Who am I?Hello, My name is Dominique McCullough and I am a secondary ELA teacher in Alberta, Canada.
The daughter of two Canadians, I was raised in Paris, France where I was exposed to a wealth of culture. To ensure my sisters and I were able to attend Canadian universities, my family moved to Toronto in 2004. Throughout high school, I was supported by a number of teachers who fostered my love of theatre and literature, and pushed me to excel in all areas of academia. Following my grade 12 year, I attended the University of Calgary for a BFA in Theatrical Design, after which, I Interned at Alberta Theatre Projects as an assistant set and costume designer, and stage manager. One month after completing my internship, the 2013 Alberta Floods hit and my trajectory shifted. A number of the theaters downtown were impacted and many of my friends had lost their homes. I began working for the Canadian Red Cross Society (CRCS) in order to help those who had been affected by this disaster. Over the past three years my roles have been varied, shifting from Flood Operations to online training, and eventually crossing over into the prevention and education side of the CRCS. Some aspects of my role now include working with education around both disasters and childhood bullying and safety, as well as workplace harassment. I found this work to be extremely rewarding but realized that there were systemic issues that often prevented my clients from successfully recovering from the difficulties they had experienced. In order to work towards building resiliency in Calgarians, as well as meet some of these systemic issues head on, I decided to enroll in the University of Calgary's Education program. I earned a BEd (secondary ELA specialization) from the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary in April 2016. Since that time, we have had yet another disaster in Alberta, the Northern Alberta Wild Fires. On May 3rd, 2016, I felt yet again compelled to do what I could, and given my newly awarded certification as an educator, I began to work with the children impacted by the Alberta Wild Fires. Through the CRCS, I have worked with Save The Children, an internationally recognized organization who's mission is to meet children's needs in the face of disaster. I have had the opportunity to aid in the implementation of Child Friendly Spaces in temporary shelters in Edmonton in order to support child resiliency and to ensure that the trauma that they faced does not continue to dampen their childhood. |
My (Brief) Teaching Philosophy |
The following in a condensed version of my Teaching Philosophy. To read the full document follow the link below.
As teachers, we hold enormous responsibility. We can be the difference between success and failure, not just for a term, but for a student’s academic and career goals, their societal contributions, and ultimately, their self worth. Every student deserves to be supported and nurtured, and it is their teachers who, alongside parents, need to be their advocates. I believe that teachers should have high expectations for their students, and provide them the tools and supports needed to meet those expectations. The greatest disservice we can do our students is to believe them when they say they cannot do something. By forging strong relationships with our students, they will come to trust us when we push them beyond their comfort levels, allowing them to go further than they thought possible. |
My Teaching Philosophy | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | docx |