Enriching Young Lives

Last year, for the first time in my entire teaching career, I saw pride and confidence in my two aboriginal students. It was refreshing to hear them sing their cultural song in front of the entire school in their regalia to kick of the Harmony Week, to have them bring artifacts from grandma to share during our First Nations studies, to see them ecstatic about going to a powwow, and to see their impatience while grandma made their drums. But their cultural abundance also made me realize that this was a rare occurrence. Most of the other aboriginal students at my school do not exhibit such pride, excitement, or even curiosity. They view their cultural activities with their First Nation Advocate as fun and a way to be out of the class. I discussed this with the First Nations Advocate and we both want to look at ways to enrich the cultural experience of aboriginal students at elementary school level and instill pride in them about their culture. For my assignment I will examine authentic and meaningful technological resources and tools available for the aboriginal children and look at ways to incorporated them into my school culture and the prescribed curriculum.