About+Me

About Me

My journey in teaching began when I was in university and I taught private piano lessons as a part-time job. Although I enjoyed teaching piano and as I gained more experienced as a piano teacher, I was reluctant to make it my future career so I pursued my first undergraduate studies in Fine Arts majoring in Cultural Studies at York University. After earning my Bachelors degree I was more interested in the world of design and print and wanted to pursue a career in publishing. For several years I made book and magazine publishing my career and worked for Canadian Living magazine and TV Guide magazine before moving on to Harlequin Enterprises Ltd for 4 years. Working with multiple platforms in technology and further honing my skills in desktop publishing, I felt the need to challenge myself further and see if I could really enjoy teaching as a career.

I spent 18 months teaching English in Japan. It was an enriching and exciting time in my personal and professional life. While working as an English teacher, I discovered I enjoyed travelling and meeting people and experiencing different cultures. A friend from home who also is a teacher came to visit me and we enjoyed talking about teaching strategies, lesson ideas and I was inspired to pursue my second undergrade degree in Education at York University. I returned home to attend Teacher's College and was fortunate enough to find my first professional teaching job teaching internationally at the International Academy of Beijing.

Currently, I am teaching Grade 1 at Dalat International School in Penang, Malaysia. My main responsibilities as classroom teacher include teaching core subjects such as Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Bible. We use an American-based curriculum and encourage the students to strive for excellence, embrace wisdom and develop personal integrity as a global citizen. During my time here, I have learned to apply new skills to my teaching so I can guide my students to be better learners. Prior to coming to Dalat, for almost five years, I have enjoyed teaching the international expat community in Beijing. I started teaching Grade 1 at IAB for two years before given the opportunity to teach Grade 3. With my background in desktop publishing I have been able to contribute to different projects in the school by designing handbooks, editing the newspaper and other related tasks. I am an active user of technology in the classroom with SMART Board and Promethean Board experience and incorporating other IT tools such as Wikis and websites in the classroom. I was fortunate to be a part of a 1:1 iPad pilot program. Using technological tools has made me become a more reflective teacher and allowed me to see my students as creators.

I am interested in gaining more international education experience and understanding more of how to incorporate technology in the classroom. I look forward to continued learning as a teacher and collaborator. One day I hope to pursue a Masters degree in International Education. Outside of school, I enjoy traveling, cooking, exercise, reading cookbooks and watching movies.

I consider myself an enthusiastic teacher who truly enjoys working with children. My goal as a teacher is to effectively communicate with my students how to be responsible learners, academic achievers, critical thinkers and well-rounded global citizens.