My name is Shannon, and I am very excited to be embarking
upon this new adventure. I have spent time in Australia and Fiji, but my best
friend and my sister in law both tell me that if they could live anywhere in
the world, it would be New Zealand, so my expectations are high!
Since becoming a teacher about ten years ago, I have had a
number of interesting career-related opportunities. Immediately after graduating from university,
I went to England to teach a Year 5 class for a year. After returning to Canada, I began working at
a non-profit organization that worked with newcomers to Canada. I was an English language assessor and
education counselor there for three years.
At the same time, I was teaching adults English as a Second language in
the evenings.
For the past seven years, I have worked at a local community
college teaching English and math to ESL literacy youth between the ages of 17
and 25. This is a program that I
proposed, designed, and developed. In
addition to teaching, I do curriculum development and program planning.
In the evenings, I am involved with my community league as
well as working towards getting my masters degree in education with a
specialization in language and literacy, and more specifically, reading.
Personally, I have been with my very supportive husband for
the past thirteen years, and we live together in a beautiful Edmonton
neighbourhood, which is within walking/biking distance to work. Unfortunately, the rest of my family does not
live nearby. My parents live about two
and a half kilometres south of Edmonton, and my brother, sister-in-law, and identical
twin nieces live another two hours south of my parents. Every time there is a long weekend, I am
undoubtedly driving somewhere to visit my little nieces!
Professionally, I am really interested in learning as much
as I can about the Tertiary education system, primarily adult literacy
education and literacy education for youth over eighteen years of age. I would really like to visit the college
where Jane, the team lead for the Canada VTT, works. I am more interested in
programs offered in polytechnics than in non-profits. I am also very interested in visiting classes
with students, so I would prefer to visit schools when they are in session. I would also really like to visit a Wananga
and learn more about the preservation of indigenous languages and culture. In essence, I want to learn more about how
the needs of low literacy adults are being met, and I am especially interested
in innovative programs.
Culturally, I would LOVE to see an All Blacks game, and I
have been told that the glowworms are not to be missed. I’m a big foodie and love to cook. I also am interested in gardening and local
food production. I like sightseeing of
any kind and am generally open to whatever you think is the best to see and do!
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