My name is Colleen Mahoney and I am a teacher at heart. I was born in Northern BC and school was not very accessible to me growing up. I am sure I had undiagnosed learning challenges and difficult social interactions didn’t help. I grew up thinking I was not very smart. I had a first grade teacher who told my parents that, I would never go to University, I wasn’t bright enough. I was lucky I had awesome parents who refused to give up and a few good teachers. (Look mom! I have a Bacholor’s of Science!) The teacher I want to become is the teacher that I needed. I relish challenge and try to help others learn how they learn so that they can teach themselves anything. I hope that people learn to value their own education for its own sake.
The best classroom for me was the outdoors. I always flourished at summer camp and in Girl Guides. Hands on learning was a game changer for me. I learned to make book learning real with imagination. I learned to relate what was being taught through concepts and connections I could build on. I pushed my self to be a “curious” person and ask questions unabashedly.
“Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.”
~ William Butler Yeats
I have a degree in a Natural Resources discipline and have worked in the forestry sector. I have worked for Non-profits in Administrative and bookkeeping roles. If I could teach one thing is that:
No life is a straight road, sometimes it takes a lot of trying before finding your place and people. Be patent with life and yourself!
In my practice I strive to uphold compliance to the BC Professional Standards of Teaching. For reference here is a link to the document in PDF format: