Eric sat on the beach overlooking the Strait of Georgia. Two years ago he had been on a beach on the opposite side of Canada; Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2007. He took this last reprieve before classes started for his final year of his Education degree to enjoy the ocean and the beauty of Vancouver with his friend Colin.
The weekend passed quickly in Vancouver. Eric enjoyed the time on the coast, window shopping and sightseeing with Colin. Though the highlight of the trip was when Eric went to see the good friend of his grandparents, Charles Beer; whom he considered a great uncle. Charles had recently moved into an assisted living home, under a medical scare. Though by the time Eric saw him, Charles was nearly back to full health; age was showing, but he was up and mobile. Together they had a lovely lunch with Penny, one of Charles’ previous homecare aides. Unbeknown to Eric this was the last time he would ever see Charles, though at the time he had a feeling it might be, as on June 15, 2010, Charles Beer passed away peacefully in his sleep (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomas_Beer).
Returning to Edmonton was also returning to studies. Over the summer Eric’s schooling plans changed; what was initially going to be his final teaching practicum term turned out to be another term of classes as he had one full term required course to go. Eric decided to finish his course work and then do his practicum rather than returning to classes after a 9 week teaching term.
Aside from his required course (EDPS 410 Ethics and Law in Teaching) Eric chose two drama courses to be registered as a full-time student; DRAMA 279 Introduction to Stagecraft and Design, and DRAMA 327 Community-Based Theatre. Both of these drama courses he found interesting for different reasons. In the stagecraft and design course Eric was able to use his engineering mind in seeing how the backstage aspects of theatre work and in the design project; presenting an overview for a full production design of the Brecht play The Caucasian Chalk Circle, which earned him a B+. In the community-based theatre course Eric first learned a definition of community-based theatre; theatre done by a community, for the community. He then could see the real impact and importance of theatre in various communities; from incarcerated youth and women, to giant puppetry and masks, to defining and passing on cultural and local identity. His Research Paper on Celebration Theatre, L.A. U.S.A., A GLBTQ Community-Based Theatre resulted in Eric getting an A-.
With Eric’s two project-based drama courses, and taking his ethics and law in teaching as an evening course, his only exam happened to be the last class of his ethics and law course; in which he got a B+. This meant he had some time over the course of the term to continue some of his volunteering activities.
Eric once again volunteered for the Study Buddy program, and got a placement at Ottewell Junior High, a leisurely 10 minute walk from his house, where he helped out a few students in their English and Social Studies either one-on-one, or occasionally in a small group. Eric also continued volunteering for the Education Students’ Society (ESA), this time taking on the responsibilities of Technology Commissioner; maintaining the website. This tied in nicely with the part-time job he had on campus for the Faculty of Education Technology Professional Development (Ed Tech PD) unit, where he took carts of dual boot Mac laptops (which run Mac or Windows depending on user’s choice) to classrooms when requested, troubleshooted any issues with them, and ensured they were all returned. Eric found out about this job when he ran into Jeff, a classmate from his Mechanical Engineering days, the facilitator for the Ed Tech PD unit, and also was a teaching assistant for a Lego Robotics course Eric took in the summer of 2009.
Eric was pleased with his course schedule, specifically with his the fact he was done on the last day of classes, well before Christmas, thus affording him the opportunity for seasonal work; as Santa’s photographer / helper at St. Albert Centre, and a couple other malls in Edmonton.
During the last few months of 2009, there were a few other minor changes in Eric’s life. Chris, Eric’s first tenant, moved out at the end of September to continue with work in Northern Alberta. In November Sheldon joined the household, followed closely with Mick having to return to Australia. Eric spent most of December, and the new year, looking to rent out the vacant room.
Considering all Eric had going on around Christmas, working and looking for a tenant, he was pleased to have a quiet celebration; due in part to Samara, Geert and Sebastian spending their Christmas in Belgium. Eric enjoyed a road trip with friends (Ricardo & Melissa, Martin & Jessica, and Brian & Tasha) to Montana to ring in the New Year.
With a new year came new challenges and experiences for Eric. His five week courses in his Advanced Professional Term (APT) were fun, as the class: organized and ran a Science Olympics at St. Mark Catholic Junior High, participated as judges for Nellie McClung Girls’ Junior High Science Fair, had a day field trip at the Telus World of Science (Edmonton), and conducted a variety of labs (mostly biology). Although Eric was technically registered in three classes (EDSE 451 Integrating Theory and Classroom Practice in the Advanced Professional Term, EDSE 456 Curriculum and Teaching for Secondary School General Sciences Majors I, and EDSE 457 Curriculum and Teaching in Secondary School General Sciences II), they were essentially all one class; approximately 5 hours every day. The five weeks flew by, and before he knew it Eric was preparing to step into the classroom as a student teacher once again.
