Tuesday, September 30th/08

A one room schoolhouse on PEI in days gone by… 

About forty years ago, Island communities were involved in the process of school consolidation – closing the many one/two room schoolhouses and building bigger schools to amalgamate more students from neighbouring communities. That is why you see the name “consolidated” attached to so many of our rural schools. The process wasn’t easy I’m sure and it is no easier today when we seem to be facing consolidation all over again. A letter to the editor sparked a good class discussion where we chatted about the pros and cons of bigger/smaller schools and what the future will hold for our family of schools. Times are changing, but we know that it is really nothing new. History has a habit of repeating itself.

We began the French Regime today and looked at the background of how the Acadians community came to be and why Ile St. Jean became important to the French after the building of Fortress Louisbourg on Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island) . Tomorrow we will look at some early French communities on PEI.

Start thinking of Island songwriters/songs for an upcoming fun assignment.( No, you don’t have to perform. Unless you really want to!!!! )

Monday, September 29/08

The Acadian Flag …

Today we started our week by reviewing our guest speaker from Friday – Matilda Knockwood (aka  Turtle Woman). We also looked at a chart that compared aboriginal cultural beliefs ( about $$, environment …) with a non aboriginal(European) view. Very different. It is not much wonder there were problems when the two groups were “adjusting”  to living side by side. 

We are now ready to look at the first European settlers to inhabit the Island – the French. In specific, it was the French Acadians (who had been living in Nova Scotia for decades) who made their way to the Island and eventually formed the largest percentage of French immigrants. To start us off  I had you do a web search for all things Acadian on PEI. This short assignment is due in class tomorrow.

It was great to touch base with everyone regarding your major project. I am excited about the variety of projects you have chosen. I have copied the rubrics you need and will give those in class tomorrow. Get busy with this … I am expecting great things. There are still a couple who need to submit project ideas.

Friday, September 26/08

Waltes … a Mi’kmaq dice game.

We had a chance to try out a Waltes game today. We also learned that Waltes was used to teach children counting. Matilda Knockwood, from Parks Canada, joined us today and she shared information, stories, artifacts and even a song! Great job keeping the beat Devan!! Thanks.

Please be working on your assignments – your major one and your news assignment. Monday we will start looking at the French period on the Island. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, September 25th/08

Mi’kmaq baskets … a strong symbol

The Mi’kmaq people have long been recognized for their expert basket making skills. Indeed, much of their basket work is an art form. With the loss of their traditional ways, they came to rely heavily on the sale of baskets for a livlihood. Every farm (and most people lived on farms in 19th and well into 20th century PEI) needed a steady supply.

Today we watched two Spirit World videos. The Cross and the Eagle Feather showed how close the relations were between the Mi’kmaq and the French/Acadians.  Blankets of Death dealt with Mi’kmaq – English relations which were not so good. Under the English the Mi’kmaq traditional way of life steadily declined and they lost many aspects of their culture ( language, spiritual ways etc.) I showed you a copy of the current, local Mi’kmaq newspaper  “The Kwimu Messenger”  and it is reassuring to see stories that celebrate Mi’ kmaq culture today. Many Mi’kmaq people are getting reacquainted with their traditional roots.

You received another assignment today – The Newspaper Scrapbook. Hopefully this assignment will keep you in the loop about current issues on the Island. A link to the assignment is below: 

PEI News Assignment

We have a guest presenter from Parks Canada tomorrow – Matilda Knockwood. Also, don’t forget some change for the Terry Fox Run/Walk.

Wednesday, September 24/08

On my drive this morning I noticed a lot of leaves turning color. That means fall is definitely here and we need to be working hard. Hopefully you all did well on the quiz I left for you.  Please remember that I need your major project description on Friday. That’s a deadline. See you tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 23/08

L M Montgomery …

Today we started class by reading a news story that has confirmed the cause of death of PEI’s most famous author – LM Montgomery: suicide. Some people will be surprised but for the many who have read her journals – it confirms a fact that has been long speculated on. Montgomery battled  with depression in her family and within herself. Her granddaughter came forth with the story, hoping to raise the profile of depression and how it impacts family. It is a timely release as the 100 year anniversary of “Anne” has generated lots of interest in Montgomery this year.

