The view from our front room. Summer is here, the solstice past, which means that we are now heading towards fall and the end of our stay, for now at least, in The Yukon. What a magnificent place it is, full of wilderness, amazing vistas and great people. There is certainly something about Northerners, whether you are in the UK or Canada. They can be a taciturn lot but once you get to know them there isn’t anything they won’t do to help. I’m going to miss this place for sure.
June has come and gone. In that time my wife had her birthday, my in-laws came to visit, school ended, my son finished daycare, I discovered that I wouldn’t be eligible for EI and I had my place CONFIRMED at the University of Alberta. So it’s been a busy four weeks. Another four weeks where I realise that one blog post a month won’t cut it. But then on the other hand, I have finished assignment 2 and well on the way to completing the reading for assignment 3. So it’s not like I have been idle. (Did I mention my wife is away more than she is here now that Air North is so busy?)
We’ve also given an end date to our landlords. We move from here on August 16th so if anyone is looking for a great place to call home then we heartily recommend here. We tried so hard to stay but it just wasn’t possible. We’re planning a weeks camping in the North before heading East to Edmonton.
I have signed up for my courses at UofA, that run from September 3rd to October 3rd. Art and Social studies, which I am ridiculously happy about. I love both of those subjects and while Math and Language of course are a priority, these courses will be an opportunity to learn something different. Besides if what I am reading in the news is right, there is a good chance in the next few years how Math is taught in Alberta will likely change. One of the great things about Art and Social studies, because they aren’t the priority they should be, is that they don’t get messed around with every time the government changes.
Now I have to try and get a teaching placement organised. I’ll be in a classroom from October 14th until December 12th. While I am not worried about the the teaching aspect of that, I am somewhat nervous about the planning aspect. Fortunately I have only 3 hours of lectures a day in September, so I should have plenty of time to get organised.
There is no doubt that I am getting excited about the whole prospect of being qualified to teach again. It has been a much more involved process that I thought, and I thought it would be long. But you know good things are worth working for so hopefully this time in six months I will be, fingers crossed, certified and teaching full time.
