If someone had told me I would land my dream job less than six months after graduating from university I would have laughed in their face. "There's no way!" I would have cried, "the job market in Alberta is just too tough. I'll have to take what I can get." Well I am here to tell you that sometimes people really do get that lucky.
Beginning in August I will be the newest Social Studies and English teacher in a tiny rural school in Southern Alberta. The teaching assignment as I have it right now is Grades 7-10 English and Social, but I am under the impression that a few other courses will be added before the beginning of the year. All I can think about is starting to plan and prepare for the year ahead!
To start things off right I want to begin with two goals that will guide my first year of teaching.
1.) Meaningful Technology Integration
This one is key in the division I will be working in and, indeed is a great goal that will benefit students in general. We hear day in and day out about twenty-first century learners needing a unique set of skills to be successful in life beyond school, and being proficient technology users is one of those skills. My goal is to meaningfully integrate technology to increase student engagement and give students the tools (clay, if you will) to build the foundation of their future careers (the bricks?). I plan on using tools such as Twitter, Padlet, SlideRocket, and many others to accomplish this and the attempt will be well-documented here.
2.) Maintain Work-Life Balance
Like many teachers out there I struggle with work-life balance. I can easily spends 16 hours a day planning and preparing for school-related activities. I am also aware of the astoundingly high rate of teacher burnout in the first five years of being in the profession - and my propensity for being one of those burnt out teachers. To combat this my goal is to maintain balance in my life. I plan on achieving this by having one full weekend day per week that is just for me, my family, and my dog. Since the AMAZING school I will be working for has a four day school week (isn't that amazing?!) my three day weekends should make this a feasible goal.
With these two goals to guide me on my journey through my first year of teaching I couldn't be more excited to get started!
Beginning in August I will be the newest Social Studies and English teacher in a tiny rural school in Southern Alberta. The teaching assignment as I have it right now is Grades 7-10 English and Social, but I am under the impression that a few other courses will be added before the beginning of the year. All I can think about is starting to plan and prepare for the year ahead!
To start things off right I want to begin with two goals that will guide my first year of teaching.
1.) Meaningful Technology Integration
This one is key in the division I will be working in and, indeed is a great goal that will benefit students in general. We hear day in and day out about twenty-first century learners needing a unique set of skills to be successful in life beyond school, and being proficient technology users is one of those skills. My goal is to meaningfully integrate technology to increase student engagement and give students the tools (clay, if you will) to build the foundation of their future careers (the bricks?). I plan on using tools such as Twitter, Padlet, SlideRocket, and many others to accomplish this and the attempt will be well-documented here.
2.) Maintain Work-Life Balance
Like many teachers out there I struggle with work-life balance. I can easily spends 16 hours a day planning and preparing for school-related activities. I am also aware of the astoundingly high rate of teacher burnout in the first five years of being in the profession - and my propensity for being one of those burnt out teachers. To combat this my goal is to maintain balance in my life. I plan on achieving this by having one full weekend day per week that is just for me, my family, and my dog. Since the AMAZING school I will be working for has a four day school week (isn't that amazing?!) my three day weekends should make this a feasible goal.
With these two goals to guide me on my journey through my first year of teaching I couldn't be more excited to get started!