || [[file:St Pats parent letter.pdf]] ||
 * Scott ||  ||
 * Frank ||  ||
 * Michelle || [[file:NST Pilot Parent Letter.doc]] ||
 * Laura || [[file:Deh Gah pilot letter.doc]] ||
 * George || [[file:Taloyoak Netsilik School.doc]] ||
 * Charlene || [[file:pilotlettertoparents.doc]] ||
 * Jay ||  ||

To fill out the survey, you go to column 'A'. Fill out using the scale from 0 to 5. Then go to Column B - Your answers have been calculated and some feedback given. Please save a version from 'now' and we'll get you to do another one at the end of the pilot.



The Residential School System in Canada: A Backgrounder
(This feedback if from your own reading of the backgrounder- what __for you__ stood out?)

//Hi George...Mindy here. I do think we need a better northern section in the backgrounder. I'll look for powerful quotes to put in 'did you know' sort of boxes. The quotes from people are definitely throughout the rest of the unit but we should bring a bit more into the backgrounder for sure. It's a balance as if it is too long I'm not sure people will read it. If you have specific quotes that you come across that you want to suggest, let me know. Thanks.// || //Hi Charlene, Mindy here...excellent idea for bringing it more current. I'll start working on that right now.// || I also was thinking about the complexities and subtleties regarding the transition from shamanism to Christianity. It seems clear that there was a huge amount of trust, or fear, regarding the opinions of the Church. During the the early stages of the residential school process, this element of trust / fear would have made this an easy enterprise to convince Inuit to participate in. "Good faith" is such an interesting dynamic of colonization. For Nunavut social studies, our Gr. 10 course is taking the shape of a study of colonization. It would be a tricky, sensitive, and potentially problematic module for some communities, but it seems that an indepth study of Inuit conversion to Christianity would really help to round out this course. Specifically for Nunavut, as the conversion to Christianity has some very unique elements. All this to say, I thought the background info was helpful, a good resource and enlightening. ||
 * ~ Your Feedback on the Backgrounder. What was powerful? What would you add? What might you change or drop? ||
 * || Add your comments here. Use 'edit' button. Make sure to 'save' regularly, and before you logout ! ||
 * Joanne ||  ||
 * Scott || I used this document to introduce the whole unit of residential schools. The topic is new to quite a few students in my class so I found the information useful to set the stage and get some of the facts across. The students listened quietly but they really didn't get into any deep conversation yet. The residential school issue is a change of gears from what I have been doing up to this point in the class. ||
 * Frank || There was a lot of very useful information in your essay "A Backgrounder". I did feel there was a lack of information though on the role that the churches played in this chapter of our history. The motives of the government were explained very clearly but not the motives of the various churches. ||
 * Michelle ||  ||
 * Laura ||  ||
 * George || I found this section very powerful. It reinforced exactly how far the Canadian government was willing to go to eradicate the Aboriginal people as an ethnic group with in Canada. Comments on the diseases that were introduced, the number of facilities used as schools, and the actions taken to prevent parental contact proves this. Would it be possible to add things to this section such as quotes from people who went to them. How about an abbreviated story about the burning down of the residential school at Cross Lake?
 * Charlene || The notion of "taking the Indian out of the child" really sunk in...and getting rid of the "Indian problem" really highlighted the government's design during that time. The 'intergenerational trauma' piece was powerful and the explanation about 'truth and reconciliation commission' and it's purpose creates appropriate background and can be used when establishing context for why the students are learning this when introducing the course to them. I probably would not end with the Metis Experiences but rather re-work it into the Conditions and Mistreatment section or create its own box, like the 'In the North' section. I recommend ending the backgrounder with where we are 'now.' Perhaps, highlighting the current schooling situation for most Aboriginal students in Canada today and where we have evolved to as a result of the residential, and reconciliation process would be fitting???
 * Jay || I had no idea the breadth and distribution of residential schools across Canada. For Nunavut, I was aware of Chesterfield Inlet and Churchill, but not Pond Inlet! I was really surprised to see the amount of schools on Baffin.

Activity 1: Life with our family
(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || My student brought in a spear for fishing --> || Tech was easy to use & set up || I like Charlene's idea of making a table. I definitely use one next time. || I put the first activity into an ActivInspire flipchart. //Hey there. I'm keen to see this critter, but can't open it. Any other format/software you can send this in ? John// //Me too Laura....I can't open it. Mindy// || helped them pay attention. || The seasonal round was useful in focusing their attention on how people were tied to the land but my students had already competed a version of this activity in our "staking the claim' module a couple weeks ago, so I could not spend too much time with it, for fear of overkill. The audio clips left them all wanting to go to their cabins, hunt, fish, and dry nipku....they appreciated the simplicity and beauty of life pre-residential schools through this activity. The audio allowed the course to start on a positive note which was nice. || no issues, the audio files were good and the kids enjoyed them. The sound effects made them laugh, helped them recall effectively later, and imagine the peacefulness associated with being on the land. ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** || Student recognized relative's voice, another student offered to bring in a spearhead (like in Piita's story). Students recognized Muriel Betsina ||  || The audio was very useful - I paused after each speaker, and we discussed what they had said about living on the land. It would be nice to have a blown up colour version of the seasonal round.
 * **Scott** || There is a fairly small percentage of aboriginal students in the class so the audio was interesting but I found it hard to make a connection to the lives of many of the students. It became a bit more of a history activity which worked well. It can be hard for some students to imagine waht life could have been like before computers and ipods. ||  || After each recording we stopped and had a converstaion about the details or the perspectives in the audio. It worked well. || No problems at all. ||
 * **Frank** || Lesson # 1: All went well. A lot of positive comments from teachers and some students with regard to the Timeline wall hangings. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **Michelle** || Quite a few of my students knew who Muriel Betsina was in the audio clip, so that helped to make a connection with them right from the beginning. Showing them on the map where each of the speakers were from in realtion to ourselves, also helped to peak their interest. ||  || I found this to be a postive activity to start this unit, the students were fairly engaged in the topic. The students found it a little difficult to decipher the difference between late fall/fall and late spring/spring, but that was minor. Activity took longer than 30 minutes, which was fine considering it was engaging and positive. || [[image:northernstudies20-30development/DSCN0097.JPG width="175" height="131" caption="Our Seasonal Round"]] ||
 * **Laura** || The first lesson went very well. I invited an elder from the community to come in and share her experiences of life before residential school. She began her lesson with prayer and a smudging, which was really powerful for both myself and the students. A really nice start to the unit. She talked to our class for about an hour, and the students were extremely respectful and engaged. ||  || I played the audio files to the students before our elder arrived. This was helpful in preparing the students for Margret's arrival. I think it made the opportunity to listen and speak to one of their own elders that much more meaningful (after hearing the other stories on the land). We completed the class seasonal round today. The students really enjoyed remembering Margret's visit.
 * **George** || Activity #1 - Went very well with my class. The students were glued to the material as it was being presented. It was interesting to see their reactions to the speakers. ||  || Using the "Seasonal Round" was a good idea. It allowed all of the students to become involved. This really helped the weaker students feel that their contributions were valuable. || I am not that proficient with the projector and smart board so I had a few problems with them. However, these were easily worked out. ||
 * **Charlene** || Although, my students did not know who the speakers were, they did connect with Piita Irniq as they could tell he was an Inuk. His mentioning of legends really sparked an interest in my students and led to a fun discussion about how even if legends were fictional, it was and still is an important teaching tool for parents when educating children about right and wrong. || I created a table so they could record their notes about each speaker as they listened. It
 * **Jay** ||  ||   || [[file:The Seasonal Round.doc]] ||   ||

