Where Am I Being Led

I've mentioned this to a few people but I thought I'd say it here anyway. I've been wondering if God is kind of leading me down a certain path or if these opportunities are presenting themselves because I am open to doing them. Where do I start. About 6 years ago I worked at GVC as an EA. I spent time with students who were considered at risk of dropping out. I really enjoyed this opportunity and really felt a connection to the students there. I got to work with them again the next spring. It was great. Fast forward 5 years later. Last semester I had the opportunity to do some student teaching in an alternative track classroom. Again, with students who either a: had not succeeded in the regular classroom and/or b: were at risk of dropping out. What a great bunch of students. It was chaotic at times but also fun. This semester I had the opportunity to take a class at university called Mentoring At-Risk Youth. Instead of going to class I'm doing mentoring in the Aboriginal Centre at the University of Winnipeg. There are some students who are working towards getting their GED. And I'm being asked to teach Math for one of the GED sections. AND this semester I will be spending time at the Teen Centre as one of the classes I'm teaching for my practicum. So again, is God leading me down a certain path or are these opportunities coming because I am open to doing them? Tina said it's both. God is providing opportunities to places where he knows I can serve and for some reason I'm smart enough to recognize the fact that I can be used in these areas.

I had a friend tell me last week that I have the heart of a great teacher. I also had someone tell me the school needs me. It's all a little overwhelming. I wrote a paper during my first year of university about how I wanted ALL students to know that there was a teacher who cared for them. I was going to be that teacher who cared beyond the classroom and treated my students with respect. I've tried to maintain that credo throughout my years in the education program.

It's time to walk to the talk.

cheers

New Class

I'm taking a class this semester called War-Affected Children.

Yes, it is as heavy as it sounds.

cheers

Learning Test

I did a learning inventory test today that is supposed to tell me what kind of learner I am.

It turns out my highest scores were in Concrete Experience and Active Experimentation. This classifies me as an Accommodator.

"Accommodators are polar opposites from Assimilators. Their greatest strengths lie in carrying out plans and experiments and involving themselves in new experiences. They are risk-takers and excel in those situations requiring quick decisions and adaptations. In situations where a theory of plan does not fit the facts, they tend to discard it and try something else They often solved problems in an intuitive trial and error manner, relying heavily on other people for information. Accommodators are at ease with people but may be seen as impatient and pushy. Their educational background is often in practical fields such s business or education. They prefer action-oriented jobs such as nursing, teaching, marketing or sales."

http://casa.colorado.edu/~dduncan/teachingseminar/kolblearningstyleinventoryinfo.pdf

cheers

Gettin' Close

Wow things are getting crazy. My application for certification is off and interviews have started for a lot of my friends. I have a couple of school division employment opportunity sites bookmarked and my portfolio is slowly coming together. It's a little scary. Being at university is so safe. So not the real world. It's a little depressing thinking that I spent all this time and money at university and now I might not even get a job. But you know it was a risk quitting my job for having found another one, it was a risk quitting my job before getting accepted into the education program and it's a risk you take going back to school with the hope of getting a job when I'm done. I'm trying to relax about it and let God handle the details. He's been very good over the years. If I get a job I get job and if I don't I'll roll with what I get. God's got a plan even if it's not the plan I thought it was. He knows what He's doing better than I do.

cheers