For me the first month of the B.Ed. program has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Between getting back into the school work grind and dealing with the complications of online school, I have been busy, to say the least. This being said, I have also come to know many amazing people through this program. The community created by the mutual struggles we all experience on a day to day basis is amazing and invaluable to my learning. If it were not for the help given to me by others and the resounding sense of community spirit, I feel as if I would not be at the point I am at now.

So far in the B.Ed. program I have learned a lot about how the educations system functions in British Columbia. Previous to the program I thought I had a relatively good idea of how the system worked (having gone through it), however, after my first month in the program, I have learned that there is so much to learn about the system and its various intricacies. Most interesting to me so far is the history of the education system in Canada. In high school and some university classes, I learned about the disastrous residential school system and its impacts on present-day society. I think this information is extremely important for everyone to know, however, only learning about the history of the education system via residential schools does not paint the full story. To have a proper understanding of the social conditions that lead up to the creation of the residential school system one needs to see the broader picture and history of Canada during the time of the system’s creation. In the first month of class, I feel as if my eyes have been opened in terms of my understanding of these past events, giving me a far better understanding of the education system then I did a month ago.

So far, I feel that I have been expected to learn about how the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL), are to be incorporated into my teaching practice. Along with this, I feel the first month has been a time for everyone to get to know one another, while at the same time getting a handle on the technological aspect of the program. Although this may not sound like much, the time and effort that I had to put into the program so far has been immense. In terms of the technology aspect, I am challenged every day. It seems that something is always going wrong and breaking. Be it my internet being knocked out by lightning, or my camera refusing to work, something is always going on and I am constantly rolling with the punches to keep the forces of chaos at bay.

Over the course of this program, I have learned a lot about myself. Although I am not new to working hard, I find that the number of different assignments between courses keeps me constantly busy. Most days I wake up at 7:30 and continue work until around 6. Although I have breaks in this time, I feel like I am busy like I have never been busy before. Although I have a lot on my plate, I always make a point to do things I like. I know that if I am always doing school-related stuff, I will go crazy and because of that, I try to maintain a school/ life balance.

Going forward I am looking forward to what this program is going to teach me. At this point, I feel as if I am handling the challenges being thrown at me relatively well and I hope to continue this in the future. I would like to say thanks to everyone who has helped me along this far. If any of you you are reading my blog (which I know you are), know that I could not have done it without you.