Earlier in the year Eric had attended an information session on unique schools within the public school system. He put his name down on the list as a possible teaching practicum location on the ones that had piqued his interest: Aspen, Next Steps, and Centre High. As Eric left he questioned whether he really should have put his name down for Aspen, a school for students with severe behavioural issues. The teaching methods mentioned interested him, but Eric wasn’t too sure if he could handle the students.
As luck would have it, Eric was placed in Aspen. He was a little disappointed, but decided to step up and accept the challenge of teaching in the behavioural high school. And it was a challenge as the expectations by the University did not mesh easily with the teaching style at Aspen. Eric did have support from his mentor teacher Mrs. Taylor, as well as the rest of the great staff of Aspen. Despite the support, Eric struggled with some of the aspects of classroom management. It should be noted that the class size was somewhere between 3 and 7 students, usually closer to the lower end, and each student was at a different place in the curriculum. Between his struggle with classroom management and the planning expectations of the University, Eric decided to drop out of the practicum with 4 weeks to go (after 5 weeks). It was a hard decision, one which Eric’s University Facilitator, Mr. McNeill, helped him consider all the options and consequences. Although Eric felt like he was taking the easy way out, both Mr. McNeill and Mrs. Taylor expressed their respect for the courage it took in making the decision. Eric left Aspen having learned a lot about himself and a little more clarity on how to prepare for his next teaching practicum; he left with no regrets, just lessons learned. Because Eric had passed his 5 weeks of classes, earning a B, withdrawing from the teaching practicum meant all he had to repeat was the 9 weeks teaching.
Free from the last 4 weeks of his teaching practicum, Eric took the opportunity to:
- reflect on the experience
- contact HFP Acoustical Engineering about starting summer work at the end of April
- focus more on advertising the room he still had vacant.
Soon after Eric had started at Aspen he signed up for a year long membership with a gym and was going four times a week (seeing a trainer once a week), with the time off he still continued the routine, which helped him relax and de-stress. Another benefit from withdrawing when he did, was allowing Eric not be overly stressed when he joined the rest of his family (parents David and Chris, sister Samara, brother-in-law Geert, and nephew Sebastian) in Hawaii at the end of March.
Eric enjoyed Hawaii, though his week there was not long enough. He spent a lot of time with family, going to the beach every other morning with all but Chris. Of the days he did not go to the beach, one was on a day long bus tour of Hawaii (the big island), where he got a chance to see the fiery Mount Kilauea; more the smoking volcano as there was no hot lava to be seen where the bus stopped. Another day Eric accompanied his parents to the Akatsuka Orchid Gardens, a greenhouse full of beautiful orchids, which had marvellous aromas. Aside from travelling to different beaches on the West coast, near Kona, Eric also made it one night to the base camp for the observatories on Mauna Kea. Even at that altitude Eric and his father, David, observed a spectacle of stars and the full Milky Way.
Eric’s work at HFP Acoustical started following his return to Canada. He spent the rest of the summer in Calgary (the first half with his friends Ben and Scott and the second half with his friend Brent), coming back to Edmonton about twice a month. His returns to Edmonton were primarily to meet up with his trainer at the gym, but also included:
- attending the Education Students’ Graduation Dinner at the end of April, which he helped organize
- meeting Stephany, a Couchsurfer from New Brunswick, and showing her around as well as offering her a ride to Calgary for more of her travels
- welcoming Robin, a student from France on a 2 month work exchange, to the house for the months of July and August
- writing the National Professional Practice Exam for APEGGA (Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta), his last step in obtaining his Professional Engineering designation (he passed the exam which means he is just waiting for confirmation from APEGGA that he can use P.Eng. [P.S.: As this letter is sent out later than anticipated, it is confirmed that Eric has his P.Eng. designation, official as of September 8, 2010])
After writing his Professional Engineering exam, Eric went and met his niece, Klara Kemeny DeCock-Jones, who was born two days before, on July 17. This gave him yet another reason to return to Edmonton throughout the summer.
Aside from these trips to Edmonton, which ended up being three day weekends, Eric spent most of his time working, with the occasional extra few days off in Edmonton (such as to study for his exam). He did have some field work around Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan which he was able to accommodate into his planned time in Edmonton. In fact his work in Fort Saskatchewan fell right between his double Fringes.
Having volunteered for the 2009 Calgary Fringe, and making an impression on the organizers, Eric was asked to be Venue Supervisor for the 2010 Calgary Fringe; which he willingly accepted. He enjoyed the smaller atmosphere of the Calgary Fringe, despite feeling like his venue was on the fringe of the Fringe.
In 2009 Eric saw probably his record of Fringe plays in Edmonton (about 40), in 2010, Eric felt that the Edmonton Fringe was more of a holiday from work, and took the time more to relax, so only saw five plays. However he did increase his volunteering; adding shifts with the Kids Fringe to his position as Information Team Leader.
We end this chapter with Eric finishing a project for HFP Acoustical in Calgary and looking forward to his final teaching practicum in October.
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