"Building [Our] Futures"

Photo credit:  Kristen Eakins

Today, Brock University's Hamilton campus hosted a Ministry of Education professional development workshop called "Building Futures".  The event featured educators with various experiences within the profession as speakers who discussed with teacher candidates like myself topics that are of high priority in Ontario education.  Each teacher candidate had the opportunity to attend three workshops, and I chose to attend Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools, Laying the Foundation for Effective Instruction in Literacy, and Special Education.

The workshop sessions were each very informative and I was happy to have the chance to listen to such experienced educators speak on topics that are so important to the profession I'm about to enter.  However, I found the most beneficial speaker to be Jennifer Dickenson (apologies if I've spelled her name incorrectly!), a 4th year teacher.  Jennifer spoke to us about her experiences as a new teacher including her recent completion of the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP) and the importance of having a mentor through the process.  She advised us that no matter what, we're going to experience a lot of stresses and frustrations as a new teacher, but that we will also greatly benefit from having a mentor.  She talked very highly of the mentors that she worked with and the relationships she's fostered with them.  She encouraged us to be as open with our future mentors as possible, including about our insecurities, to allow us to gain the most from the experience.  Regardless of the nerves she expressed having at the beginning of her presentation, I found her words to be the most valuable and motivational as a teacher candidate.