Hi! I am a teacher candidate at UBC in the IBDP cohort. Over the course of this year I have completed a successful practicum in a secondary school classrooms teaching IB Geography and a variety of Social Studies classes. I have also just completed a practicum in Haida Gwaii participating in Aboriginal and Outdoor Education. My undergraduate degree is from UBC in Human Geography, therefore my teachable subjects are Social Studies, Geography, History, BCFN, English, English First Peoples, Planning, Outdoor Education and/or in IB education. My main passion however is geography and I am a huge advocate for increasing geo-literacy in high schools. Geo-literacy is a key 21 century skill that helps students frame and grapple with real and big issues of our lifetime, like globalization, economic division, and climate change.
Outside of the classroom, I love to travel and have the luxury to do so throughout Europe, Africa, Australia and USA. I also enjoy hiking, kayaking, yoga, volleyball and field hockey. Lastly, I am a strong supporter of inclusive communities that honour diversity and therefore am an advocate of student organizations such as Gay Straight Alliance clubs, social justice and cultural awareness groups.
I am passionate about learning, teaching and community building. I look forward to an exciting career as a secondary teacher this coming fall!
Explanation of my cover photo:
On one Sunday morning this semester I asked my family and closest friends to come over for brunch. At bunch I asked them all to write down an “I am” statement that represented a personality trait that was true for them, while also being true to my personality. My cover photo is made up of pictures of my family holding these statements. At my bunch table I had people from my childhood, my family-like friends and my fiancé, all of whom make up my large support network. I recognize how privileged I am to have them all and how inspiring they have been to my chosen career.
My interest in education is undoubtedly rooted from my childhood and that is why it is particularly important having Alex (“I am creative”) in my sequence of family members. Since I was child I have helped my younger brother Alex through school. He has severe dyslexia and has struggled with learning his entire life. Time and again I have seen him not get the attention and resources he needed to succeed. With the help of a few special teachers however, Alex has come to learn to read, do math equations and memorize class material- even at a university level. I have seen how frustrating and alienating education can be and how building a support network for a student both inside and outside the classroom can change a life. I look at Alex and at the supportive teachers he had and realize that being a part of someone’s journey and network is the best career I could imagine.
Making this project will influence my career in education because it makes me think about the role of support a teacher plays in students’ lives. In nearly all classes I had this semester, I have heard how important it is for students to have at least one supportive adult/ teacher in the school. The role of a supportive teacher can mean everything to a young person, especially students who feel marginalized and to those who do not have large support networks at home or elsewhere. I realized how privileged I am to have a large support network over the course of creating this project and how lucky I have been in the past to get where I am today. It is of the utmost important to me to create an open and warm classroom atmosphere built on trust and support between me and my students that is based in the recognition of our specific social conditions. It has been very interesting being in high schools over the course of the semesters and feeling how different teachers facilitate their space. I was surprised at how different a space feels when the teacher is open, inviting and supportive and how in the opposite of this one can actually feel hostility.
Furthermore, I realized the importance of asking students to consider their own autobiography, as a teacher, I would love to hear how my students see themselves in the world and how/ if they recognize their own social privileges. I think that knowing more about my students in the beginning of the year would help me better plan lessons and recognize how I can best be of support to my students.
Lastly, a career in education has always been appealing to me because it is centered on building support networks for youth. I was/ am lucky to have been surrounded by a family that cared and encouraged me in whatever path I was to choose. While making this photo I seriously reflected on how hard it would be to get though the world without support from trusting adults and dedicated friends, and what a privilege it would be to be allowed into someone’s life as a meaningful support to them. Being an educator means empowering people to seek new understanding by thinking together, to acknowledge difference by dialoguing with others and to encourage individual passions- all of which need to happen in a caring and supportive community.