Ready?

It's a terrible thing in life to wait until you're ready. Actually, no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready.

If I've learned anything over this past year or so it has to be not to wait until you're ready to do something. Life requires us to take chances, to put ourselves out there, and to adapt to change. The most exciting and wonderful things happen this way. 

Again, I've been slacking with the updates. When I first created this blog I intended to keep it fully updated all the time. It's nice to document my progress as a first year teacher, but I've been too busy taking in the experience and self-reflecting to create an interesting blog-account of it. 

What I can say is that this year has challenged and tested me in ways I never thought possible. All of my pre conceived notions of what it means to be a teacher have been shattered. My outlook continues to grow and evolve - but it is always based on the premise of teaching empathy and doing what is best for the students. 

This blog post by Lori Gard really puts into perspective what students will remember about their teachers. I'm always looking for effective//efficient ways to create engaging lessons, to appeal to different learning styles, to provide individual feedback, and to make an impact. The following excerpt is my favourite part of her post. What is it that students remember most? Is it the content that you teach them? The study methods? Or is it something more like....

Your kindness. Your empathy. Your care and concern. They'll remember that you took the time to listen. That you stopped to ask them how they were. How they really were. They'll remember the personal stories you tell about your life: your home, your pets, your kids. They'll remember your laugh. They'll remember that you sat and talked with them while they ate their lunch.

I am making a resolution in 2014 to be present in my work. It's easy to get bogged down by the general busy-ness of planning, organizing, and marking. I want to truly be there for my students, listen to their concerns, and really make a connection with them. So far, I have succeeded in laying the foundation for this -- but it is beneficial to reflect every now and then to reinvigorate my passion for choosing this career. 

In other news, I'll be heading to Ireland for the winter sports break in about three weeks. I'm also beginning to plan my summer travel plans backpacking up the European coast from Turkey to Portugal. There's definitely an air of excitement surrounding these next few months. 

Everyday I remember how lucky I am to have a supportive family, a job that I love, the opportunity to travel, and most of all my health. 

Don't take anything for granted. Always show appreciation. 

Be kind to each other ! <3 

Life is a ride and we can change it anytime we want

Sunset in Barcelona - View from near Park Güell 

My students just finished projects on different conditions and diseases, looking at the effects on human health. I love assigning presentations and working with students to improve their presentation skills. Communication is an important life skill for all, along with learning to work with others. Project-based learning tasks are most engaging for students when they are given the ability to creatively find ways to reach a common goal. My favourite parts of teaching are the implicit lessons that underly the academic 
objectives. There are so many fantastic ways of nurturing important life skills through well-thought out learning activities. 

Next, we're moving into our study of chemistry which both the students and I are extremely excited for. Chemistry concepts can be learned through engaging hands-on activities that appeal to all types of learners.  We kick off next week with demonstrations and experiments about acidity using purple cabbage as a base indicator. I have a feeling these labs are going to be fun!

Exploring Palma City at night.
Nothing is more wonderful than getting lost in a new city!

In travel news, about a month ago I travelled to Spain with four other teachers. We began our trip in Palma de Mallorca and finished it in Barcelona. I was captivated once again by the beauty of the Mediterranean coast on the island of Palma de Mallorca. The architectural wonder that is Barcelona cannot adequately be described in words; it must be experienced, first hand. La Sagrada Familia (a Cathedral designed by Antony Gaudi) is one of the most beautiful human-created things I've seen in my entire life. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of peace/serenity that washed over my being when I walked through the brass-plated doors. The way in which Gaudi's idea for the cathedral is connected to the natural world is absolutely fascinating.

I leave you with a wonderful quote about life by Bill Hicks that I particularly enjoy. I enlarged some of my favourite parts. The message is so clear yet so far removed from the scope of many people's lives. I love taking a step back to reflect every now and then. 

" The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." 

It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now,between fear and love. 

The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. "



.... so choose LOVE.

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”

Albert Einstein's words are a powerful driving force within my teaching style. Some teachers might be appalled to be proven wrong or not being able to answer a question asked by their students, holding onto some sort of pride that reinforces artificial power structures. I believe that questioning is the most incredible skill a student can learn. Learning is a process, a cycle in a sense. It does not cease to progress, although we may come back to certain things we learned to reflect and ask new questions.

Today was a great day. We are finishing up an introduction to cells and cell theory in preparation to move into the realm of ecology. I think it is important to begin with a knowledge about the most basic unit of life (cells) and move outwards to think about interactions between complex organisms.