Activity 2: Being Taken Away
(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || At this stage I don't think that the students see the possible connection of Residential schools to their lives. Will look to see if this changes over the course of the unit. ||  ||   || Clearly mention which disc the audio or video clip is on. || Our Brainstorm || have a parent and a grandparent who have personal stories about being sent away to residential schools. //Hi Charlene, Liz here. Did you notice how the 2// //students (////who have family members that went to RS) reacted? And the reactions of the other students? It sounds like you did an amazing job with the beginning of this.// //They were very a matter of fact about it. As time went on, it seemed more students came forward about knowing someone and wanted to share what tidbits they knew of that person's experience to add to whatever idea was being discussed at the time..it helps when you have a keen bunch of students who want to explore the topics.// || Good selection and nice to see multi-leveled books. One student took a novel and the rest were eager to get a 'true story' but easy book. || After I read it to them, they wanted to know if Shi-shi-etko would remember right away...which suggested interest to me. They were pretty anxious to get their own book. However, I will have to allot time for them to get their books read and a review written...for sure. || //Mindy here...I'm hoping to see some reviews up on Amazon or something...so that your students will see other students reading the same books.// //What do you think about doing a review of Shi-shi-etko together as a model...and posting that up as a group so that they learn how to do it for their own book?// //Mindy, we can do that.// //PS. Sorry I missed the call today, I had to be in two other meetings...I'll be in touch.// ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** || Good discussion around the purpose of residential schools (assimilation, "Indian problem", land claims). We discussed the books available - did a quick review of each one, students will pick on Monday (16th) || Documentary - "Fallen Feather" - watched clips about the background of residential schools and how they came to be. An interesting piece that worked well after the brainstorm. || Students enjoyed the story, and some shared their family histories (i.e. my grandmother went, my mom has a gambling problem) ||  ||
 * **Scott** || I read out the story of Shi-she-etko to the class. The style of the book was for younger students but the message worked perfectly. We had a discussion about children being taken away but for many of the students this idea is new so they have not really got their minds around the issue. || I felt that, for a number of reasons, the students weren't really engaged by the books. The resources are great, maybe I didn't push enough or it was the timing. To try and get the impact of children being taken away we watched a movie called Where the Spirit Lives. It is from Alberta but it seemed to address many of the issues really well. On another note, I taught From Leshamie last year to an english class and found the book amazing. I wish I could do a whole novel study in this class but we don't have the time. || We have missed a few classes the last few weeks so I'm falling behind on the activities. Tomorrow we will watch the Federal Apology and try to move along through the pilot. ||  ||
 * **Frank** || Lesson # 2: All went well. I've decided to add 15 minutes of silent reading time each class to promote the reading of the books that were sent along.
 * **Michelle** || By the end of the //Shi-shi-etko// and our brainstorm, some of the students felt comfortable enough to share some of their personal family experiences. || The students were excited to pick out their books to read. A nice variety for them, especially for some of the lower readers and the hit and miss attenders. || This activity was definitly a 180 from Activity 1. It was set up very well, but found I had to take a couple breaths, so I didn't choke up. || We had no tech problems[[image:northernstudies20-30development/DSCN0100.JPG width="180" height="117"]]
 * **Laura** || I could tell //Shi-Shi-etko// was a little emotional for a couple of the students so I decided to have students respond in their journals. We did talk about how well Shi-shi-etko's parents handled the fact that their daughter was leaving. The students appreciated that her parents did not talk about what life would be like at school, but instead focused on remembering life at home. Students were very open about brainstorming residential school. || Three of my eight students chose the novel //My Heart Shook Like a Drum.// The fact that they chose this novel really shows me they are very interested in learning more! || I agree Michelle - there were a couple of times where I paused to avoid tearing up (even though I had already read the book). || [[file:Activity 2.flipchart]] ||
 * **George** || The book was an excellent choice for my students. All of the class was able to follow along easily. After reading it, we had a general discussion about being taken away from your family. We wrote the student's answers on the board. || All of the students were eager to pick out a book to read. again, it was interesting to see what they chose to read. || After the reading the students were asking our SSA if she went to Residential School and if so, was it like this. She did not go to one. || It was easier o use the projector and which files were clearly marked. ||
 * **Charlene** || It came out that 2 of my students
 * **Jay** || Like Michelle, students began to share stories of their family members who had been to residential school. ||  || Students initially thought it was little childish to be reading these books, but I told them to enjoy story time and that things were going to get intense pretty quick, so just enjoy they story and think about what you already know about residential school. ||   ||

