CFE: Week 1

June 8th to June 15th, 2014

This past week, I began my 3 week Community Field Experience in Haida Gwaii, along with 7 other UBC Teacher Candidates. Krystel and I flew to Sandspit on the same flight on Sunday and we took the shuttle to Queen Charlotte City. We are staying at Vicki’s house, the school principal at Sk’aadgaa Naay Elementary School. The population of Queen Charlotte city is only 948 citizens, which is very different from the 2.5 million in Metro Vancouver! I realized how small Queen Charlotte City is as soon as I hopped into the shuttle at the airport and the driver knew exactly where to drop me off when I said my homestay host’s name. Everyone knows everyone here and the same people often play different roles (e.g. one woman I met is the school secretary, a paramedic, a mother of a student in my class and also our host’s sister).

Arriving in Haida Gwaii

Stunning view from our host‘s backyard

I was placed at Sk’aadgaa Naay Elementary School in a grade 4/5/6 French Immersion classroom. This was quite different from my practicum in Richmond (grade 3/4) as I had never been in a three grade combined classroom before. On top of that, I had no idea Haida Gwaii even had French Immersion! I assumed that the population was too low to support French Immersion, but I was pleasantly surprised. The teacher, Joël, was very kind and welcomed me warmly into the class. I spent the first day observing and helping as much as I could. It was strange shift to go back to observing after spending so many weeks doing all of the teaching in my practicum in Richmond! Because of Job Action and the possibility (and then the reality) of it being the last week of school, my experience in the 4/5/6 classroom was not exactly as I had anticipated and much of the time in class was spent doing last minute tests and evaluation.

The school itself is stunning and the classrooms seem very well equipped. I used the Smartboard for the first time when I prepared a guessing game on intertidal zone animals to play with the class as review. Students here seem to know and understand so much about the different animals and plants that surround them.

Lobby of the Sk’aadgaa Naay Elementary School

Haida language classroom

The grade 4/5/6 classroom

Sk’aadga Naay Elementary School is located in Skidegate, a reserve, which is a 20 minute drive from Queen Charlotte City. All students go to Haida language class throughout the year (from K-7), and the school makes a great effort to integrate Haida language/culture whenever possible.

The school has a beautiful greenhouse and I was able to work in the 4/5/6’s plot with a few students. I had not had the chance to do so during my practicum in Richmond, but I really enjoyed it. I noticed one student who did not seem very engaged in the classroom (refused to do work) was very talkative and warm when we gardened together. I was able to connect with the student, which reinforced what I learned during my Extended Practicum in Richmond: connecting with each student is crucial.

Potato plants grown by the grade 4/5/6 class

The school’s beautiful greenhouse

View walking home from school

All 7 of the UBC Teacher Candidates went on the Copper Bay Field Trip with the grade 1, 2, and 3 students. What an incredibly fun and informative day! I was very impressed that all of the students knew the traditional Haida songs and dances. Roberta, a Haida elder, made a traditional smoked salmon and showed students the process. The students also went kayaking and learned about the salmon life cycles. I was very impressed by the students’ knowledge about plants and the environment. I wished that there was something like that I could have done with my students during my Extended Practicum in Richmond….I believe my students could have benefitted from this type of learning.

Students singing traditional Haida song

Traditional Haida salmon smoking process

Students went kayaking in Copper Bay

Because of Job Action, our time at the elementary school was shortened. I helped Joël take down everything off of the walls and do the end of the year clean up and organizing of the classroom. Although I was disappointed not to be teaching in the class for the remaining two weeks, it was interesting to be involved in the end of the year wrap up. The class sang the Haida “haawa” (thank you) song to their Haida teacher.

A student’s notebook from Haida language class

UBC TCs walking/biking home from school

On Friday, a few of us went to Queen Charlotte Secondary School. It was the last day of school and I could feel the energy buzzing around hallways. I am very thankful that this high school day was arranged for us because it was a very eye opening experience to see older students learning. We were given timetables of classes to observe, but because it was the last day of school, many teachers were giving tests or showing movies. I ended up floating around from class to class, trying to “take in” the school. The students are so old and tall; I found it very intimidating. I ended up helping Robert, who is one of the Haida carvers doing the QCSS totem poles, by putting horse hairs into small bunches for a ceremony baton. It was an honour to have time to chat with such an interesting person.

Carving room at the high school

During the weekend, we explored the community and I started to recognize the same people everywhere! We went crab fishing (they caught 6 and we had them for dinner) and attended community activities like the farmers market and the community softball game. We also went on a hike up to Spirit Lake Trail and we saw a black bear!

I love it here in Haida Gwaii!