My grade sixes are in the midst of completing their first bit of group work. Their task was to work with a group of 4-5 students to create a poster about one of the 7 Life Processes. Each group had to summarize a short bit of information and create pictures to represent how living things work through these processes.

It has gone well so far! It is interesting to watch some of the students work together in groups. The students whose heads are closer together, collaborating and sharing ideas seem to have produced the most incredible depictions. This activity has allowed me to see how different students and classes work in groups. It gives us a chance to reflect also on group dynamics and what it means to work as part of a team.

Their final science project in May will be completed in teams. I want to build a strong foundation before this task so that the students are more likely to be successful with the intricate project. Stay tuned for more information about this.

In one of my classes, a student inquired about the usefulness of learning about the structure of cells. We began discussing how studying cells leads to innovations in the medical field. We talked about how this might connect to their lives and the lives of people close to them. One student posed a question:

"How much money do you think you would make if you discovered a cure for cancer?"

This lead to a discussion about morality. The majority of the class indicated that they would not expect any compensation because they would be happy to cure those who are suffering. About 5-6 said they would sell it for as much as they can.

I found this to be an interesting insight into the minds of these students. It got me thinking again about the influence society and institutions have on us as we begin to understand them.

I sure hope the 26 or so students who raised their hands for no compensation hold on to these values as they become more aware of the way the world works.

Five-weeks in and a long awaited update...

I have not updated this blog as much as I originally anticipated. What can I say, I have been much busier than I ever imagined (in a good way!). Those who told me that the first few years are the hardest were definitely not lying. Couple the general chaos that accompanies teaching with moving to a foreign country and you get one heck of an transition period. I feel like I've been white-water rafting down a racing river for the past 5 weeks, just barely taking in all of the beauty the landscape has to offer.

 A new set of cultural practices, norms, and a language I have only begun to grasp have been challenging additions to my first year of teaching. After completing the in-service week in mid-August, the school year began with full force!

The first week we were slowly introduced to our students. Welcome assemblies, tours of the building, going over procedures/routines, ice breaker games and all that fun stuff filled up the week. It flew by extremely quick, as if I were going 100km/hour down that majestic river. 

By the end of the week, I was feeling hopeful, excited, and nervous all at the same time. I was hopeful about all the upcoming year had to hold. I was excited both to get to know my students better and to inspire their curiosity in one of the most fascinating subjects, science! Lastly, I was nervous about learning 192 names, making an impact on the students, and learning to balance all elements of my new life.

Picture break....

Students collaborated to create rules.

The second through to last week seemed also to pass by within the blink of an eye. No sooner did I begin my weeks with class meet then they ended Friday afternoon with an exciting science lesson for 6C. 

A goal that I have been working on is giving myself time to reflect on my lessons and teaching practices. With few breaks in-between classes and a hectic schedule that leaves little time to cross off all the tasks on my to do list, this can be challenging. I try to fully reflect on at least one lesson for each of the six classes I teach. 

Each student has unique academic, emotional, and social needs. These combine to create unique group dynamics in each class. A learning activity that goes extremely well in one class may go horribly wrong in another, not be engaging for students in another, and lead to different topics of discussion. It is incredibly interesting to think about the various factors that interact in each environment for these outcomes to occur. 

I chose to begin with biology and a unit called Life As We Know It to kick off the year. I want to get the students thinking about what it means to be alive, what we know about life, the possibility of other forms of life, and the interactions that occur between living things. There is SO much to explore. Narrowing down what to cover and adapting it to an appropriate level has been crucial to planning. Figuring out ways to bridge the language gap and meet the needs of various learners has also been something I keep in mind. 

It can be challenging to teach a subject like science to a group of students in english when it is not their first language. There are a lot of context specific words. Scientific inquiry involves establishing a base knowledge through research and reading. Each week I make progress towards meeting this need. I try to include swedish keyword translations, use visual cues, and have strong students act as translators to explain difficult concepts in Swedish.

The most exciting thing about teaching science has to be all of the new things I am learning about the subject! Each day the connections become more prominent and my curiosity soars to new heights. The scope of what I am interested in has changed drastically. I have always planned to go back to school but the possibilities of what to study have expanded to territories I never would have explored in the safe comfort of my social science background.

These challenges I am facing as a first year teacher and new-comer to Sweden will, I think, be beneficial in the end. Each day I learn more about my the type of teacher I want to be. I learn what works, with who, and at what time. I learn to prioritize and work more efficiently. I learn to be okay with the fact that I am never by any measure going to be able to get everything done. I learn to reflect on my failures. Most of all, I learn to approach everything with an open-mind and child-like sense of wonder. 

