Professional

=My Professional Journey =

I love being a teacher. I loved it on my first day, and I love it after almost 4,745 days of it. Teaching is not just a 9-5 job for me - it is a lifestyle that helps mold who I am. It does not solely define me, yet much of my life stems from giving to and helping others - personally and professionally. With that said, I am definitely not the same teacher I was when I embarked on this professional journey. Many experiences and people have helped me be flexible to morph as time goes on.

When I started teaching, I taught grades 7, 8, and 9 science, art, and health at Creighton Community School, in Creighton, SK. The first time I had driven north of Prince Albert was for this job interview. My (soon-to-be) husband had been up to the area many times as a child, and convinced me it would be a great place to live. He was right. I spent the first ten years of my career in Creighton. I had the privilege of teaching with many dynamic staff members who made CCS a terrific place to spend my first years. Not only did we have a great staff, but I had the privilege of working under a dynamic leader who I also considered a great friend. It wasn't until I left that I realized how much I took for granted as a teacher at that school (especially without having anything to compare it to). We were a Northern Community school, in a one-school division, so we had a very personal, welcoming atmosphere at our school. My job slowly changed to being a grade seven homeroom teacher - teaching math, science, art, phys ed, and health. This really helped me see my love for math again. After a few years I had the chance to move into the senior grades, teaching math and Native Studies.

One day, while having coffee in the staff room, I noticed a poster up on the wall about a meeting taking place regarding graduate programs through Brandon University. I hadn't seriously thought too much about taking a Masters program, yet something about this appealed to me, and made me curious to check into it some more. I found out that I could take a whole Masters program online, through distance education, with only having to go to Brandon at the very end for one week. Living in Flin Flon, this appealed to me very much. My decision was pretty much that simple. It also helped a great deal that through our local LINC agreement, my school division would pay for 6 credits per year, which was pretty much what I would take. This seemed a little too easy - classes all online, pretty much all paid for. The question then became "Why not do this?" The biggest decision then came about what to specialize in. I knew I definitely didn't have an interest in special education or guidance and counselling, so that left me curriculum and instruction or educational administration. I still had a passion for math, as well as being in the classroom, so I went with curriculum and instruction, hoping to specialize further in mathematics education. I applied in the fall of 2007, and was enrolled in my first class for January 2008. My goal was to take one class per semester, finishing in six years. In the end, it took me just about that!

I was able to enroll in the core classes everyone needed first. A couple of friends from Flin Flon also enrolled in the program, so I was very excited to have someone to talk to a little during this process. At the beginning of my program, a vice-principal position opened up at my school, and my principal talked me into applying for it. I honestly wasn't sure if this was the path I wanted to take, but she gave a convincing argument and truly believed in me. I didn't get the position, but was so thankful for the interview opportunity. It got my gears rolling about where I wanted my future to take me. I had the opportunity to be a co-operating teacher with a few student teachers, and knew that leading and mentoring others was a great strength of mine - I just still wasn't sure if administration was the place for me to do it. After my interview, my director suggested that I change educational pathways into educational administration if I was still interested in admin positions. After completing my core courses in my program, I was honestly finding it difficult to choose classes in my specialization - there wasn't a whole lot offered through distance education, and I was feeling a little duped by the University. That changed when I took a look at what was being offered through the Ed. Admin route - much more. This made my decision easy to switch.

Once I started my educational administration courses, I knew I made the right decision. I know that I work well with other people, and I loved learning about it and discussing it with other professionals. While taking these classes, another vice-principalship position came up - this time a maternity leave. I was ready for this one, and I loved that it was only a term position, and I viewed it as a trial run. This time I got the position, and credit doing so well in the interview to my first couple of administration courses. The position was scheduled at the start of the 2010 school year (I interviewed in March 2010). I had just moved into teaching math in the high school (we were a preK-12 school), and was starting to feel a bit of a groove, so I was excited to be able to come back to it. Little be known to me, I would start my new vice-principal position a few weeks after my interview.

Our VP had gone into early labour, and delivered her baby at around 24 weeks. Everything with little Bryce turned out fine, she's a strong little fighter. So, instead of having some transition time, Stacy was gone in a flash, and I was in. Not a great way to start. On top of that, our principal and other vice-principal were not getting along well at all. I jumped in, rather, dived in to a very messy situation. Nothing like learning trial by fire. Along comes May, and another surprise. Our other vice-principal announced that she was taking a different job in Flin Flon (our neighbouring community). WIthout any questions asked, I became a permanent vice-principal. In the middle of it, I didn't really think twice about it - I just thought how great this was that I moved up the ladder. The next school year was just as crazy. We never did another administrator for the year, only lessened our teaching load, and handled admin between the two of us. My learning curve was extraordinarily, crazy high. I was in charge of the elementary (preK-6) side of the school, and didn't really have any elementary experience. I am so happy that I had relationships with all the staff. What I was not prepared for was all the discipline issues! Oy! On top of that, we were going through major report card revisions that I helped implement. If this wasn't enough, our director, who was with our school as administration for a very long time, took another position in Prince Albert. Our school board had the tricky job of finding a replacement for our little division. Of course, our new director and the principal got off on the wrong foot, and I spent the entire year in the middle. T'was not fun.

Towards the end of the school I sat down and really reconsidered whether this job was for me. My graduate courses were coming to a close end, finishing my graduate diploma at the end of my year as an administrator. I had been going out to quite a few meetings being held my the Ministry, dealing with curriculum and instruction, and felt that my strengths could be better used as a coach for teachers. I also really was missing my classroom, but I'm not sure if it was the teaching I was missing, or the drama-free environment behind my closed door. I had the conversation with my director, and let him know that I was ready to go back to my classroom. He tried to talk me out of it, and brought up the idea of creating a half-time "teaching coach" position. It was something I was very interested in doing, and researched how other divisions were utilizing such a position. The ideas was to teach in the mornings, and coach in the afternoons - perfect.

Life has many twists and turns. My husband and I are both from southern Saskatchewan (well, way more southern than Creighton), and we always felt the itch to return closer to home. Every spring I would keep an eye on jobs in the Canora and Saskatoon area, just in case something perfect came up. This time, something did. There was a permanent senior math position in Esterhazy, Sk. Esterhazy is a mining town, an hour and a half away from Canora (Ian's parent's farm). Without thinking about it much, I phoned my husband and said, "I think I should apply for this job". Before I knew it, I applied, was driving down for an interview, and accepted the job. When I think back, it was the first position I had applied out to, and I didn't really expect to get it. But again, if I don't dive into something, the longer I sit on the edge, and the more hesitant I get - most of the time to point of walking away. I am just now finishing my first year in Esterhazy, while finishing my journey through my Masters. My courses have done so much to complement my teaching. I have loved the opportunities to stay current and engaged in educational topics, while applying what I have learned into my teaching. Every decision I make, good or bad, has made me into the person and teacher I am today. I see myself continuing in this position for awhile, and seeing where my path in this school division takes me. I have developed a love for leading and collaborating with others, and have my sights set on working in teacher education. A few things need to fall into place for this to happen, but I'm not in a rush right now - stability is most important for the next few years. It has been an insane, crazy couple of years, with some big decisions made, and I am looking forward to settling into my new position, becoming an expert at what I do, and sharing my knowledge with others.