By Caitlin A.D, Advisory 11

My host: Laurel Astrom, my mom

Interview:

1. What is your job title?

Resource Teacher

2. What is your job description?

I am a caseload manager for students with special needs, students who require learning assistance, students who are English Language Learners, and students who need Enrichment programming. I am the School Based Team (SBT) Chair and Head Resource Teacher. I chair many meetings at the school, and write several IEPs and reports. I create, plan and implement all sorts of programs. This year, I work directly with students in Gr.K-4. I do everything from teach kids letters and sounds to creating advanced projects on iPads.

3. What are the duties and/or tasks you perform at your job?

See above. Basically, I work with students to improve their learning and I work with classroom teachers to help them with all their students, and I work with parents to help their children. The biggest part of my job is working directly with students. There is a huge amount of paperwork involved in the rest of my job. I am also on several committees in the school.

4. What qualifications do you have for this job in the following areas:
5. a) training? I take part in ongoing training in many areas of education. Over the years, I’ve taken workshops and topics ranging from literacy to science to IEP writing to ELL.
6. b) education? Bachelor of Education degree-SFU. Major-English, Minor-ECE. Master of Education degree-UBC. Curriculum and Instruction.
7. c) experience? I’ve volunteered when I was a teenager in schools, and was a classroom teacher in Vancouver for 20 years. I was an Elementary school teacher, mostly Gr.1-3. The last three years I have been a resource teacher Gr.K-6.  
8. d) skills and attributes (personalqualities)?I enjoy working with kids, I’m very organized, I enjoy creating my own lessons and plans, I have always been an advocate for children and a strong believer in trying to get children the supports they need to succeed to the best of their ability. I have excellent time management, I am very thorough, and I collaborate well with others. I’m able to relate well with kids as well as with the people I work with, and the parents I see.
9. What are some of the things you like about this job?

I like to be in charge of my own programming. I like to be able to help kids succeed, that is very rewarding. I like to affect change. For example, arranging new services for kids who might not otherwise have them. Strangely, I actually like reporting, and some of the paperwork that I need to do, because I enjoy writing and figuring out how to get the message across effectively through writing (i.e, developing pediatric letters for doctors to read, dealing with professionals such as SLPs, psychologists, doctors, counselors, doctors, and educators).

6. What are some of the things you dislike about this job?

As with all teaching jobs, there are many hours spent at home doing work. Sometimes this can be an excessive amount of time. Honestly, the most frustrating part of my job is when parents refuse to do all they can to help their child. For example, if we make certain recommendations and they will deny there is a ‘problem’ and will not follow through with what we have advised. Also, as in any workplace setting, there can be some people who are a little difficult to work with.

7. How do you anticipate this job changing in the next 5 years or so?                                    There are many new opportunities for people who wish to be a teacher. Because of reduced class size and for other reasons, there are more teaching jobs available. Obviously, technology use is huge these days and there are a lot of opportunities for people interested in teaching Tech. On that note, new teachers must be savvy with technology. The new curriculum is now being implemented and will be implemented for all grade levels eventually.

Other question (s):

Why did you decide to pursue this job?

I have always had an interest in teaching children. When I was a kid, I arranged little camps and clubs for neighborhood kids. When I was in grade 12, I actually wasn’t sure what to do. In fact, I spent a year ‘off’ working full-time at a bank downtown, which is where I discovered I would never ever want to work in a business or office setting. (Although I worked at that bank for 5 years part-time to earn money.) My parents insisted that I choose a university program, and the logical choice was teaching. Even though I had a passion for creative writing and skill with editing, and I was also reportedly an ‘excellent’ artist (though I lacked passion for art), jobs in these fields were not really desirable and were hard to come by.  I had several family members who were educators. Teaching has flexible hours and time off, so those seemed to be perks to a 19-year-old who liked creating activities for children.

Student Reflections:

1. Give three reasons why you would like this job (be specific):
2. I would like helping kids be successful in their learning, so they become more confident in it.
3. I might enjoy working with kids who have designations, to provide for them and help them reach their full potential.
4. I could be good at evaluating students with IEPs and I have a narrow focus, so I could zero in on what problem areas there might be that need to be addressed.

2. Give three reasons why you would not like this job (be specific):
3. It seems like this job has a lot of paperwork involved and would interfere with my free time, so I might have less time to spend with my family and friends.
4. Teaching seems pretty tiring and by the end of the day today, I honestly didn’t have much energy left. I want to end up doing something I’m passionate about, so when I leave I feel energetic and encouraged to come back the next day.
5. I may get stressed out due to all the paperwork I’d have to do and difficult people I’d deal with, so I might not be in the best mood for the rest of the day. I want to be at my happiest points with my friends and family as well as the people I work for/with.

3. Is this job for you? Why or why not?

I don’t think teaching is the job for me. I lack a genuine enough interest in it, although I like kids. The job sounds like lots of work and I want to invest my time into something that’s more important to me. Right now, I have a broad scope of interests already, so maybe teaching could just be a backup if all else fails. I’d like to pursue psychology and writing as well as maybe science and filmmaking. Next year I’ll seek support to find out what’s right for me. After all, I’d like to explore all my options and by grade 12, I’ll probably be kind of tired of being in a school setting anyways, so I’m not so sure I want to work in one.

4. Explain the value of the TYKTW experience in relation to your ideas about your post secondary (after high school) plans (education?,training?,travel?,work?).

My experience today made me realize that whatever professional job I want won’t come without a few degrees and baggage. Therefore, I’ll need to learn more and make goals for the future at a university or a college or both. I have UBC (good school), SFU and Douglas College in mind, since those schools are the closest ones I know to my home. After narrowing my focus in Gr.12, I’ll decide what I’ll be serious about post-secondary. I’ll try to focus my course decisions on what I’m interested in, not just what I’m good at. I will most likely get a temporary job to keep me on my feet while I check out my real options. Today showed me that, no matter what job you end up in, if you want to be happy, you’ll do anything to get it. I also know now that teaching isn’t really for me, and I am allowed to pursue other interests. For my long term plan, I hope to possibly become a psychologist, a writer, a scientist, a film producer, or all of those things! (I could keep some as hobbies.) As long as I’m determined to work hard, I know I’ll be successful in whatever I decide to do.

(Please note that the question numbers might not be correct, because every time I returned a number was added and I couldn’t change it on the blog.)