My name is Jordan Johnson and I am a 35 year old student attending the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Education in my second year of the Bachelor of Education – Elementary program.
During the course of my first and second years attending UVic, I have focused my coursework toward making myself a well-rounded generalist who is passionate about learning and sharing knowledge. Courses like Astronomy and Earth Science gave me resources and facts to share, while Mathematics and English Language Arts courses designed for Elementary school teachers ensured that I have a solid foundation in those subjects. I especially enjoyed my Drama and PhysEd courses because they gave me practical ways to bring their subjects into the classroom and examples of how to integrate them cross-curricularly. Among many other things, I have learned about the importance of the BC Curriculum and the First Peoples Principles of Learning and their impact on our future teaching practises.
The journey that has brought me to this profession has been long and interesting, but the key stepping stone on my path toward my acceptance into the teacher education program was obtaining my CSIA certification to be a ski instructor in 2017. I have enjoyed skiing for most of my life and while I was deciding if I wanted to go back to post-secondary, I chose to also test whether I wanted to work with children (as the bread and butter of a first year ski instructor’s season is beginner lessons with children). Through the course of two seasons at Panorama Resort Snow School, I confirmed that not only do I want to work with young people, I’m well suited to it. I enjoyed the process of helping my students build on their prior skills and shared their thrill when they made breakthroughs in their skiing from my guidance.
From September to December of 2020 through UVic’s Link2Practice program, I was able to observe and participate in a Grade 1 French Immersion classroom every Wednesday for the entire school day. I was able to watch my mentor teacher conduct a typical class day from Welcome to Goodbye and was offered the opportunity to lead some one-to-one and group learning situations.
I have taken and passed the DELF B2 French test which will allow me to complete my year 3 and 4 practicums in a French Immersion classroom and proceed with my goal of teaching French Immersion. Other goals for the future include finishing my Bachelor of Education program at UVic and possibly enrolling in Camosun College’s Adventure Education Post Degree Diploma.
To view examples of Lesson Plans I have helped create, click here; please ask me for the password.