Update
Hello intrepid readers, if any of you still remain. I recognize it has been many moons since I last posted (to be precise, 17 new moons), but I am endeavouring to get back into this here blogosphere.
So, what's new? Well, I finished off my teaching degree in New Brunswick and then moved back to Ottawa (less dramatically than my trip eastward) to begin hunting for teaching work. While provincial premiers have announced that they intend to make moving from one province to another for work that requires certification, such as teaching, I was unfortunately not part of that movement.
In brief, I wanted to teach in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. I contacted them and they told I needed to apply for an employee number, but to do that I needed to have my Ontario College of Teacher's certification. But to have that I needed to have my New Brunswick teaching certification. But to have that I needed to have graduated (not just had my classes end, but actually wait for the commencement ceremony). As my classes only ended at the end of June and my commencement wasn't until late July, this did not bode well for being ready to teach by September.
And that's pretty much how it worked out - it took me until mid-October to even be *allowed* to try and work in Ottawa. More than a little frustrating. Anyhow, after a bit of time supply teaching, I fell into a maternity coverage position teaching grade 7 and 8 science, language arts and geography/history. All in French. Oui. Moi qui ne parles pas souvent le francais avais besoin de le parler chaque jour, pour toute la journee. Fortunately, as the year went on, the rust fell away and I did okay. I still wouldn't be happy having me teach language arts, but I think I did the science justice. I had a much better time working with this age group than I ever thought possible and the option of working long-term in grade 7 and 8 is now on the table, which was not the case going into the year.
However, this fall I'm euphamistically calling myself an unrestricted free agent, again looking for work. This time I would like to try the high school level to get a feel for both levels and then figure out which I like best. What job postings there are will be coming out next week, so I'm updating my resume and keeping my fingers crossed.
Oh, and as far as living arrangements go, after probably a little too long of staying with my parents (the rent was good and with daily work locations a bit uncertain it was helpful), I am now living with my friend e-J, in an attempt to recapture our halcyon days of youth, when we were proud card-carrying members of the House of Ill Repute in Guelph, Ontario (actually, and this will matter to very, very few of you, I still *am* a card-carrying member of the Certified Llama Herders Association "Sheep yes, llamas no"). Anyhow, e-J is a gracious landlord and I'm enjoying my time here. Should a permanent teaching position come my way, I would probably look for something else, but in the meantime, I'm quite happy here.
So, rather depressingly, I have now summarized the last 16 months of my life in 5 paragraphs, but I'll write that off to efficiency as opposed to a lack of meaning. I'm aiming to keep this blog updated more frequently now, so hopefully it will attract back a reader or two - if you do drop by, leave a little comment so I know I'm writing for someone, even if you comment anonymously!
So, what's new? Well, I finished off my teaching degree in New Brunswick and then moved back to Ottawa (less dramatically than my trip eastward) to begin hunting for teaching work. While provincial premiers have announced that they intend to make moving from one province to another for work that requires certification, such as teaching, I was unfortunately not part of that movement.
In brief, I wanted to teach in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. I contacted them and they told I needed to apply for an employee number, but to do that I needed to have my Ontario College of Teacher's certification. But to have that I needed to have my New Brunswick teaching certification. But to have that I needed to have graduated (not just had my classes end, but actually wait for the commencement ceremony). As my classes only ended at the end of June and my commencement wasn't until late July, this did not bode well for being ready to teach by September.
And that's pretty much how it worked out - it took me until mid-October to even be *allowed* to try and work in Ottawa. More than a little frustrating. Anyhow, after a bit of time supply teaching, I fell into a maternity coverage position teaching grade 7 and 8 science, language arts and geography/history. All in French. Oui. Moi qui ne parles pas souvent le francais avais besoin de le parler chaque jour, pour toute la journee. Fortunately, as the year went on, the rust fell away and I did okay. I still wouldn't be happy having me teach language arts, but I think I did the science justice. I had a much better time working with this age group than I ever thought possible and the option of working long-term in grade 7 and 8 is now on the table, which was not the case going into the year.
However, this fall I'm euphamistically calling myself an unrestricted free agent, again looking for work. This time I would like to try the high school level to get a feel for both levels and then figure out which I like best. What job postings there are will be coming out next week, so I'm updating my resume and keeping my fingers crossed.
Oh, and as far as living arrangements go, after probably a little too long of staying with my parents (the rent was good and with daily work locations a bit uncertain it was helpful), I am now living with my friend e-J, in an attempt to recapture our halcyon days of youth, when we were proud card-carrying members of the House of Ill Repute in Guelph, Ontario (actually, and this will matter to very, very few of you, I still *am* a card-carrying member of the Certified Llama Herders Association "Sheep yes, llamas no"). Anyhow, e-J is a gracious landlord and I'm enjoying my time here. Should a permanent teaching position come my way, I would probably look for something else, but in the meantime, I'm quite happy here.
So, rather depressingly, I have now summarized the last 16 months of my life in 5 paragraphs, but I'll write that off to efficiency as opposed to a lack of meaning. I'm aiming to keep this blog updated more frequently now, so hopefully it will attract back a reader or two - if you do drop by, leave a little comment so I know I'm writing for someone, even if you comment anonymously!
posted by Mr. G. at 10:53 p.m.
3 Comments:
Hey Mr. G - I kept you in my bloglines, even though there was never anything new. So you know that at least I'll be reading every once in a while!
Hurrah! A reader - guess I'll keep writing :-)
Well, I'm certainly not reading so don't write for me. :)
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