Activity 3: Through the Lens of the Federal Apology
(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || I really like the CBC clip - it gets the whole idea across beautifully. ||  ||   ||   || It was difficult to get them to work in groups and argue out which apology was most important I do hope that improves over time. I felt that the responses of the aboriginal leaders was very important for our students to hear. I felt more focus on these speeches would be a good addition, not just to have it as an extension. ||  ||   ||   || It is important to make them discuss and explore the root of their anger. I agree, I'm not sure the students even understand why they feel this way. I would say its a combination of factors, much of which is attached to and borrowed from the lingering pain and effects of past school experiences. Many parents who are not supportive of education have a real reason for their resistance. It's important to embrace being a qallunaaq and use it as an opportunity to address racism and discrimination and remind them that they must take responsibility for this type of behavior, despite cultural background. They should be learning to judge an individual on his/her actions as a human being not based on a stereotype of a larger group. Its our job to remind them of this when they've been misled. The apology led my students into a dialogue about long lasting effects and how it has translated to the poor socioeconomic situation of many aboriginal communities. Interestingly, though, they also talked about the educated Inuit leaders who went on to fight for aboriginal rights and ended up granting them their land claims, many of which were former residential students. It is our job to empower them and encourage them to get their education so they can change the world any way they see fit. My class started counting how many times Stephen Harper said he was "sorry," I think they got the message. ||  || I tend to push the conversation to the point where the student gets frustrated and gives up their argument, but I have always engaged with these comments with a sense of understanding, and at times, I take it with grain of salt. But now as I begin to teach this module, I feel the necessity to stop this abuse of teachers. I tell students, "you know, when you say things like that, you are not hurting me (as this is what I generally perceive to be the intent of these comments), but you are actually putting yourself and your culture down by essentially saying that Inuit are not as smart, strong, or capable as Qallunaat." If there is anything that I have taken from my time so far with this module is that we all have, as Canadians, an obligation to move forward and do what we can to help in the communal healing process. I understand their anger, I want to know why they're angry, I respect their attempt to resist the dominant culture, I want to teach them about the things they SHOULD be angry about, and I want to work together as a class to find solutions to the issues. I will always challenge the students to learn about the issues and not to simply receive and own their anger as an agent of the colonizing institution. I represent the colonizing institution, but I am working to help subvert the institution along with my students. It seems slightly ironic to get angry at the person that is teaching them a module on residential school. The process of colonization is not yet over, and it will never be over if our students, and country, do not fully understand the legacy of colonization. || I did not have the actual video of the apology during this lesson, so I handed out the transcripts and read it to the class. I showed them the actual video a could of days later and the students found it really powerful. I stopped it after the PM said sorry in the different languages and discussed the huge importance of this moment. Very cool! ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Scott** || This lesson worked really well and seemed to have an impact t on the students. Because so many of my students are recent northerners I have had an hard time trying to get a reaction or make a connection to the students. This one seemed to have worked, After the last two lessons most of the students felt the apology was appropriate and sincere. In past years students said things like "why would the government appologize - it wasn't their fault" or "things should just be left in the past, why go on about it now?" But I didn't hear any of those types of responses. The students were more of the thought that of course the government should apologize after everything that happened.
 * **Frank** || Lesson # 3: I didn't find that 60 min. was enough time to accomplish the various assignments. I believe 90 min. would be more appropriate.
 * **Michelle** || With more time, it would have been nice to get someone in from the community to discuss how important this apology was and what it meant to people of the community. ||  || Lesson was good and easy to follow || Didn't take long to figure out, but it can be a bit confusing of which cd we are dealing with what activity. ||
 * **Laura** || We had a great discussion on apologies. All students agreed that apologies are useful when sincere and lead to change. Interestingly, after watching the Stephen Harper video the immediate reaction was that the apology meant nothing ("it was just a bunch of words"). I asked the students if they remembered watching the apology with their families in 2008 and they did. There was very little conversation about the apology in my students' households. After analyzing Stephen Harper's words a little more carefully and especially after watching the National, my students began to realize just how significant this apology was. We talked about how it can be difficult to accept an apology on a topic that has caused so much pain, and that accepting an apology does not make what happened in the past ok. || The students found the Stephen Harper apology a little long. In hindsight I would have given them question one to work on while watching the video. || //Just a question...how much of the video were you guys showing? I only meant at this point to watch the Prime Minister's part...which is 13 minutes...should we be isolating some parts of it?// ||  ||
 * **George** || This clip was rather long and at times boring for the students. However, their attention really picked up when Mary Simmon spoke and they saw Piita Irniq on the screen. The students asked a number of questions about the BQ leader. None of my students remember watching it on TV. They also found it interesting that Harper asked various Aboriginal people to help with his speech. ||  || Most of my classes are only 45 minutes long. I would like to have my class at the first period of the afternoon. This way I would have a full hour. ||   ||
 * **Charlene** || They love Mary! || watching the federal apology was effective and we watched the whole thing. || Jay, interesting dialogue with your kids.
 * **Jay** ||  ||   || Lateral violence is a huge issue in our communities. I had an incident during this lesson which led me to a a mini lecture on "anger and colonialism" the following day. At times there is intense anger displayed towards the school and teachers from our students. I spoke at length about the legacy of colonization and the effects of peoples perceived feelings of powerlessness. I, like many others, are at times blamed for the problems in Nunavut and our communities. Statements like "its becasue you're Qallunaat!", occur several times throughout the courses I teach. These comments are made for several different reasons and contexts, but they all share the same feelings of anger and resentment. When I try to examine the source of these feelings, it is no surprise that the students often have no idea where their feelings are coming from. They know things have happened in the past that have damaged Inuit culture and that it has something to do with Qallunnat. So where does it come from? Parents? The radio? Rap music?

