School Starts Next Week...

...and I couldn't be more excited!

A tip for all you teachers that are fresh out of university: You can't really have the first summer off unless you have been saving money like a mad-woman/man! At least I couldn't. I started teaching in January and I didn't qualify for EI this summer so I have been working at an office-type job. The best part about this job is that it totally sucks and it reminds me of how much I LOVE being a teacher! I cannot wait to get back into the class with the students!

I have been getting really excited by using Pinterest A LOT and today I watched this motivational video made by the leadership students at Riverside High. Enjoy!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-rniApoo-w&feature=youtu.be


Also, this picture cracks me up:

Flipped Learning

http://www.upworthy.com/i-have-seen-the-future-of-education-it-looks-a-lot-like-this

Please check out the link above. It is a really amazing concept and something that I would love to introduce to a classroom. I think it could work for middle school and above but it really depends on whether all of your students have access to internet at home or not. Very interesting!

A Teacher's Summer

Happy Summer Everyone!

I haven't posted for a while, so here is my teachery update!

I went to school for 5 years to become a teacher, worked my butt off every summer during that time, finally got hired to my dream district in January and thought to myself, "woohoo I can't wait to finally have summers off!!!" Well well well, guess who didn't consider the fact that teachers don't get paid in the summer...hmm....now what?

As mid-June rolled around and I started to get less call-outs, I started to consider how I was going to afford to live for 2 (possibly 3 if you count half of June and half of September) months of no income. As a teacher-teaching-on-call (TTOC) I'm still eligible for employment insurance in the summer! But wait...I haven't worked enough hours since January to qualify...ouch!

Ok, so I pulled up craigslist and started my search for a job that would hire me for two months. This is actually A LOT more difficult than it seems unless you are willing to work for minimum wage, and frankly I would rather use my savings because my time is worth more than that!

As the beginning of June was creeping in, I was realizing that no pay cheques would be coming and my visa bill was getting higher and higher. Somebody Hire me! I'm a teacher! I manage children! I can do anything!

By mid-June I got lucky! I was hired on to help with some office work for a friend of my Dad. Whew! This could have been a terrible summer. I'm still catching up on my bills but at least I have something! I know some people who are still struggling. I CAN'T WAIT TO GET BACK IN THE CLASSROOM!!! I miss the kids. I miss feeling like I'm learning with them. I have noticed that I google a lot of random things just so that I can feel like I'm learning (haha).

I haven't done any professional development over the summer YET, but I do plan on cramming some in at the end of August and I do check Pinterest for teacher stuff all the time (that counts right?).
Right now I'm just focusing on relaxing and enjoying the summer. I know as soon as I'm a month into the school year I'll be wishing it was back to summer again! Hopefully next summer I'll save a little better!

If anyone else has any summer ideas for teachers, please let me know!