My name is Jacob Purdon and thank you much for visiting my portfolio. Here I am just going to share a little bit about myself, but please poke around the menu to check out what I have been up to.
I grew up in the lovely town of Armstrong BC, and my wife and I have just moved to Salmon Arm as she works at the hospital there and we love the town. We have two dogs and love to get outside. We love camping, hiking, kayaking, fishing, and pretty much everything else that you can do outdoors.
I went to Highland Park Elementary School in Armstrong, followed by Pleasant Valley Secondary school in the same town. After a few years of working in construction, travelling, and trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I enrolled at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna to get my bachelor’s degree in psychology. After graduating I worked in that field for a while as a support worker in a group home for adults with developmental diversabilities. While there I had coworkers tell me that I had a would make an excellent teacher, so I decided to go for it. I needed to upgrade a few classes for the education program and while taking them I found that I had a knack for financial mathematics and accounting. So not wanting to miss that opportunity, I switched into an accounting program, and ended up working as a accountant for a while in Salmon Arm. While I was there, I again had coworkers tell me that I had the calm temperament and patience that would make me a great teacher. I finally got the message then and decided once and for all to commit to becoming a teacher.
I am really looking forward to working as a classroom elementary school teacher. I have really enjoyed my volunteer and practicum experiences in the classroom and working with kids is fun and rewarding. I envision my future classroom to be a space where students are encouraged to ask questions and explore the world in ways best suited to them. Some kids learn better through hands on experience while others learn better through reading or watching videos. I want to give students options for how they express their learning as well, because written tests do not work for many students but given the opportunity to explain through art or spoken words, we can quickly see that students have learned the content.
Throughout all of my TRU practicum experiences I found the most challenging aspect to be classroom management. I struggled establishing myself as the authority figure in the classroom. However once I was able to be the full time classroom teacher for a time, I found my confidence grow, and with it, my ability to manage my class. I use many different strategies and will continue to trial more over the years. I do feel confident that I will be able to develop effective classroom management strategies for different groups of students.
Thank you for taking the time to learn a bit more about me. I hope you enjoy exploring my e-portfolio and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you want to get in touch!
