I am a teacher by trade, who is fascinated by the world around me. We teachers like to speak of, and encourage, life-long learning. You'll hear this phrase come up all over the internet these days, and I am loving it, because while humans are unavoidably life-long learners, we can also sometimes be resistant to it. Learning new ways of thinking or doing things can be tough. The phrase “Life-long learning” is being held up as an example, as something to strive for, as this little golden apple we should all be aware of and invite into our lives. And I think that's a great thing! See, I have dabbled in computer science, taking courses to learn programming in school, but also taking online courses just for my own understanding outside of school. I'm a parent, which leads me to explore child psychology, relationship building, child biology and nutrition. I adore the great outdoors, which has led to exploring plant and animal identification, fishing techniques, and survival tactics. My love of people and a desire to help them has led to learning about history, identity politics, government policies, and psychology. I'm interested in learning other languages, and have several times spent months teaching myself French (although I have yet to reach that goal). In every instance, curiosity has fuelled a natural drive to become more educated. To know more, to experience more, to understand more. Curiosity fuels growth. And, not surprisingly, growth helps us to function better in the world. That's why I turned to teaching. To be a supportive partner in the growth of others, so they have the resources later in life to reach their goals. For some people, learning English is a goal in and of itself. They want to learn just so they can say they did, or because they're curious, or because they simply enjoy the learning process. For many others, learning English is the key to open doors in their lives. It's the difference between getting that well-paying job, or being passed over. It's the difference between understanding what is going on in their university classes, and missing vital information. It's the key to navigating new surroundings with ease after a big move, or struggling to access resources effectively. Teaching allows me to provide others with the stepping stones to reach those goals. So I am many things, but above all, I'm a life-long learner. And a teacher.

Yes. I have a bachelor's degree in English, and a Bachelor of Education (J/I, and Senior English) from Nipissing University.

Offline teaching experience: 8

Online teaching experience: 2

I left high school as a teenager, ready to take on the world and find a way to really make a difference in the lives of others. I considered becoming a programmer, as I found programming easy and exciting, but in the end thought I would help more people by becoming an educator. I took English Studies for my major, as books and discussing their ideas has always appealed to me, and saw that through to its natural end, four years later. During that time I joined an Environmental Action Committee, which undertook as a group to help educate the public on various environmental issues facing our world today. We organized festivals, created displays, and made lifelong friendships. I also participated in several dramatic productions, and worked for the Responsible Gambling Committee helping to education university students on responsible gambling habits. I graduated from Nipissing University with a Bachelor of Education, certified in Junior/Intermediate education, in 2009. Each semester we would take a number of courses designed to increase our understanding of the learning process, as well as a plethora of teaching techniques. They taught us how to appropriately assess student learning, and how to maintain a healthy learning environment for our future students. We spent months on placement, teaching under the guidance of senior teachers and learning how to put our skills into practice, before finally being declared fit to teach, and signing up with the Ontario College of Teachers. The following year, I upgraded my skills to include Senior English, as my goal at the time was to teach in a high school. My first official teaching job was with a company called Talk to Canada, where I taught ESL to small groups of employees from the Saudi Telecom Company in Saudi Arabia over TTC's e-learning platform. The groups ranged greatly in ability, from complete beginners, to students who really only needed practice perfecting their grammar and learning idioms or specialized terms relating to their business practices. We had a lot of fun, learning a bit about each others culture. Shortly thereafter, I joined Myngle to pick up some extra hours, where I worked with a young girl from China, who was quite skilled already, and mostly needed to pick up new vocabulary. I tailored her lessons to her interests to keep lessons engaging, and we worked together for a few months. A year or so after graduation, I was hired as an Occasional Teacher for the Algoma District School Board and moved to a small town where the slow speed of the internet did not allow me to continue my work as an ESL teacher. Instead, I worked exclusively in the town's one public school, supplying in grades JK through to 12. Occasionally I took long-term positions in the high school, which sometimes lasted half a school year, while other times only a few weeks. I have taught Math, English, Geography, Drama and Science at various times during my career. The fantastic part of living in a small town, is that you get to watch all the children grow up, graduate, and find their way in the world. You can see the difference that you make in their lives. In 2012, I took a course on Special Education, which eventually (years later) led to being hired as an IBI Therapist in town. I worked full time with a student on the Autism Spectrum for a little over a year, before finally deciding to move to Sudbury to be closer to family. I had spent 7 years away, and figured it was time. I now work part time as a private tutor for a company called Tutor Doctor, and part time for Myngle again. Since Covid 19 interrupted our lives, my tutoring has been primarily online through various videoconferencing programs such as Webex and Zoom, which definitely has its challenges when teaching math, but has the bonus of leaving students even more tech-savvy than before they started online. Cheers!