My first foray into a classroom was during a high school work experience program, where I worked with grade 3 students. Following graduation, I enrolled in the Elementary Education program at the University of Alberta, with a minor in Special Education. I have been teaching full time for twelve years, working in Alberta, London, and now, British Columbia. In this time I have worked with children in kindergarten to grade nine, in a variety of roles including mentor teacher, learning resource teacher and special education classroom teacher.
I had always intended to pursue a masters degree, in fact my initial plan was to teach and travel overseas for a year, then return home to begin my studies again. I fell in love with London, and the school I was working at, and so remained in England for almost six years. Upon returning to Canada, I focused my career on working with children with different learning needs. I have worked in a modified classroom, in a resource room and most recently in a school specifically for children with learning disabilities.
It was in my time working as a resource teacher, that I discovered I had much to learn about children with exceptionalities. The Fraser Valley cohort Master's program in Special Education was brought to my attention and I knew that it was the perfect time to begin the next stage of my teaching journey. I had the practical experience and was instinctively making changes to the curriculum and the classroom environment to meet the needs of my students, but I knew I could better support each child by furthering my own education.