We continued to discuss/take notes on Post Contact Mi’kmaq. Here we are are looking at how life changed so drastically for these people once Europeans moved in. Pay special attention to the fact that Europeans mostly felt they were dealing with “uncivilized” people; all depends on your definition of what is civilized. Daniel Paul from NS has wriiten a lot about this issue from a Mi’kmaq perspective in his book “We Were Not The Savages.”  

Quiz tomorrow. Study, study, study!!!!

Friday I need you to confirm your major assignment topic. Here is a link that will give you a copy of it: island-historymajor-class-project

( I learned something new today … from now on I will try to link any assignments to our site. )

Monday, September 22/08

Barefoot girl …

It was noticeably chillier this morning leaving the house – I even put on my socks. It was a good day to read Weale’s Barefoot - a short piece about the pleasures and pain of going without shoes. Many Island children in Them Times couldn’t wait to kick off shoes and spend the warmer days barefoot. However, on fall mornings, as cool as  today, shoes might come in handy. The only problem was that money was scarce and some had to endure picking potatoes ( in barefeet!!) to earn enough money for new shoes. After all, feet tend to grow a lot in childhood! And shoes wore out. Hard for us to imagine.

We finished up pre contact Mi’kmaq today by looking at gender, children, marriage, elders, medicine, & religion. We also looked at petroglyphs – rock carvings that give us a recorded “visual” record of Mi’kmaq life. Remember why you won’t find many petroglyphs on the Island.

Study and review for your quiz on Wednesday. bring any questions to class tomorrow.

Friday, September 19/08

Modern day Aboriginal justice circle …

Another Friday. September is going fast. Yesterday we looked at some aspects of daily life for the Mi’kmaq. Today I had you go a little deeper – examining things like justice, gender issues and spitituality from a Mi’kmaq perspective. You used Historica – a fabulous Canadian History site. We will be using it throughout our course as a reference. You had a homework assignment that is due on Monday. Please watch spelling/grammar.

Today I returned our PEI Overview activity and we reviewed it. I also gave you a handout outlining your major assignment for this term. Choose the option that will work best for you and something that you will enjoy. I would like a decision by next week. I will provide you with a rubric according to which option you choose.  These projects are due on November 5.

The decision was made to go with three(3) quizzes each term. I have chosen the following dates:

Wednesday – September 24 (next week!!!)

Wednesday – October 15

Tuesday – November 4

Two other dates to remember:

Friday, September 26 – Parks Canada in class presentation with Matilda Knockwood

Monday, October 6 – field trip to Roma Heritage site (am only)

Have a great trip Melanie and a great weekend to everyone else!!

Thursday, September 18/08

Birch Tree … a well utilized resource for early Mi’kmaq…

We finished sharing our “Favorite Places” today. Thanks. Great choices – harbours, orchards, back yards, grandparents’ homes etc. It seemed the majority of us chose places where we shared memories with immediate/extended family.  Memories tend to make a place special.

We discussed/took notes today on various aspects of pre contact Mi’kmaq life - language, food, housing, travel, leisure time … Tomorrow we will have a chance to examine roles (male/female), rules & spirtual beliefs.  

Note we had an important visitor to the Island this week – the great grandson of George Coles, Dougals Coles Bowman. PEI was a stop over for the cruise ship he is vacationing on. He was very surprised to see how famous his Island roots are.

See any resemblence?

We made a decision to go with 4 quizzes instead of 2 each term so expect our first quiz to be coming up soon.

Wednesday, September 17/08

Naufrage Harbour … Krista’s favorite Island place!

Thanks to those of you who shared your favorite Island place today … we’ll hear from the rest of you tomorrow. Nice variety in choices. We tied up some loose ends today – reviewed our trip to Greenwich, reviewed our homework on the federal election and compiled our “Influence of Place” thoughts. Remember to keep thinking how living on the Island ( forever, for most of us) has directly affected us. Think of positives and negatives. Tomorrow we will begin looking at The Mi’kmaq community – pre contact.

I asked you to decide if you would prefer to have 4 smaller tests rather than 2 larger ones. We’ll decide on that tomorrow.