I was not the child who grew up dreaming of becoming a teacher. Every dream I had included helping someone or something, but becoming a teacher didn’t hit me until I was in University…and boy am I happy it did!

I’ve had the good fortune of living in 4 different Canadian cities. I was born and raised in Montreal, QC, where I got my B.Ed. I then moved to Vancouver, BC, to pursue a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology. It was there that I got my first teaching position and experienced what many new teachers experience: How many different hats can you wear over time?

 Grade 1 Hebrew Teacher

 Grade 4, 5, 6, 7 French Teacher (using AIM Language Learning)

 Grade 1 and 2 Art Teacher

 Kindergarten and Grade 1 Gym Teacher

 Tech. Integration Specialist

 Grade 6 Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher

 Middle School Teacher Leader

After 8 wonderful years in Vancouver, I decided to move to Toronto, ON…don’t ask me why 😉 I added even more notches to my tool-belt, teaching grades 2, 3 and 5 General Studies. But alas, that too was not meant to be my forever home, and in 2017, my husband and I moved to Ottawa. Now, I get to call OJCS my home!

In my effort to always push myself to learn new things, I pursued my Principals Qualifications, and completed my final project in June 2021. Looking back, I know there were moments where moving grade levels, changing subject matter, and switching cities felt uncomfortable and stressful. However, now that I am on this new journey, I see each of these experiences as huge learning experiences, exposing me to different curriculum, different classroom management skills, different cultures, which can only help me as I hopefully move into more leadership roles.

While I have loved all the different subjects I’ve taught for different reasons, English has always stood out above the rest. As an avid reader myself, and stickler for correct grammar, I am thrilled to be teaching Grades 7 and 8 Language Arts. I have the added bonus of getting to teach many of the students I taught in grade 5 again. I have no doubt it is going to be a great year!