Welcome to my first ever blog! I hope I can do it justice.
Who am I? That is such a great question, I am many things but before all else I am a mom first, to my 2 beautiful children; Hannah and Logan, and a dog mom to two dogs; Trigger and Pope (only Trigger is shown in the top picture because my husband surprised me and brought home our new dog a few weeks ago). I am a wife to my husband Gord; we have been together for 14 years, married for almost 7. We have created quite a life together.
Third I am a teacher! My time as a teacher has been nothing but amazing and full of new experiences. I took my undergrad degree at the University of Regina specializing in Middle Years Education. My first job was right out of the gate; being one of two lead teachers in the Raphael Centre (formally know and the Developmental Centre at St. Michael School in Moose Jaw). In is this position I was surrounded by the most beautiful students with such unique gifts that allowed me to grow significantly in my teaching abilities. Here I had the upmost pleasure in teaching (and learning with) 18 studens who had various severe special needs, was responsible for 10 Educational Assistants (and let me tell you these ladies were amazing!), and 2 of the most nurturing and loving nurses. This is where my love and passion for inclusive education ignited and my desire for advocacy. Realizing quickly that I needed more education if I truly wanted to do my students any justice and I obtained my Certificate in Extended Studies in Inclusive Education from the U of R. I spent half of my career teaching in the center and then went into Early Elementary and taught grade 2; FYI early years teachers you are a true blessing, I don’t know how you do what you do. I taught grade 2 for a couple years and then was on maternity with my son. When returning from maternity I was given the assignment of teaching grade 4 and this is still where I currently am four years later. After being in the mainstream classroom, I have once again realized that the needs of my students continues to require more education and that is why am back at the U of R taking my Master’s today; I want to be a kick a$$ (am I even allowed to say that on a blog?!?) classroom teacher who has a full tool box to help all who enter into my classroom. I have a passion for teaching reading & writing which I am sure you will see throughout my posts in this course. Eventually I want to enter into administration but I know my heart isn’t quite ready for that yet, one day though, and I want to be ready in that area too!
Your personality comes across so clearly in your writing! I love it! Thank you for sharing your teaching journey thus far; you have had a diverse number of experiences and, I’m sure, touched a lot of hearts!
Nice to meet you Christine! You have a beautiful family. This is a great introduction for a first blog post. As Kara said, your voice really shines in your writing. I think that is key to blogging. I always enjoy reading the blogs where you can imagine someone is talking to you directly how it would seem in person.