Development Talk Reports (similar to Midterms) must be completed in the next few weeks. I will also be co-coaching cheerleading for grade 6-9 girls, and wrapping up my ecology unit. 

Between planning, teaching, assessing, evaluating, creating, mentoring, and guiding....  I'll be planning for my trip to spain Oct 26th to Nov2nd! I am incredibly excited to visit Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona with some of the other teachers. 

I'm thinking  it will be a much needed refresher by the time 10 weeks of teaching wraps-up. 

I leave you with a quote: 

And this....

....because it's incredibly fascinating to think about how quickly technology has developed/change (and continues to do so) during my lifetime.

Try something you might fail at...

... for what joy is there in doing what there was no doubt you could do? 

Today was our first day of in-service before the semester begins August 19th. Originally I was told that I would be teaching english, math and science to two different classes. There's  been a change of plans - I'll be teaching science to all six classes.

Teaching the same lessons numerous times per week will give me a chance to refine them as I go. Plus I get to include the chemistry cat quite frequently, haha. (see above)

This set-up is slightly different than teaching in an elementary classroom back in Canada. Considering my background isn't exactly science... it will be a challenge. 

However, there are so many fun, hands-on ways to teach/learn science! I'm confident that this will be an amazing opportunity for personal and professional development. There's also a grade-wide science fair at the end of the year which I'll likely get to plan. 

Lots and lots and lots of organizing, moving things around, scheduling, preparing, and planning to do these next couple of weeks!

<3 

Can't make the train on time to save my life..

Local street art in Stockholm

It's been almost a week since I've written last. When I last left off, Chloe and I were heading to spend the day in Stockholm. Figures we missed the train once again.... Luckily Teresa - a really nice worker at the train station - helped us out once again and we were able to switch our tickets for a later time (with no penalty).

We also made the mistake of not taking a number to secure a spot in line while clearing this up. Needless to say, a couple people were quite angry with us! It's very common to use the number ticket queue system in most public places in Sweden. 

Chloe and I indeed spent the day exploring the city in the rain. We also ran into some Canadian teachers that will be teaching at another School in Stockholm. One of them happend to attend school with me this past year. It's funny how common it is to run into people you know randomly halfway across the world. 

Here are some pictures from Stockholm. The city itself is an interesting mix of history and modernity. The architecture varies slightly depending on which area you are in. It is a typical port city but it has a different feel than other European cities that I've been too. Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of damage due to warfare? 

Little cobblestone street towards the port

Cathedral in the background

A boat sailing through the port

Overlooking the city

Traffic circle where 6 directions
of traffic meet

View of architecture from above

I returned back from Stockholm on the last train (11pm), which I happend to make on time! Since then, I've spent many days at a local beach area called Sundbyholm with the other teachers. We even spent one day out on a boat after enjoying the beach for some time.

If not at that beach, you'd likely have found us at a closer spot called Vilsta. A small lake surrounded by vast areas of greenery comprises this beach-like area. It's about a 15 minute walk (or 5 minute jog) from my place I've been enjoying a little yoga by the lake in the middle of my morning runs.

I have to say that as much as I am super excited to start my first year of teaching, it might be slightly tough to switch from vacation to business mode! The weather has been so beautiful here in Sweden since I've arrived.

God Morgon! (Good morning)

The last few days have been great. I've met many of the teachers I'll be working with this year. I'm looking forward to beginning my first year of teaching!

We start in-service August 7th. All the details will start becoming more clear and I can begin to finalize some planning for the year.

I'm looking forward to travelling during my down time. Many of the teachers have been to various places across Europe, a few have yet to return. Visiting Croatia is definitely a priority this year and I'd also love to visit Barcelona. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions! On my window sill sit coins from the Czech Republic, Norway, Turkey, and Switzerland amongst others.

Various currencies collected by the others that lived in my apartment.

Chloe (a friend from home) has been visiting since Friday afternoon as she completes her half a year of travels around the world! We've come full circle since her goodbye dinner in March as I become settled in Eskilstuna. It's been a nice transition into a new country having a friend from home visit. She of course has had so many wonderful stories to share about here adventures.

On Friday, we headed downtown for some dinner and to check out the night life. People in Sweden are very social. Currently most people are enjoying their 6 weeks of mandatory summer holidays so many locals are travelling or spending time at their summer homes on the lake. Downtown was still quite busy. The high standard of living is a bit noticeable when out for dinner but it doesn't differ all that much from Canada in my opinion.

