Hello and welcome to my online portfolio!
I am currently a student-teacher at the University of British Columbia training to become a secondary school teacher in the subjects of English and ESL. In a few short weeks I will be a full-fledged teacher. I am very excited to begin this new chapter of my life. Some of my other interests include travelling, language-learning, reading, being outdoors, and dancing.
I am currently a student-teacher at the University of British Columbia training to become a secondary school teacher in the subjects of English and ESL. In a few short weeks I will be a full-fledged teacher. I am very excited to begin this new chapter of my life. Some of my other interests include travelling, language-learning, reading, being outdoors, and dancing.
SNAPSHOTS OF MY LIFE
Teaching and learning have been woven into many parts of my life so that they have, in a way, always been integral to my existence. Here are a few of the steps I have taken on my path to become an educator:
I grew up in a small town called Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island. Both my parents worked at a secondary school and this gave me a positive bias towards education and its importance. Growing up, my parents surrounded me with books, and games, and love.
For high school, I attended a private international school called Maxwell International School. There, I had the opportunity to meet students from around the world and learn about cultures different from my own. From this experience I always felt that I belonged to a world community and that other cultures were my cultures too. Meeting people from around the world sparked my interest in travelling and learning other languages.
When I was 14 years old I spent the summer in the tropical islands of Palau with one of my best friends who lives there. I had never gone somewhere so far away without my parents before. This summer really broadened my world view and taught me how to be independent as a young adult. I also discovered some courage within myself when I learned to deep sea dive into the unknown. I learned to take risks.
After I graduated from high school, I volunteered at a sister school in the Czech Republic for a year. My work included coordinating a social justice dance program at the school there. I taught students dances that reflect and comment on current social issues and took them out into the community to perform. Through Dance Workshop I discovered my love of teaching and I learned that having responsibility can empower youth. The students in this club had to do more than dance, they had to act as examples of change and ambassadors of peace.
I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Victoria. I majored in Applied Linguistics and minored in English Literature. At university I fell in love with linguistics and began studying German. I also completed my TESL certification as part of my Applied Linguistics major and did a short practicum at a small ESL school where I was hired on to teach ESL to teens and adults for a summer. This experience solidified my decision to become a teacher. I enjoyed every day I spent teaching at the school and found pleasure in the challenge of adapting my teaching to best fit my students.