Activity 4: Apologizing for What ?
(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || The units seem to be unfolding quite nicely. ||  ||   ||   || Wasn't sure about the answer to ques #4. I guess I just missed it on the video. || //Frank...thanks for reminding me of the importance of a teacher answer key. I'll be sure to put one in the final document.// || Overall, the students had a different feeling after they watched the video...the conversations that the images provoked were necessary. || Our Elder. || It took a longer then I expected but was one of those lessons that I could not rush. It really does help widen their perspective on the residential school experience, life before, during and after. ||  || Students were really moved by what happened to earlier generations at residential school. One student asked "why can't we just forget about it?" Certainly this echoes the general attempt of aboriginal communities, and the rest of Canada for that matter, in the past to //try// to forget in order to move on. This is a great question and an obvious teachable moment. Trying to forget has been the only option when our communities are faced with a lack of resources to aid in the healing process. We discussed the issues of Pond Inlet and made connections to the pain and issues that occurs when we "try to forget". || I created a chart activity to synthesize the information we have discussed so far in this module. I wanted to bring together all the information students already knew about residential school, new information we have learned, and what they are currently thinking about, and any other concerns or ideas. I drew a chart on the board with the following categories: Individual / Family's / Community's / General I gave them a focus question for each topic and gave them time to fill in the chart individually. We then filled in the chart as a class on the board with the students info. I supplemented the chart with information from "The RSS and Its Impacts Discussion Guide" to ensure that all the necessary information was included and to reinforce what the students had contributed. Excellent activity! || Where are The Children? (video) We had a great discussion as a result of this video. The students demonstrated very good comprehension of the issues present in the video. ||  ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Scott** || I found that the video Where are the Children? really engaging. While I was watching it I heard that the first residential school in Canada was in my home town in Ontario and it ran for years and years. I googled it and heard some horror stories. I find it surprising that the students in YK don't know more about the issue. But I grew up in my hometown and didn't know anything about this residential school so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We had an interesting conversation and the worksheet worked well.
 * **Frank** || A very useful unit to have students begin to see the possible connection between the effects of residential schools and the issues that face them in their community. ||  || I felt that 60 min. was again too short. I did squeeze it in though. Didn't feel I had enough time to discuss the impt. questions of 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9. It was difficult to get the students engaged in a discussion.
 * **Michelle** || Found also with this assignment that I had run short of time; I needed to stop the video clip multiple times to discuss important parts. Students were engaged with the video clip, a lot of them haven't really had to think about what the losses and affects of res. school are || We went through the questions together and had great conversation throughout, but with that takes up more time. I thought our conversation was more valuable at the time and didn't want to rush it. ||  ||   ||
 * **Laura** || The students were engaged in the video. We did have to stop and start the video a couple of times for discussion. I agree that this video was useful in making the connection of residential school and current issues in the community. ||  || We may have went slightly over the 60 min mark, but not by much. Perhaps because my students are a little older? ||   ||
 * **George** || This was an interesting Activity. However, I found that at times the students had trouble following along with the speakers and trying to answer the worksheet. We had to stop and start the video a number of times. We had a bit of a problem, at the beginning, to get the sound in English. || The students had many questions after the video. This lead to great discussions. it is great to see the class animated. || I felt rushed at times. I would have liked to have more time for the discussions. ||  ||
 * **Charlene** || The students were surprised to see a hostel in our area which led to our elder Reverend, Mike Gibbons, who comes to my class regularly, to talk to them about a school that was set up here in the 50s. He told them that it was not led by missionaries but by some local people, Inuit included...which I found surprising.
 * **Jay** || Where are The Children? (video)

Activity 5: Identity
(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || We started with the info and I broke this activity into 3 stations/groups of 4... 1) Identity overview...I just copied and pasted it and gave them a handout 2) Going to school-gave them the hand out 3) The destruction of Identity notes After 20 min, we got back together as a group, everyone got the three handouts and we discussed their findings, with me filling in the gaps. They got alot out of it. The second class we read Eva's story, which I recommend doing immediately after the audio file "going to school" because the stories left my kids feeling very melancholy. Eva Aariak helped them see that not all students had a horrific experience, which was good for ending on a positive and hopeful note. || We found the first translation hard to follow and a bit confusing as they could hear the speaker in the background. -also by the end of the period, the "hmmmm" had become a big problem for my class..they started responding to me that way...The only saving grace was it lightened the mood and made them laugh a little...but I admit it took away from the seriousness of what the speaker was saying and started to become a source of distraction. -time was an issue for this one...there was alot more here then it seemd. || When these issues come up as a class, it always allows GREAT for teachable moments. This tension is why I really wanted to start this difficult topic with a discussion on identity. Because really, this is what it is all about for youth, who are Inuit, sitting in a southern institution. ||  || I began our study of residential school's with this unit. I found the interviews to be very powerful and that they really got the students engaged with the topic. The students found it really easy to connect to the individuals in the interviews and with the issues they discussed. The students were quiet and reflective. Lots of really good questions came from this activity: - Why do they still use the Indian Act? -What would have happened if there was no residential school? Excellent lesson! ||  ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** || We discussed how schooling has changed, even in our student's time. We discussed how living at home helps to keep people connected to family and traditions. || Cold Journey, NFB || An interesting discussion about identity - what does it mean? How does it develop? I have an interesting video from NFB that is out of circulation ( Cold Journey ) that tells the story of a young aboriginal man not knowing where his place is anymore - I can take it to our meeting. I think I would show this in the future. || The pictures didn't photocopy so well, I put them up on the proxima to help, still kinda dark. ||
 * **Scott** || Because we had a short class the day of this activity, things went a little differently. We read Eva's story which led us to a conversation about some of the positive aspects of residential schools. It seems that Eva recieved a solid education, wasn't completely cut off from her culture and ended up as the Premier of Nunavut. Beside our High School here in Yellowknife we used to have a residential school called Akaitcho Hall and many of the past residents have positive memories about the school. Sometimes it is hard for students to reconcile some of the positive perspectives with so many of the negative perspectives involved in the whole issue. It becomes quite complicated. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **Frank** ||  ||   || We are beginning to have more discussion about this topic. This is likely due to the students reading and learning more about residential schools. || I was not able to complete this activity in 60 min. Will need another 30 min. ||
 * **Michelle** || Ran out of time on this activity, was unable to get through all of the pictures. ||  || Can really see how the students are progressing and understanding this idea of loss and what was lost, identity. Starting to have some great conversations come out of these activities. || The audio was hard to get the students engage in. The students were extremely distracted by the 'hmmm' from the lady in the background. We eventually had to just stop and discuss some of the quotes that were taken from the clip. ||
 * **Laura** || The students were very engaged and really enjoyed looking at the pictures. Definitely lead to some good discussions. They particularly enjoyed discussing question #2 "Is this the same child or two different children?" ||  ||   || I agree with Michelle that the lady in background was very distracting to the students. I would highly recommend removing her "hmmm" sounds if possible. ||
 * **George** || The students enjoyed looking at the pictures. They were able to quickly note the difference and make the connection with loss of culture. Most of my class still has a strong connection with the land and their culture so the feeling of loss of culture is not that strong. ||  || The students are opening up during the discussion and ask more questions. They are also making more comments regarding what they are seeing and what they are reading. It is good to see this growth. ||   ||
 * **Charlene** || The elder in our class told them that Arviammiut did not have to wear uniforms at the schools but were forced to removed their traditional caribou clothes because of the "bugs," He was referring to lice, and also said this was the same reason they cut everyone's hair. He mentioned it as being a practical fact but acknowledged that the kids who did not know why this was happening could have been naturally scared. ||  || I swtiched it up a bit.
 * **Jay** || Identity is a topic students struggle with day-to-day being in school. Even though our school is very rich in Inuit culture, there is still a general feeling among the students that they are losing their culture just by sitting in the classroom.

