Back In The Saddle

My Asian Dingo Copilot, LaiFUU, who inspired me to be brave every day. He was on the streets of Taiwan until he was 1 year old. Canada was quite a new adventure for him, especially winter, but we did it together.

I've been debating when to take the Media Art AQ course for the past few years. About 5 years ago, right after COVID, I made a big career switch from a private international school to our local public secondary school's occasional teacher list. While working at the private school, I had the opportunity to teach all levels from grade 9-12, IB and AP media and visual arts courses to mostly ELL learners.

Although busy, it was a blast to work with these students from every corner of the globe. When I arrived at the school, they had a small visual arts program. I decided I wanted this to be a full time gig, so I created a full program for the media arts as well. Students were asking, and since it was a small school, one of our major tasks was to create the annual yearbook, which became a student-driven, very personal testament to the hard work and soul we put into its production year after year (8 years for me!)

When I left the private school, I left behind a gorgeous art and media studio and some wonderful students, but it was time for a change. Since I have been enjoying day-to-day call ins, short and long term placements teaching mostly art, media, and ELL, along with everything else under the sun when needed. I am grateful for the time and experience I had at the private school, but I am very happy with where I am now.

Looking forward, I would love to be able to teach visual art, media and esl again and knowing I already had the credits and 11 years experience teaching media art, all I needed was to complete this AQ course to be back in the saddle with a full round up of arts, media and ell involved programs that I love.

Visual Arts and Media Art are excellent programs for students who are new to Canada and our schools. It gives them an opportunity to have the tools that they maybe cannot express in words. I also find that when they are inspired, they are excited to learn the vocabulary they need to explain and reflect upon their projects, as well as cheer on each other and build community in the classroom that they can carry forward into their ESL classes. Working in the Media and Arts class, ELL students can build their confidence in their ability to communicate and champion who they are, where they came from, and just as important, where they envision themselves in the future. We are here to help them get there, and the Media Arts class is a place where they can explore their identity. It is always my honour to work with these resilient and flavourful learners.