Attawapiskat has become one of the best known northern Ontario communities, due to extensive coverage of social and economic challenges. Dust has since replaced the snow, the cameras have gone, and a community remains.
It is difficult to describe the feeling of this place. Local student poetry speaks for itself:
Attawapiskat
Fun, Small
Hunting, Jogging, Visiting
I like bike riding
Home
Attawapiskat
Fun, Cool
Playing, Hunting, Running
I like going hunting
Home
Town
People, Houses
Talking, Honking, Barking
I live in Attawapiskat
Attawapiskat
It is easy to meet kind, welcoming people in Attawapiskat – the kind of people who make a point to remember your name. Word spreads when visitors arrive and children greet newcomers with “I know you, I’ve seen you around. What’s your name? Where are you from. Do you speak Cree?”
While facilitating lessons with the primary and junior grades I was taken aback by the level of literacy and student concentration in class. Grade 2 students were challenged to create a game with their spelling words. 6 words were placed on the board and before we could visit each laptop to offer support, the children were asking for more. Students got through an incredible number of words before the class was finished and created some wonderful games.
The experience of on-task, attentive, enthusiastic student work was consistent throughout the many portables that make up the J.R. Nakogee School (the school building was demolished due to contamination over a decade ago).
Vice Principal Wayne suggests that gains in literacy and academic performance can be traced to the school’s literacy program lead by Principal Stella. Literacy coaches have worked with students and teachers to develop learning strategies for each grade level. Student progress is measured at various points throughout the year and this information is tracked on a board in the Principal’s office. At a glance Stella can assess where students and entire classrooms are at and where enhanced attention may be required.
Throughout the visit Administrators, Teachers and Teaching Assistants expressed interest in utilizing the laptop as a tool. A meeting was held on Thursday afternoon to highlight strategies for laptop use in the classroom, and staff came prepared with their laptops and tried new activities throughout the meeting.
Student Work
This week students utilized their laptops to engage with various subjects this week at J.R. Nakogee.
Victoria’s Grade 3 class documented and imagined the life of insects. First we headed to the playground to capture close up landscape images with our laptops.
Photo courtesy of Adam Biehler
Photo courtesy of Adam Biehler
Photo courtesy of Adam Biehler
Next, students imaged the type of bug that might inhabit this landscape and how they might perceive it. Students imported their photographs into Paint and added insects from their imaginations.
Students began to draft stories about their creations by importing their drawing into Write. Rather than sticking to traditional landscapes, students were quite creative with where bugs might be found…
Students in various classes chose to make Ecards for Mother’s Day:
Of course it wouldn’t be Mother’s Day without flowers!
Students of Jane’s Grade 3 class experimented with Physics, using forces to bring their drawings to life:
Grade 8 students put their knowledge of History to use, creating a matching game about Confederation:
It is a privilege to visit a community like Attawapiskat. Thank you to everyone who participated this visit and offered a greeting in town. This community is so much more than television cameras and news reports could ever capture…
Thank you to photographer Adam Biehler who was kind enough to capture our work with the Grade 3s! http://www.adambiehler.com/