Activity 6: Colonial Policies: NOTE: JAY suggested including the transcripts of the audio files...I've included them as word files...see below...
Francois Paulette Transcrip || || Stephen Kakfwi Trancript || ||
 * Transcripts for audio files ||  ||
 * File 1
 * File 2

(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || Do to mid term exams I was only able to complete the audio files in a 70 min class but will resume the lesson Apr 20th. || ** Someone else must have posted in my block - I didn't write this entry. || "civilized," "reservations," "citizenship,"half-breeds," etc. || I started with a few notes on the board to give them cultural and political context about laws and policies that emerged (#6). I went straight into 'The Power of Words' and reviewed terms they had already been introduced to, like "assimilation," and then focused their attention to some of the new ones, "enfranchisement, " "eurocentric," "paternalism," and "genocide." I felt this was a good lead into the discussions that followed...they were interested. We read the excerpts...then picked the momentum back up by breaking off into 4 stations, I merged the two audio stations into one. They summarized their findings and got up and wrote out their key points so they could jigsaw their information (the timeline, John A essay, and audio files) so students could complete their station sheets. They took pride in doing this and were fairly organized and anxious to take turns writing on the board. It was an awesome class! We luckily had a guest speaker (teacher from an inter-city school in Edmonton with a predominantly First Nations student body) who was up visiting our school for the week. He discussed the difference in Inuit and First Nation mentality, lifestyle, and residual effects of Residential schools. He told them how his students still outright call the teachers "assimilators," and express daily bitterness and outright hate towards teachers. He highlighted how many kids from the reserves have resentment towards other aboriginal groups based on how settlement money was distributed between groups and are regularly fired up about it. He really hit home when he pointed out to my students how they are such a testament for moving forward and the necessity in that. He told them they should feel proud of how strong Inuit culture still is, how many of them still speak Inuktitut, know and are learning from elders, love to hunt and plan to continue their traditions with their children someday and just how preserved and accessible their culture still is to them. They agreed. It was really eye-opening for my students to hear about many First Nations youth and elders not being able to speak Cree, and having become entirely disconnected from their aboriginal heritage. The students immediately made the connect to Inuit not signing treaties and how their lives would have been even more endangered had they chose to give up their titles to ancestral land. It was a super intense discussion and made my kids tune into the fact that not all aboriginal groups can be put under the same umbrella in terms of what happened with residential schools and how they are all dealing with it today in their own unique realities. || Excerpts were painful. (wordy and confusing) We left out the sessional reports as we ran out of time. There was a lot of great info here but information overload for the time we had. || Even to be able to hand them our after listening to them. A more friendly ESL vocabulary for the Historical Excerpts would be helpful. I do however, after trying myself, the difficulty in doing this as the essence of the terms are complicated. But perhaps a simple one liner of each term would be useful as quick reference for the students. I did make an activity for the students to complete before we did the Historical Excerpts where students were asked to define: assimilation, colonize, racism, stereotypes, and paternalism in the way they understand them. The only word that was new to them, in the sense they had never heard me say it before, was paternalism, so I explained it briefly. On this activity I also included a political / cultural context paragraph for their info. Once they completed this, we discussed their ideas / definitions and had a good discussion on these key terms which was very helpful before we moved into the Historical Excerpts. This idea came from the introduction section of the activity. || Kakfwi (audio) An excellent narrative on RS. Very clear, concise, articulate, and told at the perfect pace for students to listen to and understand. A very powerful audio file with the singing and drumming. A very reflective and intelligent story. Paulette (audio) Shock & Awe indeed! "Language is what unlocks their past" is a very strong message for our students. Mittimatalikmiut are very strong in their language. This is one issue I face as a social studies teachers in an isolated communities: the difficulty creating a social context to reinforce the strength of our students language and cultural awareness. It is hard to talk about the integrity of the culture when they tend to take certain things for granted. When Paulette is discussing the complete annihilation of some tribes as a result of colonization, it is hard for some students to conceive of this as the process has unfolded in a completely different manner for Inuit in the high arctic. "What do you mean some Inuit don't speak Inuktitut?" "If you don't speak Inuktitut, you're not Inuk" are some of the comments / questions we have discussed in class. Just like contact came slow to the high arctic, globalization is also at a slow trot. Both audio files are well matched and work really well together. //Jay...I remember when I used to be a facilitator for Northern Youth Abroad in its early days...we would have youth from Kuguluktuk and Cambridge Bay (where not one youth speaks Inuinnaqtun) and inevitably the students from the east would say exactly that...you're not a real Inuk. There would be many tears. I used a video called, The Copper Inuit where there are elders in their 80's who speak English and the kids from the east would all be shocked...we would talk a lot about identity.// The audio files (2), Timeline, and Essay all worked really well together. It led to a great discussion on the cultural / political context of colonization around the world. We talked about Africa and the mess that ensued there as result of this time period, and I had the great question: "I thought the word //aboriginal// was only used in the Americas?" I finished working on the Historical Excerpts section of this activity. The actual readings are very difficult for the students to understand. So, it was 100% teacher guided. I read them to the class, and then went through the Power of Words questions as a class. I asked many "guiding questions" in order to come up with the proper answers. The texts are very useful to help create the political / cultural context. I don't know what else one could do to really enter the historical excerpts. The very essence of the language and tone (when read by the teacher) really adds to the atmosphere of political leaders attempting to destroy aboriginal culture. I don't think I gave them the answers, but I defiantly led them in the right direction. I asked the students if this was worth while, if if helped to understand the historical context. They said it was really hard to understand the readings, but our discussion and my questions / comments helped to understand the content of the excerpts. || I did not have the Wall Mounted Timeline for this activity, so I made a handout for students to read through. ...I believe it is en route. ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  || I agree with Jay that having the text of each of the audio files would be useful from a teaching point of view. || I was not able to do stations as I did not have enough students attending so I did each audio file with the complete class. I actually found this to work well. We were able to have some very good discussion on things that each speaker had to say. One item of interest was what F. Paulette meant when he referred to de-colonization. S. Kakfwi comparison to the holocaust brought interest to the class as well.
 * **Scott** ||  || Again we had a short class so I wasn't able to complete the entire activity. We talked about some of the stories that students might have heard from family members or other "survivors" - some were positive, some were negative. We listened to the audio of Steven Kakfwi and the students were engaged. They were interested in the comparison between residential schools and the holocaust. I had the students write a short reflection on how the unit was going and, to tell the truth, it seems that they are starting to hit their limit with this issue. It is deep, heavy, complicated and personal for some. I don't want to lose the engagment of the class so we (or I) decided to take a little vacation from the project. We watched a nice video on caribou. Tomorrow we will spend some time with the timeline which we got hung up and looks great. ||   ||   ||
 * **Frank** ||  ||   || Audio files were great. Not able to have stations due to class size. I did each section with the complete class therefore more time was necessary. Found the timeline best for policy identity.I felt that the "Power of words" handout was not necessary 3 times. Once would have been fine and discussion among group after that. I did feel this unit was to bulky and could be trimmed up a touch. Looked to the students to explain what Paulette meant by de-colonization. Kakfwi's holocaust comparison brought about students attention. ||   ||
 * **Michelle** ||  || I didn't have a problem with the audio with this one, but appreciate the transcripts! || This activity took way longer for us than the 60-90 min. The students really enjoyed the part when they got to share with each other the findings that they had at their station. I also enjoyed the idea of the stations, gave me a chance to wonder around and listen to what each of the groups were thinking. I think that maybe this activity could be broken up in two activities. || After I got the timeline up on the wall and ready for the next day's class, I came in the next morning to find it on the floor :(. We layed it over a table and that is working fine. ||
 * **Laura** ||  || I understand the great importance of this activity, but the students did find it a little long. The historical excerpts were particularly challenging, especially the first one: //An Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of Indian Tribes 1857//. However, the students did really enjoy the audio files and the wall mount. || Although the historical excerpts were challenging, I do feel they were very important documents for the students to see. I had students work on the last activity individually, which ended up being a mistake. All students needed help with their individual excerpts and I felt I didn't have time to help everyone. If I were to do this last activity again, I would have the students work in pairs, but only assign two or three of the excerpts so that the pairs could also ask other pairs for help. ||   ||
 * **George** ||  || I also agree with both Jay and Joann. The text would be really helpful. The students found this activity to be a little long and some what difficult to get through. || I have a fairly small so I had them all move as a group from one station to another. It also made it easier for the discussions. || Having the timeline on the wall worked out very well for my class. ||
 * **Charlene** ||  || The excerpts would prove more useful and ESL friendly even by just isolating one or two sentences from each and illustrating the concepts with visual representation to help them understand the notion of concepts such as
 * **Jay** ||  || Transcripts of these audio files would be really helpful. They are extremely rich in their content! Specifically for the ability to isolate the polices that are discussed in order to complete the activity.

