Biography
I live in the country in rural Manitoba, Canada, with my husband and baby girl, Zoe. My husband and I have been dating since 2009 but we just got married this past summer on July 19, 2014. Our baby girl was born March 31, 2014. We have four pets: a chocolate lab Bella, yellow lab Molly, orange tabby cat Oscar, and black fluffy cat Ashley. We live on 4.5 acres of land in a mobile home and are building a new house on our property next summer! I love blogging, creating things for TpT, scrapbooking (although I'm converting to online scrapbooking--Shutterfly, etc.), cooking and baking, camping and fishing, skating, reading, and spending time with my amazing family. I have a dad and mom (who is also a teacher) and younger brother who all live about an hour away.
Education & Experience
2002-2007: After five years of school in the integrated education program, I graduated from university in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education.
2007-2008: My first year out of university I spent some time subbing and then got a half-time Grade 6 position from January to June. It was kind of a mish-mash job. I taught Grade 6 Science, Social Studies, Art, and Health, as well as Kindergarten French and Grade 1 Phys. Ed. It was definitely an interesting experience.
2008-2009: The following year I had a hard time finding a position, so I did a lot of subbing. This was also the year I decided to move out of my parents' house. I continued to work part-time as a waitress at Perkins Restaurant and a bartender at a hotel! (Loved the tips!) I had a few schools that I was quite a regular in and one of those schools hired me for a full-time term the next year.
2009-2010: I had a Grade 3/4 split class. This was my first classroom that I got to set up, decorate, and organize the way I wanted. They were such a group of cuties, although I definitely had my challenges! Luckily I had awesome Educational Assistants that helped me out along the way. Unfortunately at the end of the year, there wasn't a spot for me, so back to job hunting!
2010-2011: Three weeks before school started, I finally landed myself a job at a different school in a different division. It was a Grade 4 term position, so not a huge difference from the year before! But it was an hour and a half drive from our apartment, so we started looking at houses out in the country. We bought a house half-way between my job and hubby's job and moved into our first house in October. The school was amazing. I loved my kiddos and my teaching partners, but it looked like the teacher was coming back from mat leave, so I started looking for jobs else where.
2011-2012: I landed myself a Grade 1 term in a different school in a different division. Ugh. So much moving. To prepare myself to jump down to Grade 1 from Grade 4, I searched the internet and discovered TEACHING BLOGS! I think I first came across Mrs. Jump's Class, The First Grade Parade, and The Inspired Apple. I thought... what a great way to document your school year!! And then First Grade Garden was born. My first post was on September 2, 2011. Four days before the school year started! It was an amazing year. There were three Grade 1 classes. Two of us were new to the school and Grade 1, so the third teacher took us under her wing! We also had a retired teacher who brought in tubs of her materials for us each month! Amazing! I thought I had found my forever school... BUT... someone else was getting bumped in and I was getting bumped out. I was devasted. Heart broken. They said they would have a spot for me, but they were unsure where. I didn't want to move again. My classroom was perfect.
2012-2013: So same division, same grade, but different school. I was taking over for someone on maternity leave again. I knew this wasn't going to be a permanent spot for me. I was going to have to move again at the end of the year. I think this put a bit of a damper on my attitude, but the school was great and I had the MOST AMAZING teaching partner. I really enjoyed my year here. But June came and it was time for me to move out!
Grade 1 Classroom
2013-2014: This was my third year in the same division, but my third school. Fortunately it was Grade 1 again and it was a PERMANENT job! I had found my forever home! I was so excited. The staff was so welcoming and helpful. My kiddos were adorable, yet busy. Then to top it all off, I found out I was pregnant! I worked right up until March 28th, the last day before Spring Break. Zoe was born three days later. After Spring Break, a new teacher took over my class to finish the year. She did an awesome job with them! Zoe and I went for a few classroom visits and even accompanied the class on their field trip to the farm!
Sock Monkey back to school bulletin board.
2014-2015: I am currently on maternity leave for this school year. Where I live, we get one year of mat leave and in my school division, they allow up to one extra year off (unpaid of course). I took an extra few months off so that instead of going back in April, I could just start fresh in September 2015! I am enjoying my time off with my adorable baby, Zoe! But I will be excited to get back into the classroom. I have been prepping and creating all sorts of things to use when I go back! :)
