Hello everyone! My name is Alyssa Mozel. I grew up and went to school in Wynyard, and I did band, figure skating, soccer, and several genres of dance at that time. I just finished my Bachelor’s Degree of Secondary Education in April of this year. I am currently a substitute teacher for the Horizon School Division. The division encompasses a bunch of small towns and the city of Humboldt.
Pic from the Horizon School Division website.
I am also doing 3 classes for my Inclusive Education Certificate (that I will hopefully finish in April 2025), so I am pretty busy right now. I have enjoyed subbing, because I get to see a diverse range of instructional strategies, resources, classroom layouts/environments, and school-wide initiatives that I would not get to see or experience otherwise. (Additionally, I get to see and hear how some students respond to those things. There is generally a mix of good and bad feelings, but they are always very passionate when telling me about those opinions and experiences.) Most importantly, I love working with all of the kids I see (even if I get sick because of them). I love the small-town environments, and it is interesting to see the similar and unique challenges that those schools face and how they each try to overcome them.
When it comes to educational technology, I have had a decent amount of exposure and practice with it both as a student and a learning/new educator. I am part of the generation that grew up with tech being slowly introduced into the classroom, which started at Grade 1 or 2 for me. I had typing classes and got sufficient training in many Microsoft applications. Google applications came out when I was in Grade 12 (I believe), so I do not know all of the special tips and tricks. However, I can still operate many of those applications at a basic level. As a learning educator, I did my entire first year of classes (and anywhere from 30-50% of the rest of the classes for my Bachelor Degree) on Zoom. I have worked with Google Classroom and Edsby for my placements and internship, so I am very comfortable with those. There are other apps like Kahoot, Audacity, Scratch Jr, and various video-creating/editing/uploading software that I have used here and there as well. Essentially, I know my way around the internet, computer, and can figure out apps through YouTube tutorials/trial and error, but I do not claim to be the most technologically proficient person out there.
Blogging is something that I have not personally done, but I have read a blog or two for university classes. A lot of this will be new to me, but, hopefully, I will find my flow and become more comfortable with it as time goes on. I tend to be a more formal writer (due to the numerous essays and article reviews that I have written for English, Social Studies, and Education classes), and I am going to do my best to turn that part of my brain off a little bit. However, I do enjoy using big words from time to time, and I will not be stopping! If I find an obscure or rarer word in something I am reading, I may try to find a way to add it here (and link to the definition for those who are interested). Despite all this, I am excited to share my Learning Project journey (I chose crocheting), so please check that out!
Finally, I would like to sign off for the mean time with some pictures of my beloved kitties.
Luna (Left) and Hobbzy (right) sit on the deck bench.
Below is Hobbzy. She is an extremely rare cat, because she is a female orange tabby. Apparently, she needed to inherit the recessive orangeness from both parents in order for her to be female and orange (80% of orange tabbies are male). Her eyes are green, which also rare in orange tabbies. She is lazy… unless she wants something. She has learned to operate a gate’s pull latch that is 6 feet above the ground. In her younger years, she was a persistent hunter of anything that moved (yes, the backyard is a bit of a graveyard). She is stubborn and persistent and will take your spot on the couch when you leave, even at the old age of 17. Hobbzy loves to sunbathe and often has to be forcefully brought in before she experiences heat stroke. Unfortunately, she does not eat lasagna like Garfield, but she does like corn, chicken, and seafood-flavoured cat food.
Hobbzy on my swimming lesson papers.
Hobbzy on my bed.
Now onto the cat that will sleep face-down… This is our 5 year-old tuxedo cat, Luna. Luna was accidentally named by my brother who jokingly brought up the name during one of his many lists of joke names. He was quite dismayed when we actually liked the name (oops). Luna tends to be a bit skittish and anxious, but she defends her territory fiercely. She is a lover of food and will do her best to look innocent before attempting to steal Hobbzy’s food. She has lost many a collar (only god knows where) and loves to roll around in dirt (but won’t allow us to brush her without complaining). She lives up to her name by getting very aggressive when night falls. If you do not get her inside before that happens, good luck trying to get her without getting a few scratches in the process (if you can even get close to her). At that point, she will only come in for food.
Luna getting restless, annoyed, and aggressive during a night storm.
Luna cleaning herself.
Have a good day, and I hope you sleep well this week!