Activity 7: Survivor Stories
Stephen Kakfwi audio file || Meyok Audio file ||
 * [[file:Activity 7 Steve Kakfwi survivor story.docx]] || Activity7
 * [[file:Activity 7 Rosemarie Meyok audio transcript.doc]] || Rosemarie


 * ??? General question for everyone...if only one movie, Our Stories, Our Strength or We Were So Far Away...which would it be...or, should we provide both and a teacher could show each one or one or the other depending on time?**

(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || After watching Richard and Verna tell their stories, the class and I had a great discussion on forgiveness, as this is something both Richard and Verna mention in their clips. Initially students struggled with the idea that Richard and Verna could be forgiving. We discussed what the word forgiveness means, and how to forgive someone does not necessarily mean to say "it's okay what you did". Forgiveness can also mean you are no longer going to let the person/event have control over your life. || Since I had three community members share their stories,I did not have students listen to the last two audio files. Thought it would be a better use of time to move on to the next lesson.(Sorry, I know you really want to get feedback on all activities, but my students needed a change in pace after three and half days on lesson 7) || This was definitely the most powerful lesson thus far. Students found the material difficult, but have told me listening to these stories has really helped them to understand why their community is struggling on so many levels. ||  || The students thought the statement about residential schools being a "recipe for social and cultural disaster," was more then appropriate. My students felt that many people in our community use their bad experiences in general as an excuse not to make things right. || We read the 'Life at Residential Schools.' as a class. Each student then took a survivor story, (except four students had to pair up), read it, and summarize key points for the rest of the class, then share. They were really upset to hear about the sexual abuse, Arthur being tied up and taken away, the ice cold bath, no one visiting Terry, stealing food, and the overall theme of learning to lie, and be a broken individual from schools... their empathy really started to come out with this activity. Edna Elia's story produced a unique reaction. Many of my students started talking about how important it is for people to try and take the good from the bad and how when individuals witness bad things at home or elsewhere they have a responsibility to learn from other's mistakes and make a choice not to carry it into the future. We talked about how sometimes it comes down to a choice...being a victim for life...or using the traumatic experience as a stepping stone to become a strong example for others...I thought that was an insightful observation on their part. || They thought the idea of survivor was misleading as it implies that all former residential school students had been through a terrible experience, which was not the case. We finished the video "we were so far away" which was powerful. They listened to Stephen Kakfwi and wanted to to hear more of the song...(which they did not know was yet to come) There was not enough time for the other video or Rosemarie's audio. ||  || Very strong, elegant, and concise English speakers. ||  || Our Stories...Our Strength (video) was very emotional to watch. You don't have to think too hard to feel the intense pain that weeps from Richard. However, our class discussion on Richard was pretty unemotional. The students were able to discuss these issues in a very matter of fact manner, which caught me off guard a little bit. Vera's testimonial was also very emotional to watch. The 2 videos were quite short, but together made a really powerful combination and painted a pretty vivid portrait of the suffering endured at RS. The students really wanted to hear more stories at this point. It was very emotional, but very powerful. This activity definatly got the point across regarding the suffering endured at RS. ||  ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Scott** || We had an interesting conversation about the definition of "survivor." What does it mean to be a survivor? Are all people who attended a residential school a survivor? Why did some survive and some not? Then we watched the video - Our Stories.., Our Strength, which was intense but engaging. We are starting to get some evidence of hope. Next I broke the class into groups and each group read one of the survivor transcripts and presented their ideas to the class, giving insights into the definition of "survivor." I found this activity worked in the classroom but I was not able to complete the entire activity. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **Frank** ||  ||   || Most difficult section to deal with on a personal note. Accounts were upsetting to watch and read. Very powerful in impact. A good variety of stories. Not sure the effect they had on my students. Student engagement was highest in this unit. Definitely more time needed then the 60 min. suggested, closer to 90 min. ||   ||
 * **Michelle** || With time being an issue, it would have been nice to do the extension for this activity and bring a community member in. || I had a mix in my class of students being previously unaware and was taking everything the film clips and audio clips were saying in and others that I could feel they were thinking of their own relatives that had gone to residential schools. || Agree with Frank, trying to support the students, while keeping yourself together. Lots of quiet reflection time in this activity for both them and me. || Thanks again for the transcripts! ||
 * **Laura** || At the end of this lesson I was very fortunate to have three members of the community come and share their experiences of residential school. Our students had lots of questions and were definitely interested in hearing what life was like in residential school right here in Providence. After, I asked the students if they had heard many other stories from people in the community about their experiences in residential school. Shockingly, for all but one student, this was the first time they had ever heard first hand what life was like during that time in Providence. Even though everyone of my students has parents and/or grandparents who attended residential school, nobody talks about it. The elder who came to share his story emphasized to the students that we need to start talking in order to heal. He was very happy to know that students are now learning about residential school in the classroom, and hopes he can continue to visit our classroom to share his stories. Having members of the community who are willing and ready to share their stories is so important for both the students,survivors, and the community.
 * **George** || The students were very taken by these stories. We spent considerable time going back over the different stories as some of my students had some problems understanding things. Transcripts might have helped in this situation. ||  || This activity was the most time consuming to date. We ended up using 3 classes instead of the 2 that were stated. The students were visibly affected by the stories in this unit. Some became quiet during the classes while others had many questions and comments. ||   ||
 * **Charlene** || We Were So Far Away video, for sure.
 * **Jay** || We Were So Far Away (video) was great for the Inuit connection and is an excellent northern resource. It is a great for __anyone__ to watch!

