And the answer is...

No. I did not get the job in Kenya.

We were quite disappointed to hear that but when things are meant to be they happen and when they don't they weren't meant. Now the waiting game begins with the other schools I applied to. Two have already written back to tell me they have filled the vacancies for this upcoming year.

Have we considered the option we may be here for a year? The answer to that question is yes. This answer saddens us as we have been working towards Africa for so long. Timing is everything though...

In the meantime I am focusing on completing my practicum as I only have another 5 teaching days left. I will miss my grade 4/5's tremendously. I have learned so much from them about teaching, homework, classroom management and life in general. When I think back to my grade 4/5 teachers I don't remember much about them negative or positive but one thing I hope is that I made a positive impact on these students-that I inspired them to reach for the stars and beyond, that I encouraged them to try their best and that I made them work hard. A professor at school said that as a teacher, students may not remember much about their teacher but they will remember if the teacher cared and how the teacher made them feel. I hope these little guys could feel that I put my heart into teaching them and helping them to the best of my abilities.

Criteria for a school

So what is the criteria D and I are using to choose a school? Should there really even be a criteria?

To answer the second question first, yes there needs to be a criteria otherwise it becomes very difficult to navigate. That, and the fact that by deciding that we would settle for just anything would impact our future in numerous ways. All that being said the criteria looks like this

• Is this school in Africa?

Africa is a place that has been on my heart since the age of 10 and a place I have wanted wanted to return to since 2006. D having been there 3x as well can not wait to get back and fully embrace the role of documentary photographer/photojournalist and explore the infinite video possibilities.

• Can Daniel come with me?

We want to go somehwere together not seperately. In interviews this question comes up all the time. "Will you be coming alone or will your partner be accompanying you?"

• Does this school pay or provide benefits?

Certain schools require you to pay or fund raise in order to teach at them. While this may seem like an ok way to do things, it is not very practical. We could easily work with one of these schools as they are always in desperate need for someone to teach at them but at this current time it does not suit our future plans/goals.

• Is this an accredited school? Or a school in the process of seeking accreditation?

This also is something that needs to be considered when applying for shcools overseas. Will this school be recognized if I were to leave it and attempt to gain employment elsewhere. If not then that could be a wasteful few years.

• Is there any literature on this school? Have they been reviewed on International School Review? If so what do the reviews say?

I was made aware of the ISR website through a seminar at school. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of working overseas as it helps give a clear picture of what certain schools are like.

There are a few other considerations as well but these 5 are the major questions that we are asking before we seriously consider the possibilities.

Where in the World is Moses?

Since we are getting ready to embark on an adventure halfway around the world we figured we would adopt a mascot who would come with us. The mascot's name is Moses and he is a sock monkey. I received Moses as a gift from one of my violin students. He came with a different name but we have decided to make it his second name so Moses the Jazz monkey he is.

Over the next few months we will be taking pictures of Moses in some of our favourite or memorable places. Then when I have my own class we can make up stories about Moses and his travels around the world.

So here is picture #1 taken during a snowstorm that left 10 cm of wet snow outside of house and blanketed the rest of the city as well.

Life in a Nutshell

School is going well. I am really enjoying my grade 4/5 class. The kids are so much fun to be around and at times it feels like I am learning mroe from them then they could ever learn from me. They challenge me constantly to think in new ways and present information differently so they remain engaged. I love the challenge of it. I love how each day is different. There is no getting bored as the day flies by to quickly for that. In fact, it's hard to believe how quick this practicum is moving. In less than 4 weeks I will be finished practicum with only one large research project standing between me and graduation! The date for university grad is June 10th.

Still waiting to hear back from Kenya. Will let you know as soon as I know what's going on.

