I do not really know where to begin aside from welcoming you all to the first blog post I have ever written. I may as well begin this post with an admission: I am technologically inept. Foolishly, I thought UVic’s transition to remote learning this year meant my technological ineptitude would remain a secret. Alas, throughout this course, I am sure it will be on full display for you all. That is not to say that I believe I will remain so. I think we are all in good hands. Valerie and Luke are incredibly knowledgable and patient instructors, and my fellow classmates (at least the ones I have spoken to) are not only supportive but are experiencing similar feelings of anxiety and unpreparedness. However, I am sure we will all pull through and discover a myriad of ways to share knowledge and build stronger connections with our future students.
After having been to each of my classes online and completed my first school visit at Lambrick, I can honestly say I am feeling more and more confident that I have made the right decision to pursue a career in education. Despite feeling overwhelmed with the technological aspects of the program, I feel incredibly lucky to navigating these unforeseen circumstances with such an incredible group of individuals. I also think it is important to identify the positive elements of the situation in which we find ourselves. What I mean is, while we all struggle to adapt to the changing circumstances, we can share our experiences with our future students, especially those feeling overwhelmed, to reassure them that they too will succeed.
As for my free inquiry project, I have chosen to focus on fingerpicking on the guitar. I have played guitar on and off for a few years, but I never learned this particular style of playing. I think this will be a better project to showcase my improvement over the coming months because I will be starting as a total beginner. By the end of the semester, I hope to be able to play a song from beginning to end from memory. I haven’t chosen the song yet, but I am thinking about learning a Stan Rogers song. He was one of my grandfather’s favorite artists, and I think if he were alive he’d have loved to see me play one of Stan’s songs. Wish me luck, I am going to need it!
Until next week,
Phil