Activity 8: Brave and Influential Voices
(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || Dr. Bryce's story was also very strong with many teachable moments. Great example of standing alone. Individual vs. gov. Good discussion on Campbell's statement "this alone does not justify a change in policy" A very good unit for our class. ||  || They really enjoyed the song but concluded that Father Pochat and Richard Wagamoose were both the most brave and influential as they met all their criteria for both. || Maybe a music activity would be a fun fit where each student could choose a song that reflects the idea of bravery and make a class CD...or something like that. The Late show was cool but the students did not need to listen to the whole thing to access what they were looking for about Father Pochat. The Richard Wagmoose article has a really strong summary from..."Certainly, there are horrendous experiences....to...such are the bones of reconciliation." I recommend this be used elsewhere in the course as a closure piece...it's really good and empowering for all aboriginal students to hear it put that way. || When Mary speaks Inuktitut directly to the PM, on the floor of the House of Commons, the students thought this was very powerful. ||  || Late News (audio) - the students found this very hard to follow and to understand. I think this is mainly becasue of the amount of people talking, the amount of information, and the length of the audio. I enjoyed it, but I feel that it was not a benefit to my students. If it were a video, it would probably have been more effective. Viva CBC radio! ||  ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Scott** || It seems I'm running out of time so I starting to cherry pick the big ideas. I began the class with "vote with your feet" which worked really well. I asked the general questions about who has been affected by residential schools?, do you think the apology was sencere? Sould people study the residentail school issue etc. What really got the students going were questions about non-aboriginal perspectives on the situation and questions about racism in our society. This started to spit the class and get some opinions on the table. I then skipped to the video "the youth perspective on residentail schools" This was like holding a mirror up to the class because the students in the video were from our school and some of there comments reflected many opinions in our class. Some in the class stated that things are great and there is little current effects from residential school while others argued that we have a long way to go to true reconciliation. It was an intersting class all the way around. I am looking forward to other people's reflections on this pilot project. It wasn't an easy route for me to take. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **Frank** ||  ||   || A very good unit to promote discussion.Father Pochat's piece seemed to be the most effective with my students. They seem to get more from an audio piece then a written piece. The unit took 120 min. We worked through each group or individual as a class. We then ranked each from 1 to 6, for both bravery and being influential. I could not resist adding to the lesson by doing a compare/contrast exercise with the class concerning students who attended Father Pochat's, Braden? collage and students who attended other res. schools. Very interesting results. It was to identify with them the difference, care, understanding, trust, believing, and love can have on a students development even when they might be far from home.
 * **Michelle** || My students particularly enjoyed this activity, it was nice to hear about Father Pochat, who was a long time priest in our community. Like George, we watched the reaction to the apology rather than watching the apology again. ||  || This activity, although took longer like most of the activities, was nice after activity 7. || No problems with tech. Had to cut some of the clips short, I.e. Father Pochat, was way too long. ||
 * **Laura** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **George** || During this class, we watched the sections containing the speeches of Mary Simons and Phil Fontaine. It was interesting to see my students' reaction to hearing the speech in Inuktitut. ||  || My students had many questions and comments to make during this particular activity. We had a great discussion around the concept of bravery. It was also interesting to see the students' take on wheher or not all experiences were bad. Even the quietest student had something to say during this activity. ||   ||
 * **Charlene** || We have a really musical town and it occurred to me, after Stephen's song, that many of my students deal with a lot of their "stuff" through song, both listening to and creating music (as is the case for many people) which would explain why they really responded positively and attentively to it. ||  || We started with the explanation of "criteria," made our list for both bravery and influential and then went through each person, as a class. I highlighted key points for the longer articles, and reviewed former survivor stories and the federal apology briefly (as they had strong example from previous classes to draw on) and then they scored each individual out of three based on whether they met the criteria they had outlined for both categories or not.
 * **Jay** || For the federal government section, we watched Phil Fontaine's and Mary Simon's statements in the house.

