Hello all! I am writing from my couch while my husband makes supper, my one year old destroys a magazine, and my cat crawls on me to get me to stop typing. I am a grade four teacher and I just returned from my maternity leave to find myself covering a grade one position. I am not a grade one teacher at all but they seem to enjoy my silly songs and my guitar playing so we might just survive the next 30 days. I have already learned a lot about how students learn to print and spell! Kudos to you grade one teachers out there, it is incredible that students enter grade one not knowing how to print all the letters and leave grade one writing full sentences, wow!
I am the informal tech coordinator at our school, our actual tech coordinator seems to only troubleshoot hardware issues so I try to support teachers using technology to teach. I am often encouraging teachers to just try something, it doesn’t really matter if it works out but it probably will because enough kids are tech-y enough to make it work. My position seems to have been somewhat usurped while I was on Maternity leave but I’m not minding as I am trying my best to make grade one go well.
This picture is of the regional park near my husband’s home. It isn’t very exciting but it is peaceful and that is what I am looking for now that my life has gotten busy again.
Heather Elder
Wow, a busy hectic night for you. I’m always so impressed by the people in these courses who continue to work, take care of their kids, and take courses. Having no kids of my own and being so busy, I don’t know how someone adds children into the mix. You all deserve a medal.
Looking forward to working with you.
Courtney
Hi,
I was drawn to your comment: “I am a grade four teacher and I just returned from my maternity leave to find myself covering a grade one position.”
I am curious… how did that happen?
There were big staffing changes at the beginning of the 2014 school year. Somehow my school lost 1.5 teaching positions and teachers were shifted around from other schools in town. There were two of us on mat leave during this year and neither of us knew where we would be placed when we returned in March (her) and May (me). She is a grade three teacher that got placed in a grade seven class in a different school bc that teacher conveniently went on mat leave. Up until the last week of my leave I was supposed to be floating with no permanent placement but the grade one teacher went on leave from an injury so I was put in her classroom. We are never guaranteed the position we are trained for in our division, they move us from grade to grade each fall as they want. There seems to be no rhyme or reason sometimes.