All right, I decided to start this blog because my Mom is the most incredible educator I have ever known and she thought that it might help me to process my experiences as a first-year teacher. I have to admit that I have my doubts, though *sigh*- This whole process has been an unbelievable roller-coaster ride at forty-seven years of age.
So- to begin at the beginning... hm... let me see. For one thing, I have always known that one day I was going to follow in my parents' footsteps and become an educator. Many would say that I already was a teacher to a certain extent- I have directed choirs, led school workshops and just generally engaged young people in the process of learning throughout my life. But I always had it in the back of my mind that one day I would get my official teaching license and teach full time.
Two years ago my musical partner decided that she needed to get a "real job" that would support her in a more reliable way. We had been performing together for almost two decades, but let's face it, a musician's income is far from reliable. At that point there was a "perfect storm" of circumstances that led me to apply to do my B.Ed at Mount Saint Vincent University. Lo and behold, I was accepted into the program and thus began the incredible saga that brought me to where I am now.
The B.Ed program itself should have been the subject of a blog... what a wonderful, terrible, thought-provoking, at-times depressing and mostly inspiring two years! I won't go into great detail now, but I was unbelievably impressed by the level of acceptance I gained from my fellow students, who were all easily half my age and worlds away in terms of their educational experiences. The act of going back to school was intimidating, but I learned so much from my colleagues and from the few incredibly dedicated professors I met there... Suffice it to say, after two years of readjusting to the academic world, I graduated and began to look for work.
Fast forward to today-
In July of 2011 I was hired by the CSAP school board to teach music, drama and one class of grade nine english at the brand new junior high and high school in Clayton park, "l'École secondaire du Sommet". Since then I have been treading water in an environment that is way over my head. I am unbelievably underqualified, incredibly eager and undeniably exhausted.
I guess I'll try and use this blog to make sense of my crazy life.
Jif,
ReplyDeleteWe all agree that this is mission impossible, an extremely unrealistic teaching load. I keep remembering the book "Small Victories" by Samuel Friedman. It follows a high school teacher through a year of challenges in an urban high school. What she learns is that you may not win all the battles but that you need to recognize and savor the small victories. I look forward to your posts, especially the ones that tell us about your "small victories."
"Get 'er done." Mom