ECE
ECE = Early Childhood Education.
I chose senior grades when I entered con-ed because I thought I would learn more about life and people, and have more profound conversations. I enjoy philosophy and I suspected grade 12 to be far more philosophical than pre-kindergarten. Now, I know everybody has their own experiences, and each class in each school in each city varies dramatically, but I have consistently been more philosophically fulfilled in younger classrooms than I have been in older ones. Teaching didn’t intrigue me much at first. I thought it was the profession as a whole, but now I think it was a matter of topic and age. I do not want to teach sixteen year olds, and that’s all I’ve really had experience with thus far. Rightly so, my program is doing what it is designed to do in that regard; give me experience with students of the age I chose. However, I feel so much happier teaching the little ones! The philosophy that goes into teaching children is so interesting to me, and the conversations I am having with my colleagues are exactly the ones I thought I would have working at highschools. In high schools, staff meetings were about vaping in the bathrooms, and stolen chromebooks, and vandalism. Here, our staff meeting was about inquiry based learning, and the social emotional development of children — it was so fascinating! I walked out of there feeling like a better teacher and overall a better human. This could also be a result of public vs private school, or international vs Canadian — a lot of variables at play. Regardless, I feel excited about teaching now! This is a huge life development for those who know me well. Please be proud of me, I have found a passion. One sense of direction has been conquered on this trip! I know it’s an ever-evolving concept, but for a long time I was missing that first stone to step onto and I feel I’ve just overturned it. Having one path to follow is a lot more reassuring than having none, let me tell you that much.
I do still feel out of my league, because I don’t have that early childhood experience, knowledge, or education yet, but when is the last time any of you have heard me say I want to go back to school? I have called my mother sobbing, on the exact same day in September of every year for the past 5 years because school started again soon and I was dreading it. My dad’s voice is screaming at me in my head right now; “showing up is half the battle” … “90% of success is showing up” … “the best thing you can do is just show up” … blah blah blah. I understood the thought, but I just didn’t care enough. It didn’t interest me and I simply do not have the willpower to put that much effort and time into a topic that doesn’t fascinate me. My brain completely zones out. Even if I do show up, it is solely in physical form and no other cognitive function is operating. This long-winded rant all boils down to me feeling excited about teaching tiny little children, and that I’m grateful I sought out the opportunity to explore this avenue I wouldn’t have otherwise known to be so enticing. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve suddenly unlocked a long and prosperous life as a kindergarten teacher, but a happy starting place is all I’ve really needed to feel less stressed about the future.
Update: I meant to post this last week, but it’s been busy and now I’ve finished my last day of placement so I’ll combine the two weeks into one post.
That flew by. What a positive experience, on all fronts. I made friends at the school who I hope to stay in touch with. I got drunk with both my supervisors on the last day. I was asked to be in a promotional video for the school to encourage young educators to complete their internships there. Quite a few kids left in tears on Friday because they’ll miss me. How could I not tear up! I have connections now willing to circulate my resume and put in good words around the world. This is the first placement where I wasn’t absent a single day! (my biggest accomplishment).
To summarize and conclude: I am proud of myself, I feel a sense of relief that my five years of education won’t go to waste, and I feel the impact of “you get out what you put in”.
See you in southern France!
Beda
