Introduction

http://www.teachingsuperpower.com/

I have always wanted to be a teacher. Ever since a young age while others played house I played school, making my younger sister and brother sit in desks to write lines, stories or do math problems- things that at a young age I associated with teacher-student dynamic.  Like many young girls I enjoyed playing Barbies. While playing Barbies my Barbie was employed as a teacher. On my eighth birthday my favorite gift was a school set that included a small chalk board and two little desks, making a perfect classroom setting for my teacher Barbie and her little pupils.

As a child I knew that teachers could do so much good for their students, but as I went through my elementary years I learned that they could also do damage, not only to a person's learning but to their life's journey as well. When I was in grade 6, my teacher told me that I would never be accepted into post secondary schooling and that I should take “workbook math” because I would never be able to pass mainstream math courses. He said “she’s just not good enough” (grade 6 teacher, June, 1999). To me, at such a young age, this translated to “she’s just not smart enough”. Not ever being one to be told what I couldn't do, I took this as a challenge to achieve more than his expectation.

By the end of high school, my grades were in the high sixty to low seventies. After many meetings with my school adviser I knew that university was not going to be a direct option for me. With this in mind, I went to college to pursue a diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education with the plan of becoming a preschool teacher. Experiencing a practicum in this course showed me how amazing it was to teach and that I was definitely on the right path. Being in a position where I was confident in my abilities furthered my love for teaching and my grades reflected this with high 80's and 90's. After completing my second practicum, my thoughts changed to be more positive and I felt that I was going to be able to accomplish my original dream of teaching kindergarten. The comment from my grade six teacher weighed heavily on my mind up until I realized that it I who was in charge of my own destiny and not someone from my past. The ladder I was climbing did not stop at the college level and I applied to the University of Alberta for my Bachelors of Education focusing on elementary grades (1.11).

To this day I am amazed how impact-ful a teacher's words were on me as a young 12 year old student. The quote by Andrew Carnegie really speaks to how my self motivation helped me to overcome his harsh words to successfully complete a diploma, a bachelors in education and with the completion of this course, my masters. I have used education to not only help prove to myself that I am "good enough", but also to provide opportunities for my future advancement in career aspirations and personal goals. Teaching everyday gives me the opportunity to inspire others to follow their dreams as they climb the ladders of opportunity while proving naysayers wrong. 

 http://www.660news.com/2017/11/17/cbe-discusses-racism-concerned-parents/

I started my career in September 2010 as a substitute teacher with the Calgary Board of Education (CBE). Within three months I had steady work completing several temporary contracts. Extended contracts excited me as I was able to plan and execute engaging lessons. In September 2011, I was fortunate that my sewing skills landed me in a position where I was teaching Fashion and Food studies to grades seven, eight and nine. With the diversity in my school, programming and timetable restrictions saw many students repeating my fashion program.  I found myself trying to recreate my programs every semester to keep my students excited about the projects and therefore fully engaged in the course. I taught for three years learning and developing a program that could use online and face-to-face instruction to enhance their sewing skills. My program became very successful and the students were learning skills in grade 8 and 9 that most high school students would struggle with.

During this experience, I started to bring technology into my courses, and especially my Fashion Studies program.  This started me on a journey where I began to create videos for instruction. Having these videos allowed my students to work independently and if they needed extra support they could watch the steps multiple times (4.4). After three years of teaching Fashion Studies, I started to have students ask me where they could find the patterns I used, and how they could recreate projects at home with their younger and older siblings. I started to post my videos on YouTube; these videos included pattern names and numbers, how to make a pattern from start to finish, and how to make the project from start to finish. My vision for these videos was that they would benefit students who were learning online and could possibly create, one day, an opening for online Fashion Studies programs (2.5).

The students and I became interested in the creation of instructional videos, and videos in general. I created a Film club where I could teach, as well as, learn more about video cameras and editing software. There was enough interest that the school administration launched a Film Studies course, with me at the helm. This opened the door to many more technologies such as, green screen and lighting techniques. We filmed the school play and had the students edit the clips to create a full-length film, using the many angles in which they obtained by being the camera operators. I became proficient in iMovie and Windows Moviemaker and this pushed me to want to learn more. Trying to create activities that the students could access from a distance became my vision and my next step. The idea that my students would be able to access their missed lessons from a distance had me searching for resources.