Oh hi! Its me!
Hi! My name is Briana Leibel. I am just starting my sixth year as an educator in Saskatchewan and I currently teach in a Pre K- Grade 12 rural School. In the past 5 years, I have taught everything from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and have taught almost every subject that is offered in Saskatchewan. I spent the first three years of my teaching career moving around a lot in schools and this helped me to gain a lot of experience with a variety of subjects and grades. I did my Bachelor’s of Secondary Education at the University of Regina where I majored in Social Studies and minored in English. However, I think that I prefer the middle years level now that I have been in the field. I have been at my current school for 3 years, and I taught Grade ⅞ my first year and then Grade 8 last year. This year I am moving into a new position that is a blend of a classroom teacher and Student Support Teacher where I am doing modular-based courses to help students with credit attainment. The new position has me managing 20+ curriculums at once on Google Classroom and I have been developing most of the course work from scratch. Which has been a lot, but it is enjoyable.
The PC I built in 2020!
In my non-school life, I am married to my lovely husband, Drew, and we have a cat named Wesley. My husband and I have been together since my second year of undergrad and he is also a teacher, so we have been able to grow as educators together. We recently bought our first house so we are keeping busy setting up our home. I am happy to finally have my own yard to have a garden which has been a goal of mine for a few years. I have three raised garden beds that I set up this year and had given me a great little harvest for my first year. I grew up working with my grandma in her garden, so it is great to have my own now. My other hobbies include reading, crafting, hiking, camping, playing games (board games, TTRPG’s, MtG, and video games) and baking. I even built my own PC! I have ADHD so I have no shortage of hobbies to keep me occupied haha. I like to keep my days busy and I find there is always something to do!
I am currently taking my Inclusive Education Certificate and I should be done by the end of the Winter Semester. I have a passion for Inclusive Education that stems from my own neurodivergence and my want to help support students who need additional supports to see success. I was hoping to move into the Student Support role after I finished the certificate, so I think this position is a great way to help bridge the gap as I finish my certificate. I am fascinated by the data that helps lead the interventions that teachers put in place, and I love seeing how data can connect in a way that explains behaviours that teachers are seeing in the classroom. I am planning on applying to the Masters of Educational Psychology Practicum Program next to further my Education and become and Educational Psychologist. My goal is to become an Educational Psychologist who completes assessments to help families and teachers understand how best to support students to see success. This is very exciting to me and I am excited to further my education! -Although I will admit that when I finished my undergrad, I said that I would NEVER go back to school! But I guess I was wrong!
Honestly, I am someone who can talk forever in person, but I always find that putting my thoughts down in a reflection or blog is WAY harder! I have had a blog previously for some of my other classes and honestly, I am not a fan (Sorry Katia!). I can totally see why some people really like blogs, but I think that I find there is better ways for me to share my learning and understanding of a topic. I am much more likely to share my thoughts in person and I could have a conversation with anyone in person, but I feel like I am writing to no one in my blogs. So I think that is the issue that I am finding arises with blogs. I have heard that some people write their blogs to a group of people or a particular person, so I think that might honestly work better for me. I might explore that to help me better write these blogs in the future.
I have taken an Ed Tech class with Katia in the past, and I enjoyed the class. At the time, I was in my undergrad and thought that I knew everything there was about technology because I was online – Spoiler alert: I don’t! I find that there is such a wide variety of technologies that we can use in Education, so honestly it is a bit overwhelming. I know that there are so many different sites and ways to share information with students that each have their own benefits. I think when it comes to technology, my philosophy is that there is always something to learn and I will just try to learn what I can while balancing my own wellbeing as a teacher without getting overwhelmed.
I am excited for this class and honestly I think that seeing as my job currently has me at a computer now more than ever before, it is the perfect time. I am hopeful that this will be a good course for me to learn more that will support my modular courses!
Hey Briana,
I wanted to commend you for going back on your word when you said you were not going to go back to school. The fact that you are returned to school after years in a classroom is a streat feat in itself. As adults working in this profession that can be tiring and exhausing you should hold your head up high and be proud of the fact that you decided to go back. I am also in the same boat. This is the start of my 6th year teaching and now taking classes again. I am exhausted, worn out, burning out but, pushing through and we will make it. I have faith in you.
Hey Briana!
I really enjoyed hearing your story about the journey you’ve had in the education world!
That is so cool you are planning to do Educational Psychology, I want to do that too! Would love to hear about what route (thesis, practicum, course) you are thinking of taking!