Skype Interview

A few weeks ago D & I received word that I had an interview for that school in Kenya. We were both super excited about the news and then spent some time gearing up for it. I was getting over a nasty cold bug and getting used to being at a 60% teaching load at school. It was a crazy week leading up to it. The day of the interview I had the faculty adviser come in from the university to observe me in the morning followed by the school district psychologist in the afternoon. By the end of the school day I was exhausted. So exhausted that when I came home, I took a 2.5 hour nap.

When I got up I had 1.5 hour to go before the interview. I spent that time brushing up on key teaching words/ phrases. D practiced asking me a few questions to help me get in interview mode. The interview was keyed to start at 9:30 in the evening (this is due to the timezone difference. Kenya is 11 hours ahead from where we are located) over Skype.

I don't think I have ever been so nervous for an interview before. Even though the interview was conducted over Skype it didn't help settle my nerves. When the ring tone came in for the interview to start my throat closed up. D got me a glass of water which helped alot.

The questions they asked for the interview had to do with the following:

• What do I know about the school & how I heard about the school.
• Why Africa? Why Kenya? Why Nairobi? Third culture aspect of the school.
• What grade was I willing to teach?
• Longevity-how long could we see ourselves spending there?
• How did we feel about living on campus?
• Extra curricular activities-what would I be willing to get involved with?
  
• Work Permits-have we looked into the details of getting one?
• How do our families feel about us moving overseas?
• How would I manage as a new teacher in a country in a different culture?

Overall the interview went quite well. There was only one answer I wished I could have answered differently as it caught me off guard. The interview concluded with them saying they would be in touch within the next 2-3 weeks.

So in the meantime we wait.... and wait....

Sent away...

Sent off the application to one international school in Kenya. The application itself was like a mini interview asking me questions like:

• Why do you feel called to be a teacher?

• Describe your professional growth in the past 2 years.

• Why are you interested in teaching at ________ School?

• What positive qualities do you bring to our school? What extra curriculars would you be willing to get involved with?

• Describe your personal and professional goals in the next five years.

• Describe a typical lesson plan format you might use.

• How do you assess student learning?

This application took quite a bit of time to write an perfect. There were only about 10 typed lines per answer so every word had to count.

Now its a matter of waiting to see if I managed to get an interview.

In the mean time this semester of school wraps up. D & I will be heading to Edmonton for a weeks time to visit his family. After that we come back to the Ok area to spend Christmas with my family. School starts up again the first week of January but instead of sitting in classes taking notes I'll be the one teaching. I am in a grade 4/5 class at a school some might describe as 'inner city'.

Projects & Applications

I started off with 33 at the beginning of the semester and am now down to seven. Seven over the next ten days of school. Hard to believe in ten days the university classes part of my life will be finished (well for now anyways). D has been so good to me. I feel quite stressed out because of the lack of sleep and mental exhaustion of plowing through these remaining projects.

I will be sending off applications throughout this upcoming week. Some of them have been quite intense having mini interview like questions that have required quite a bit of time to formulate the best answers. Other applications only require a cover letter and resume.

If I get accepted into one of the schools it would mean I would have to leave for Africa in mid July at the latest. So we will see what happens.

Changes and Transistions

This blog will be undergoing a state of construction over the next few days. It will be semi replaced with something better and more current to our current life situation right now.

Why?

The blog that was here before talked about life before the wedding and was occasionally updated afterward to let you know about the goings on in our lives. Now things are changing in full force.

I am starting down a path of many 'first of the last's. The biggest of which being university. School for me is drawing to a close in April (after only about 7 years of it including a couple year offs and part time years throughout that time too). I am currently in my last semester of school with only 12 projects left to go (at the beginning of September it was 33!), my last practicum is just around the corner starting in January and finishing in March and the entire program concluding with a mini research project presented in front of a panel of judges. Then I will have my degree and be a certified elementary school teacher!

The other bunch of firsts include applying for a job. With the job situation here in the valley being as it is (50 job openings and 3500 applicants for those jobs) I am currently applying to international schools around Africa. There is no word yet as to what will be happening next year but as we find out we'll blog about it on here.