Activity 9: Justice and Compensation
Audio file || ||
 * Activity 9

(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || The ques./ans sheet also was very helpful to initiate discussion. I didn't think that the ques. in step 4d.was necessary as the next section deals with the topic throughly. I believe most of the students found the timeline a little cumbersome, but I found it useful from a teaching perspective. I did accomplish the lesson in the 90 min. ||  || most of my students thought Stephen Harper was NOT sincere...and one student said she wanted to "punch him in the face" if she ever met him for what he said in the USA.... They all agreed the apology was influential on Canadians as a whole They all thought students should learn about residential schools...fair to say, pilot project was effective. I gave them a few notes about the "Getting to the truth Overview" We skimmed the timeline and pulled out the big stuff. Read through IRSSA...bell. || We ran out of time after the IRSSA reading and made the connect to the brochure... as I will not be in Yellowknife until Wednesday night....I will finish off feedback for 10 and 11 tomorrow. ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Scott** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Frank** ||  ||   || I felt step 7 "Vote With Your Feet" brought on good discussion. I was very interested in their response to the statement, "residential schools have impacted me personally".
 * **Michelle** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Laura** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **George** ||  ||   || This activity took a fair bit of time to complete. I had to spend a fair bit of time explaining the questions to the students. This did, however, cause a good deal of dicussion amongst the students. This helped them with their answers to the survey. Some survey's were either not completed or were not done. This was due to the low level of comprhension of the students. On friday I am going to redo the survey and have my SSa and myself transcribe for some of the students. ||   ||
 * **Charlene** || The strangest thing happened. The day before I taught this class, me, and some of my students received an 'Independent Assessment Process: Time to Heal' brochure in the mail....it could not have arrived at a more appropriate time and really made what we have been learning about more relevant to life, present tense. ||  || Vote with your feet was humorous.
 * **Jay** ||  ||   || I did not make any notes to myself, so I guess this was a success. Bravo! ||   ||

Activity 10: From Truth to Reconciliation?
Audio file || || Audio file || ||
 * Activity 10
 * Activity10

(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) || I felt that my students did enjoy the "youth perspective" video. It brought on discussion related to how non aboriginals view aboriginals and whether people can easily make good choices when they are dealing with difficult issues in their lives. Paul Andrew's audio did not initiate the same degree of discussion within my group. I felt the ques. 7 to 9 were ok but felt other issues should have been brought out. This lesson took 120min. to complete. ||  || Perhaps, build in an interview component to give them a real sense of their own community's issues with racism, cultural misconceptions, or knowledge of residential schools. Maybe a great place to integrate a community service project...to reinforce the idea of reconciliation. || Our Truth, The Youth Perspective on Residential School (video) - excellent high school project, but not of appropriate quality to include in curriculum. Issues: dub is off (audio poor at times), the discussion on racism and attitudes are vague and the connections made between RS and these issues are unclear. I found it a really hard narrative to follow and extract the ideas. Might work better as fragments of youth perspectives as a way of stimulating discussion and ideas. I see it working if there were a question that appeared on the screen and then youth offering their ideas, with some follow up questions to stimulate discussion in the class. That all being said, the students enjoyed it. ||  ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Scott** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Frank** ||  ||   || Maxine's audio brought about the first true debate between two students and that infected others. It concerned love as a research project vs. a feeling that most absorb at a young age. Her passage brought out some good teachable moments from discussions about love/abuse, the importance of communication in our lives,and that the connections to res schools run deep.
 * **Michelle** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Laura** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **George** ||  ||   || I agree with both Jay and Frank. Maxine's audio was a little too long for my students. I expreienced some problems with students staying focused. The video clip was better for keeping their attention. When watching this clip, it is quite obvious that it was a high school project. I liked the fact that the students would try something like this. My students are very familiarity with Yellowknife so there was some discussion regarding how some non - inuit see Inuit and visa versa. ||   ||
 * **Charlene** ||  ||   || They really liked the youth perspective video...and also generated ideas about them doing their own town interviews..we spent a fair amount of time with the concept of reconciliation and spent about three classes trying to come up with ways for them to be pro-active in their own communites...wtih regards to them having a responsibility in creating their own strong and healthy communities. They also linked it back to the $$ that is set aside for healing intitiatives in aboriginal communites. || Maxine's video too long and their attention started to stray.
 * **Jay** ||  ||   || Maxine's (audio) was a bit long. I think it could be edited to be a bit closer to ten minutes instead of twenty. Some good content, but a little repetitious at times. Certainly a powerful testimony, but it starts to lose some of its power with the "Oh, my god, like..." loops of dialogue. She says some really important things, but these statements at time are hard to excavate form the banter.

Activity 11 : Hope for Tomorrow
Audio file || ||
 * Activity11

(the activity's connection to your community) || **Text to Text** (resources that could/did further support this unit) || **Text to Self** (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) || **Text and Technology** (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) ||
 * **Pilot**
 * Teacher** || **Text to World**
 * **Joanne** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Scott** ||  ||   || I wound up the pilot by combining the audio of Maxime and the letter to the Globe by Stephen Kakfwi. Both worked really well. The audio was intense but it was so honest that it had an impact on the students. I thought it would be depressing but it actuallly had the opposite effect. It is the story of a true survivor. The letter is beautiful writing. I wish it had more impact but when it is just me reading it out loud it loses some authenticity. Despite this, it is the perfect way to finish off the unit. The students were left on the high point of the chart which is the preferred place. The students filled out the surveys and I should be able to get them over to ECE tomorrow. ||   ||
 * **Frank** ||  ||   || The letter to the editor was a good idea. Writing skills are for the most part weak so having them give their own opinion on a topic such as this is a positive. Their knowledge on this topic is now allowing them to give a good analysis of writings such as Kakfwi's in this section. Another positive. ||   ||
 * **Michelle** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **Laura** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * **George** ||  ||   || This was a good activity for my students. It was fairly short and gave them ample time for discussion and feedback. It also allowed me ample time for explanation of terms and issues. ||   ||
 * **Charlene** ||  ||   || Survey's complete and if there had been time...I would have taken the powerpoint idea and divided between students...1 slide (1 aspect of RS experience) and presentations to follow..that would have been a neat culminating activity. To end it all on a positive note, when I return the kids are researching Inuit leaders in their library skills class who have used their schooling experience as a platform for empowerment and positive role-modeling....we'll see how it goes. || no issues ||
 * **Jay** ||  ||   ||   ||   ||

Here's the quick Student Survey we really want you to administer...(and bring them to Yellowknife !
Special prizes for every pilot teacher who submits their class set ||  ||
 * ==StudentFeedbackSurvey== ||  ||
 * This is a fairly quick survey that we'd really like all teachers to do with their students at the end of their work with the unit. This will be an essential part of how we'll begin to track if these materials are making any impact on students in the North