Lauren, Myself and Chloe

I took advantage of Saturday and Sunday to explore Eskilstuna. There are beautiful running paths through the forest nearby. The paths are even lined with lighting to accommodate for the dark fall/winter months. Currently the sun sets around 10:30pm and begins to rise again it seems around 3:30am - pretty crazy! I'm not looking forward to the opposite. The wild blueberry bushes that line the paths are a nice touch (delicious too). 

I finally finished unpacking by Monday afternoon. It shouldn't have taken so long but there were many more exciting things to do it seems. Chloe and I headed on an excursion with Lauren and Margarita. We spent the afternoon at Vilsta which I'd describe as a park with a small sandy beach. The natural elements of Sweden are very similar to Canada! I felt as though I was at tiny beach up along a lake in Ontario's cottage country.

Feeding the ducks!

Beautiful Sunset!

Near the running path

Most recently, I set aside Tuesday to take care of administrative things. I travelled to Västerås albeit not so smoothly (we missed the train, had to take a +45 mins detour) to head to the migration board. The detour wasn't so bad as we got to explore Arbogo, a tiny little town with a beautiful church built in the 1200's and a real medieval feel. Afterwards Chloe and I explored the main sights as we ran through the rain. Västerås is the 6th largest city in Sweden with a population of 130 000. It is surrounded by lakes.

Arboga

Tunnel @ Västerås Castle 

Looking into the city centre - Västerås

Along a canal

Today is Chloe's last day in Sweden. We're heading to Stockholm this afternoon to check out the city and spend the day exploring. Hopefully we make our train this time!! 

Välkommen till Sverige!

I arrived in Eskilstuna last night around 8pm. Unable to maneuver anywhere with 3 suitcases, I had to recruit some local help. I was met at the train station by Tina who works at the senior school. She brought me to my apartment. I was pleasantly surprised by my new accommodations. It's a lot bigger than I thought!

Before that, she took me on a quick tour of the town by car. Eskilstuna is designed as a bike town which is pretty interesting. Tina's going to help me find a bike in the next couple of weeks. 

 Eskilstuna has the feel of other European cities such as Amsterdam and Brussels but on a different scale. The buildings do not seem as old however. There is something else unique about it (can't quite pinpoint it) which I'll surely discover as I spend more time here.

I leave you with a beautiful picture I took as I flew into Stockholm and a story. I met a family on the train into town. Their little girl named Mora asked me how I had travelled here. I told her that I flew and she replied with, "I didn't know you had wings!"

I hope I can always view the world with a lens of child-like wonder. Mora's little bit of humour helped relieve some of the stress I was feeling.

Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

Tomorrow is the big day. I'm excited and a bit nervous, but overall pretty anxious to begin this next chapter. I've had a wonderful last few weeks in Canada spending time with friends and family. I think the following quote from J.M Barrie's "Peter Pan" is a good representation of my mindset. 

The Complicated Art of Packing - ["Now you just bring the stuff you know you're going to need." - George Carlin]

George Carlin's comedy bit on "Stuff" sums my feelings as I begin packing and figuring out what to bring along to Sweden.

Only 5 weeks to go..

I've finally graduated and am certified to teach! What a wonderful feeling.  My flight is officially booked for July 24th and I couldn't be more excited! I'll have just over two weeks to get acquainted with Eskilstuna before embarking on the journey that is my first year of teaching. I'm buzzing with feelings of excitement, uncertainty, and anxiousness. 

It just hit me that I have only 5 more weeks/weekends to enjoy with friends and family before the big move to Sweden. I had an amazing weekend in Muskoka (LOVE the cottage life) and am looking forward to this weekend at Susan's in Sarnia. There are so many things I want to do and people I want to see before I go.

In other news, everyone at IES Eskilstuna seems very welcoming and kind. I've spoken with a few of the teachers via email. They've been very supportive in answering my questions and helping me to organize the many, many details. This is all extremely important as I prepare move halfway across the world!

I'm currently reading "The First Days of School" by Harry Wong. I think it's important to be prepared as I embark on this exciting journey of teaching. The book  was recommended to me by a principal at my first practicum placement. Interesting insights so far with a focus on clearly outlining expectations and procedures. Students are more likely to behave when consistency is focused upon. Relating this to my current experiences I'd have to agree.

On another note, I've been practicing yoga at PYC [Power Yoga Canada] and have been mulling over the idea of incorporating this into my teaching somehow. This book seems like it provides an interesting overview of the benefits of yoga for kids. Definitely going to check it out of the library this week to find out more. 

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks!