Of all the photos to share of my friend, I chose the image of doughnuts that were offered post the Celebration of Life. They also served my friend’s favourite tea. I had the pink doughnut and sencha tea. I loved that these were two of her favourite things (doughnuts from a place a cannot remember… and loose leaf tea)… and that there were choices. #ClassicTeacher. Offering choice and agency to everyone at the celebration. What a wonderful way to remember and honour my friend. I loved it!!
I took many photos at the event. I shared some of the edu-selfies with folks who knew my friend from the teacher education world. I posted those photos on my some of my social media feeds. And, I took photos of the various speakers at the Celebration of Life. I thought it was a wonderful compilation of folks who spoke very highly of my friend. People from her church, workplace, UBC, Pacific Academy, friends, and her family all spoke about my friend in different ways with similar threads and themes.
Some stories shared provided moments of laughter, while other moments felt reflective and affirming. She was a strong and determined person. She was passionate, competitive, and driven. She was a helper. She loved her kids. She fell in love with her life partner at work. She was a committed and devoted educator, counsellor, coach, researcher, and teacher educator. She was a whole bunch of things, many of which I can confirm is all true. She went above and beyond… always.
Maybe not spoken, but I am realizing that I was also afforded the opportunity to get to know the more vulnerable side of her… as a friend and colleague. We spoke lots about what it meant to be a second-generation Canadian-Asian woman in BC Schools and in higher education. We talked a lot about our pedagogical journeys, our families, and our struggles. She always needed a little boost from time to time, but I am realizing she played that role for many others as a mentor, teacher, and friend.
I’m not sure why I feel somewhat reluctant to share the image of my friend on this blog post, and that my first choices were the food that was served outside of the church post-celebration. But what I do know for sure, she was a good friend, an advocate for humanity and equity, and a very smart person. Everyone at the event said that about her. I feel the same way. In some ways, I hope that she knew that as well. It was something that she always strived for, and she was always succeeding.
I guess I will share one story of my friend. I first met her in 2019 at the CAfLN conference in Vancouver, BC. At the time, Twitter was HOT with the educators and she knew me from the social media platform. At the time, I was not in a good place… emotionally and spiritually. I was in a state of transition and admittedly, it was rough. She bounces in and says, “HELLO,” introduces herself, and tried to lift my spirits up with her warmth, kindness, and enthusiasm. Since that day, it never stopped.
Perhaps it stopped in the physical world, but my friend is always in my heart. I feel sad just writing about this and how I am not able to say hello to call her up or take a selfie or to meet somewhere for coffee to chat. I will miss my friend greatly and deeply. I am sure that many others feel the same way as I do. This is not the way she thought it would end, and she struggled and fought for every minute, hour, and day to be with her kids. The journey of saying goodbye could not have been easy.
Every time we texted, sent a voice message, or have a Zoom conversation… I thought it would be the last time I would see her or hear from her. Selfish, I know… but she always seemed to hang in there, made the effort to connect, and she was always thinking of others. That was in her nature. I am grateful for our time together. I am also grateful that she is now at peace and pain free. The fought a good fight and she was determined to win. However, she had the grace and strength to let go.
My friend taught me many lessons since her diagnosis on September 29, 2023. I remember her telling me on the phone at 4:30am. I didn’t know what to say, but to listen. I could her her frustration, anger, and disbelief. I can understand her feelings. She was just on the path that she worked so hard for and deserved. My learning from her last year and a half was, just live your life. Be happy. Nothing in life can be that serious or taken that seriously. Love what you do, rest, and savour every moment.
At CSSE 2023 at York University. She was doing her PhD at UBC… busy and darn proud.In White Rock… I’m guessing in 2021 or 2022. Her hospitality and generosity were unsurpassed.Our first selfie… in 2019 at CAfLN. So up lifting… (PS. We had many selfies together).
I love you, my friend. I will miss you greatly. Rest in peace. XO.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, June 10th, 2025 | Comments Off on Celebrating a Friend
June 1-4, 2025 – Canadian Study for the Study of Education
I am so grateful for my friend who took a photo of me presenting at CSSE 2025. I presented 4 times and I only had photos taken of me from my first presentation at CAARE (Canadian Association for Action Research in Education). I also presented at CNIE (Canadian Network for Innovation in Education), CASIE (Canadian Association for the Study of Indigenous Education), and CATE (Canadian Association for Teacher Education). I have images of the title page of each PowerPoint presentation I gave at CSSE 2025. I’ve gone to a few Congresses in the past handful of years and just realized that CSSE is embedded into Congress. They are not the same thing!! Makes sense. Congress is the opportunity for different Canadian Associations to come together and meet at the same time and CSSE is part of that. Thank you to George Brown College for hosting is HUGE event. Of the 4 presentations, I managed to present in each of the 3 campuses of the college. What a beautiful campus and overall, Congress, venue, transportation, and volunteers… the experience was AMAZING!! And, I was able to find my way from the airport to the conference and navigate the area with some ease. I am also grateful for my aunt (one of my mom’s sisters) who opened up her “newly renovated” condo and have me stay there. I was only a 20-minute walk away from the college. It was super convenient. I loved walking to the conference every morning. The weather was great, and the place!!
The first presentation was created with 3 former teacher candidates and the work we did together during or concurrent to the teacher education program at UNBC about a Lesson Study we engaged in called “Sit Spot and My Senses.” We’ve presented this several times before with the teacher candidates facilitating and engaging workshop participants in the lesson study. This time, my three co-presenters are now early career educators and approaching the end of the K-12 school year. So, it was me to present about our work as a paper presentation. The presentation was mainly descriptive with images of past experiences during the lesson study. I was nervous because it was my first presentation (and I added a few slides… content contributed by the team), so I might have gone over time. ACK. That said, the presentation had a positive impact on folks in the room and I appreciate their kind words and inspiration. Our team is planning to submit a proposal to write a chapter for the next CATE book.
The second presentation was co-presented with a couple of my colleagues from the Climate Education in Teacher Education (CETE) research team. We presented on how we have “redefined togetherness” (aka., the theme of CSSE) and at a high level, described our research project and research methodology. I think the presentation went very well. It was well attended and well received. We have really mastered the planning process and presentation to tell our story as CETE that is representative, meaningful, and authentic. We may have recruited some folks to be a part of our design team. The third presentation was later that day (Day 2) in a RoundTable presentation. It was late in the day, so there were very few of us at this session. We combined the two tables into one and each presenter shared their work. I presented on some of the work done by myself and my friend on “uncolonizing assessment.” I did a small pilot in my EDUC 421 (Assessment and Motivation) course and learned from student reflection how the teacher candidates defined the Four R’s from Kirkness and Barnhardt (1991) in context to assessment, teaching, and their self-assessment. It was really powerful and I was taken aback as to how the teacher candidates used the Four R’s to guide their assessment plan and practice.
The final and fourth presentation was with CATE and I was presenting about a program evaluation of “in-situ” learning as part of my EDUC 421 course I teach with elementary teacher candidates. When I wrote the proposal, I was reflecting on the 3-years of which I had implemented a version of “in-situ” learning as part of my practice. And, I wondered if the learning experience was still worthwhile to continue even though I thought it was worthwhile to do. In response to proposal feedback, I went back to review the blog and page posts made by the teacher candidates as part of the course that commented on the “in situ” learning experience that reflected on their teaching at the elementary school or as a part of the course summary reflection. As usual, the reflections ranged in content and depth, but I was so overwhelmed by the articulation by these teacher candidates on their support, enthusiasm, and gratitude for the “in situ” learning experience to bridge theory to practice. I am so encouraged by their words such that I will return to this content again to do a thematic analysis to then formalize this program evaluation for publication.
I feel very grateful to do this work. Although I felt that the pandemic re-started my motivation to create a research program, the more I am understanding that I am deeply engaged in the SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING and ACTION RESEARCH. I am deeply invested in the practice as well as working with teacher candidates. Much like many of my reflections in this blog and the other with OpenETC, I am ALWAYS learning from my students. I feel so inspired by the gifts I receive from this work, but also how it fuels my love for the work that I do… and get to do. To conclude this blog reflection, I also want to share my love and joy for the connections I’ve made during the CSSE conference. Some connections are reuniting with folks (i.e., a former student in one of my graduate level classes, a new colleague and listening to their poster presentation of their dissertation, a mentor and friend to share their insights on effective teams, and giving a big hug and hello to another mentor who sought me out to say HELLO). Some connections are new ones (i.e., a professor and educator during my 4th presentation who is also a CATE dissertation winner, folks I met at a poster presentation, at roundtable, and in the hallway). I love these connections!!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, June 08th, 2025 | Comments Off on Presenting at CSSE
Can you believe that this is the third time I’ve blogged with this title? “Do what you love.” I’m not surprised. It never hurts to remind myself, but also I’m in that mindset, particularly when my #OneWord2025 is LOVE. Gosh… it took me months to commit to that word and now I’m “in love” with my one word. It takes time for the one-word to take hold, but I am realizing that LOVE was a natural next step from HAPPY. So, this blog post is going to talk about a few things that “I love” to do. It’s fun to do this.
First, I am so happy to be doing my weekly blog only on one website versus two. I was maintaining two websites, thus two blogs, for a year or so because I lost access to this website a few years ago and I was making a website for some courses I taught at the university. Now, I have access to this website (due to serendipity and good luck) and I’m no longer teaching portfolio in the M.Ed. or B.Ed. programs. I don’t need a work portfolio. It has taken me a few months to “let go” but I’m good with only one blog.
Second, I am really getting into thrifting. It was something I did out of utility when I first moved to Prince George, and my kid liked to go thrifting to buy clothes and such when she was younger. We both stopped for a few years and now I’m just getting back into it. I found some flower vases, led crystal pieces, and some unexpected wins. Just the other day, I bought a Corningware set on Facebook Marketplace as part of an estate sale. (See photo). I love these pieces and got a great deal on them. It’s too fun.
Finally, my last mention of “doing what I love” is beading. A former student of mine reached out to me and asked if I wanted to go out on Wednesday nights to bead. It’s a 3-hour session and I just LOVE IT. I know in the fall that I will be teaching a night class, but for the spring and summer, this connection with the former student and all those in this beading group has been absolutely blissful. The 3 hours just fly by and I’m enjoying returning to what brings me a lot of joy and time to hone my beading skills.
I have so much to be grateful for and these are only a few examples of “doing what I love.” It feels good to prioritize my interests and learning how to embrace change and navigate in ways that go with the flow and be open to the present. I’m just in LOVE.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, May 24th, 2025 | Comments Off on Do What You Love
I started this blog post yesterday and it quickly started a tangent. I’m not sure if it’s because I was being avoidant or if I was distracted. There is nothing like the act of procrastination, a new day, and a redo. So here I am again to start this blog post over. My dear friend passed away on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. She was 10 years junior. She just turned 45 years old on April 20, 2025. I am not sure what to make of this. She was diagnosed with glioblastoma in October 2023. I remember the phone call. It was like 430 am and she was texting me. She could not sleep and so I called her. She said that she was diagnosed with brain cancer… or brain tumour. She did not tell me the exact diagnosis although over time, thanks to Google, I was able to figure it out before she told me her diagnosis. It’s heartbreaking and shocking at the same time.
She was struggling for awhile. It was often contributed to tiredness and workload because she was in a doctoral program at UBCO, and she commuted to Kelowna from Vancouver via plane, most times, to attend class. She was working full-time at the university, she was an RA, and she was a full-time parent to two young adolescent children. If anything, she was busy, so I can see that it was easy to make a correlation of her workload to her headaches and tiredness. However, when certain deadlines had ceased, her symptoms did not. I remember her at WFATE 2023 in Victoria, BC. She was presenting, organizing a dinner for BCTEN, and doing life as a PhD student. She was not feeling well that week and again, seemed very busy, but managed to keep up with everything. Keeping a brave smile, her headaches persisted. Luckily, she has close friends who encouraged her to go to the doctor to find out what’s wrong.
She was so determined to stay alive and be with her children. She underwent 3 brain operations, radiation, and chemotherapy. Nothing worked. The tumour kept growing and her body (and mind) slowly fading away. I spoke to her a few times and messaged some other times. You could see the rapid decline. Each time, I thought it would be the last time I would see her. I even went to go visiter once with another mutual friend at her place. She was still hosting even though she was not well. Her strength and stamina were unsurpassed. I would not believe what she was willing to endure to extend her life. According to the websites, without treatment, she had 3 months to live. With all of the interventions she took, she lived for 19-months after her diagnosis. She was aiming for 10 years, but what she has achieved was a testament to her and the fight for her life. Over time, she was able to make peace with family members and strengthen key relationships, and say goodbye everything.
I cannot believe that it would be easy saying goodbye to everything that she worked so hard for. She had to say goodbye to her job in teacher education at the university. There are photos of her packing up her office. I was happy that she made that choice for herself. She had to say goodbye to her doctoral work. She worked so hard to get into the PhD program. She was in the program of her dreams and had a very supportive supervisor. Her career was on the rise, and her identity and sense of self-worth were deeply embedded in getting into that program. For awhile, she had ambitions to complete the program while she was ill, but over time she realized that it would not be possible. Letting go must have been incredibly difficult to do. She even stepped back from BCTEN, and she loved that work. Finally, I can only imagine, that she had to say goodbye to her life and her family. Honestly, I can’t even imagine, but she spent her last moments in hospice with her close family and friends.
After 19-months of struggle, pain, and goodbyes, I am relieved she is at peace.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, May 20th, 2025 | Comments Off on Ten Years My Junior
The fair came by last week. My kid and I walked over to the fair to walk around and pick up a bag of mini-doughnuts. We shared the bag before heading out for lunch. It was a gorgeous day and the doughnuts were pretty good too. It was the last week my kid “off” from school before starting her summer job at the hospital as an ESN (employed student nurse). She’s on her night shift as I write. It’s a new way of being for me. Not only have I splurged on a Nespresso coffee maker (for Mother’s Day) and enjoy an espresso con panna anytime of day at home, I am also in love with my cat (of which I am watching in the corner of my eye playing a new toy I got her earlier tonight). Is this how life is going to be? Me… the cat lady!! My kid will also be going away to complete her 5-week clinical as well as part of Year 3 of her program. I think that will be the real test. She will be leaving “the nest” soon… Year 4 will come and go. I am so grateful that my kid chose to come with me to Prince George during the “turbulent years.” I could not have transition to “my independence” without her.
I can’t believe that this is my 21st Mother’s Day. It doesn’t feel like 21 times. I can celebrate this day every year with LOVE and joy. As mentioned, I bought myself a Nespresso (and LOVE it) and I got myself a pottery mug from the art gallery as well (for Mother’s Day). As you can see, I’m not shy. But, my kid will be coming home after her shift at 7am on Mother’s Day and likely sound asleep when I wake up. Please note, I’m writing this blog post in the middle of the night because I am WIDE AWAKE from my expresso earlier tonight. I needed a boost to get on with my day, but now I’m alert. LOL. Hence, I’m writing about Mother’s Day in the future tense. Yes, it’s Mother’s Day right now… but it’s just after midnight. My cat is not a fan of me staying up late, but I realized tonight that I love being going out for a walk in the evening (ie., going to Walmart or the Superstore in Prince George) and I am truly a “late to bed, late to rise” kind of person. As much as I would like to be an early to bed, early to rise person… it will NEVER happen. Trust me, I’ve tried. But what I am realizing is, I am on my own.
There is nothing wrong with being independent, but I am acknowledging that my kid is growing up. She’s an adult and she too will be independent. Parenting… no one really talks about these transitions. My kid taught me so much about life (i.e., having an Nespresso… I don’t think I can go back to the Keurig, which is hers as well). Sigh. So, with this change in momentum with my kid and me as she continues to engage in her nursing program and work, I am learning how to be the “new” me. I am also trying to wean myself off my phone. I’m so done with that thing, but I am have horrible habits to break. I was inspired by a YouTube video done by a fellow BC Educator’s kid, Makari Espe, “How I cut my screentime by 80%.” I will start my Mother’s Day with having my phone charging downstairs, that is, one floor away from my bedroom. So much time is SUCKED away when I have my phone near my bed. I have took off some apps already, but I will be replacing my phone with reading. Let’s see how this goes.
Mother’s Day is about celebrating yourself… and LOVE my kid. I have also decided to commit to my weekly blog with this WordPress site and I am taking a break from my other WordPress site related to my work at the university. I am no longer teaching any courses that has EdTech and portfolios, so modelling how to create and develop a website as a platform for reflective practice is no longer needed. Again, change. I think the real gift I can give myself is creating change rather than respond to change (that happens to me). It’s not one or the other, but what I want to say is… I’m moving forward. And, I can do this!! HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!! PS: I love being a mom!! xo
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, May 11th, 2025 | Comments Off on Onto the Next Step
Admittedly, this is how it feels. See image. Isn’t she cute? Anyway, I’m not sure why I do this, but I have stints of working really hard followed by stints of severe rest, and the slow haul to get back to a steady work flow. I did this all of the time when I worked in K-12. The breaks are needed. Teaching can take a lot from you and sometimes you can’t even meet your own expectations. We have limitations. I do have a friend who works FOREVER at a capacity that I am unable to attain (or would strive for), but I am getting back at things and it feels good to sit down and map out the spring/summer term to get as much writing, research, and productivity done before the fall term begins. I’ve designed it this way. It’s my first term at the university without teaching a course. In our collective agreement, faculty members can have one term off from teaching, but in the teacher education program that goes year round and being teaching faculty with 8 courses per year, it’s reasonable to spread out your courses over 12-months. Now I have 10% for research, 10% doing projects for the school of education, I am teaching 6 courses now, of which I am teaching 2 courses in the fall, 4 courses in the winter, and no courses in the spring/summer. Honestly, it feels great.
I am hoping to renew my contract. I wished I was a driven as some folks I know. But, with rest and restoration, I am learning what’s important to me and what I LOVE doing. I love teaching. I love learning. I love writing reflectively. I love connection and community. I am involved in a few things that offer all of that to me so I hope I can continue doing what I am doing for the next three years. I have been reassured, but signing a contract would be nice. Now that I feel that I am back into “work mode” I feel that I need to take a moment to strategize my next steps for this spring/summer term to get the most out of the term. I have the CSSE Congress 2025 in Toronto and presenting on May 31, June 1, and June 2. I have 4 presentations. One I am co-presenting with members of a research team, another I am presenting with former students (who will be attending online), another I am co-presenting with a friend of mine, and another that I am presenting on my own. Preparing for the conference is my first course of action as well as completing a few papers that need addressing as well. After that, I have a book review and a couple conference proceedings to submit. There is a chapter I am also co-authoring with a colleague that’s due in June and there are other projects on the go. I am very excited about this term. Onwards and upwards.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, May 06th, 2025 | Comments Off on Listening to Yourself
As we approach the end of the month and transition to the spring/summer term, I took a moment to visit my family in the Lower Mainland. My cousin and her family came from Boston to Vancouver for a week or so to visit the west coast, and I also had a short visit a niece, nephew, and aunty who also live in Vancouver. I stayed at my brother’s place for a few days. He hosted a family dinner gathering one night and my sister hosted another. On my last day, my sister, brother, and my dad got together to have dim sum, but also visit my mom at the cemetery. We bought her new (fake) flowers for her resting place. Tulips. Very seasonal, but also very MOM. She loved tulips and it’s one of my memories of her when we visited the tulip farms in Abbotsford. We also had pizza that day. It was a good day and memory of mom.
I’m not sure what it will take to get me motivated enough… or ready enough… to engage in an autoethnography. When my mom passed away in 2018, I wanted to write about those 20-days (and my relationship with my mom) to investigate my ethnic identity but in particular write about belonging, self-efficacy, and positionality. I had a wonderful conversation with my cousin one night at my sister’s talking about my mom and sharing with her what I loved about my mom and why she was so special. Was that enough? I have very good memories of my mom, not limited to those 20-days, but I also have some challenging ones. It’s almost like I want to learn more about her so that I can get a better understanding of myself, but also how I make sense of the world in context to my family. I needed to learn about myself.
I am a second-generation Chinese Canadian. I was born and raised in Prince Rupert, BC. I don’t have any language (i.e., Cantonese) or engage in any cultural practices related to my ancestry. I was essentially assimilated to Canadian culture and language by my parents and Canadian society and institutions (even though my parents spoke Cantonese) such that I spent the first half-century of my life denying my cultural heritage and ethnic identity. When George Floyd died in 2020, I was struck by the question: Can I deny who I am for much longer or do I need to step up and “be ok” with being Chinese? A weird question, but it’s one that I had wrestled with for many, many years. Also around this time, I graduated with my doctorate in 2017, my mom passed away in 2018, and I separated from my husband in 2019. I moved away from my family in 2018 to pursue a job, we faced the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and I lived in my house during the pandemic until my kid moved up with me in 2021.
Up until this point, I was not living my life for myself and I had a lot of misconceptions about “the world.” In 2021, I was starting life all over again and it took a few years to finally find myself, my autonomy, and my agency as a person and academic. Even though I wanted to write about my mom in 2018, I couldn’t. Not because of the persistent crying and sadness, but because I was not whole or ready to write about and examine my experiences in a reasonable and realistic way. Lots was happening, and I was learning more about me. I had to look this up, but I divorced in 2023 (only 2-years ago) and I bought my own place last year (only 5-months ago). My kid continues to live with me and she is finishing up her third year in the nursing program. I am no longer angry, nor am I feeling oppressed or distant from myself.
Now, I know that I am my only agent and advocate. I choose how I would like to see life to be and to do what I love to do to find my purpose, my happiness, and my joy in life. I don’t have to meet anyone’s expectations but my own. The only person I need to prove anything to is myself. I never felt that way before (in my past life) but now I understand that my happiness is my own. I create what I see. I needed this time to “feel” ready to write. Well, I think there is no better time than the present. I was already looking at autoethnography resources (again) during this blog post and thinking about how I will go about collecting data (i.e., journals, self-reflection, interviews, etc.). I am ready. Being with my family this last week helped. Many of my aunties and uncles are still alive as well (in addition to my dad). It’s an opportunity to learn more about my mom and learn more about my identity and belonging.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, April 29th, 2025 | Comments Off on Being with Family
My kid made this for me… it’s all the rage… Thank you AI.
Hooray… it’s the end of the winter term. I loved every one of my classes… EDUC 201 (Educational Theory and Practice), EDUC 376 (Numeracy Foundations in the Elementary Years), EDUC 421 (Assessment and Motivation), and EDUC 656 (Instructional Leadership). I loved the folks who were in the classes and I loved the subject matter of each class. I think what challenged me the most was the schedule. I had two 4-hour teacher education classes back-to-back on Mondays and 3-hours night classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was also balancing meetings, service work, and research. With my schedule, It sounded like a strong start on Mondays and coast for the rest of the week. I would not disagree with that as a description of my workflow, but because I had such a full Monday, I spent a good chunk of the weekend working or thinking about work. Rest was not an easy task, and if I did, I spent the whole week catching up. I am not complaining by any means, but I am grateful that that schedule is now over, my marks are submitted, and I have a few more tasks to complete the Winter 2025 term. I feel like I am reaching “the top” of my teaching career, much like I did in 2010 in teaching high school mathematics. The difference is this time is, I’m not 100% stressed out and rest is part of my way of being. I am learning how to write about my work at the university such that it appears “dreamy” and “productive”… I am not one to brag, but it’s the nature of my work to show value in what I am doing. In order to do that, I need to learn about my own value and believe it’s important. Anyway, I am digressing… I am super happy with the conclusion of the Winter 2025 term I have learned a lot with and from my students as well. I LOVE MY JOB and I love what I do. I wish I could just say that about my work, but I believe they want evidence of this “love” and a means to evaluate this feeling through some metrics to make a fair judgement. Nonetheless, I am so grateful to take a few days off this long weekend to REST and do things for myself because it makes me happy. I finally bought a small desk that a built last night to got in front of my window (it was on sale for $89), and I bought a leather chair from the Bay (which was also on sale for $64). Oh my gosh, am I happy. Cheap, but not cheap… and I’m blogging as we speak facing out of my window. I love the natural light shining on my face as I type, but I also like to people watch. There’s just enough distraction to keep me focused. It’s much like being in a coffee shop, without the barista. I did not write in my blog last week. I was cognitively paralyzed by the marking I had to do. Strangely, when I got to my marking, I loved every minute of it. As soon as I stepped away from the mindset of evaluating and grading to LEARNING (what am I learning and what did they learn), the marking process was a joy. So, I’m setting the stage… first, with a big blog ramble… and second, with my desk oriented in my room to promote creativity, joy, and writing.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, April 20th, 2025 | Comments Off on A New Beginning
Oh geez… it’s the end of the winter term. I have such mixed feelings about it. I loved my classes. I was teaching EDUC 421 (Assessment and Motivation), EDUC 376 (Numeracy Foundations in the Elementary Years), EDUC 201 (Education Theory and Practice), and EDUC 656 (Instructional Leadership). Honestly, I loved all of these courses for different reasons. Two of the courses are in the teacher education and my classes were focused on the Elementary Years Cohort. The other two classes were in the undergraduate and graduate programs respectively. I learned so much from each of those classes, but also I got to share what I love and love to learn with the students as well. What a gift!! I think that I am about 90% there with feeling good about my pedagogy and honing my craft in a way that is authentic to who I am. Looking back at my former teaching practice, many elements are similar upon reflecting on how I taught secondary mathematics near the end of my time in K-12 schools. But what’s different between my two practices in teaching is taking the intentional time to REST.
One of the things I was working on and developing in 2024 is taking Saturdays as “be a person” day. What I mean by that is, do what you want to do to move life forward without feeling any guilt or shame for not doing work on that day. Often, the work for educators is endless and its often in the mind with no off-switch. I practiced this way throughout my time in K-12 education. I worked around the clock. I remembered working at 2-3 am and I was a new mom, but had returned back to work with new prep. In the dark, I heard a thump, thump, thump. It was my kid coming down the stairs with her blanket and she just stared at me wondering… what the??? Then, she hopped on the couch behind me and went to sleep. Of course, I kept on working. All nighters was a “normal” thing for me to do. I can only imagine the quality of my work after an all-nighter. This story does not mention all of the times I went to work sick. A part of me is very thankful for the COVID-19 pandemic that insists that people to STAY HOME with any symptoms that resembled COVID-19. Strangely, it was a blessing.
Admittedly, I did do a couple of all-nighters this term. My schedule was somewhat brutal in the sense that I had 2 courses back-to-back on Mondays (i.e., 8-hours of instruction) and I had conditioned myself to take Saturdays (which often included part of Fridays and Sundays) off to rest and “be a person.” Even though I know the course content, it takes about a 1:1 ratio of time to prep. I like to make the learning relevant for the learners in my class. And as you know, no person and no class is the same from year to year. The intention to cater each class so that it creates a “scope and sequence” that is personalized for those ho are in the room. A full day of teaching on Mondays, then a night class on Tuesdays and another night class on Thursdays made my schedule for the week. To prepare for and teach on Mondays, everything else is parked. I parked so much stuff that I did not catch up on what I wanted to catch up on during the 5-weeks I did not have this class due to practicum, a long weekend, and weeklong break. I’m astounded. There is so much to do and so little time.
I’m not complaining. I loved these classes and I think it took me the whole 13-weeks to figure out my flow for the term. That is so weird, but it’s true. By the time it came to my last class on Thursday nights, I felt like I got my rhythm. Unfortunately, the term ended. What I do commend myself for is recognizing the need for rest. So, what I noticed is, I cannot do any work after I teach. So, no emails, marking, or meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. I just didn’t have the energy. I would make myself a yummy dinner at home, rest on my recliner, watch some TV, and go to bed (at a decent hour). I needed to do that for myself to regulate my time and work output. I also noticed that a 3-minute email the next morning would take 3-hours to write the night before. Moreover, I noticed that my brain could only hand certain things and information when it was ready and had “space” to think about those things. It made for more sound and reasonable take-action and decision making.
If anything, I wanted to not only do this balance between rest and work viable for me to stay sustainable and happy in my work, I wanted to model this way of being for my students, regardless of what program they are in. I also designed my classes so that they would respect student voice, rest, and activity. I think the “old me” wanted to keep ploughing ahead because I thought that was what was expected from me. Now, I understand, I can plough at my own pace. People can provide feedback, but I needed to be very clear about putting the students (and my wellness and wellbeing) at the centre of my practice. So, I took this weekend off. My last teaching day was last Thursday night. Assignments are due this week. I took the weekend to REST… despite the pile of work and timelines that are ahead of me. I didn’t even blog on the weekend. I did enjoy the company of a friend over breakfast and engaged in a few tasks for my home (i.e., recycling, laundry, food shopping, etc.), and I feel great!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, April 07th, 2025 | Comments Off on Valuing Rest
Oh geez. Can you believe it? My twin brother came to visit me in Prince George. He came to my new place with boxes that I’ve stored in his storage locker in the Lower Mainland for 6-years. AMAZING. I can honestly say that my move is “in theory” complete. All of my stuff, of which I took from my home on the Sunshine Coast is now with me. Right now, those boxes are sitting in my garage. I will get to it when the semester is over and my marking is done. I’m anticipating that the experience of going through my garage, getting the winter tires from the car dealership (and my kid’s tires from my friends place) to store is in some easy and simple, and figuring out an organizing system in such a way that my kid can park her car in my garage is very exciting to me. I’m turning to a new chapter. And yes, I park my car outside on my driveway, but that’s another blog post (if it ever happens). My turn is coming soon.
What a nice selfie. My brother suggested that I take one and send the photo to my sister as evidence of a successful arrival. My twin bro drove up to Prince George from the Lower Mainland. He is “borrowing” my dad’s car, which soon will be his. Although it’s a 2010 vehicle. My mom and dad purchased that vehicle “brand new.” It was very splurgy. My parents never bought a new vehicle for themselves before, so it’s very special. My mom passed away in 2018 and my dad insists on driving the vehicle even though he can only see out of one eye. I say that jokingly, but I’m not joking. I also think that driving a vehicle is a symbol of independence for the elderly. My dad is not getting any younger and I like to believe that it’s something that both my mom and dad took pride in. Anyway, it’s time to pass the baton (aka., vehicle) on to my brother.
I am so happy to see my brother her in Prince George. It’s nice to have company. Normally, I’m going to Vancouver and staying at his place. He arrived Friday night, we went to Mr. Mike’s for dinner for nostalgic purposes only, and spent all day on Saturday together. He just left this morning to drive back home. And, it’s a beautiful sunny spring day for driving. My twin bro is the first family member to visit my home in-person (aside from my kid who lives with me) to check my place out (and drop of the boxes of which he did not want in his storage locker anymore… LOL). The transition to where I am today was SLOW. I’m not complaining, judging, or regretting. It’s been an incredible journey and I am very excited to see what’s in those boxes. A lot of the stuff, I think, are keepsakes, framed prints, and stuff from my mom. I can’t wait to uncover them and really assess what’s stays in my home and what goes. I also feel ready to write about my mom, so getting ethics is also on my things to do.
It’s super interesting when I blog. I love to reflect and take a moment to capture what I am feeling. I spent most of Sunday resting and relaxing. I’m cleaning up my house and taking it SLOW before getting back to the pile of work I need to address. I am doing my best on trying to have a “be a person” day and sleep at a regular time. I spent decades chasing and doing things beyond the means of what is expected of me or from me. I would do all-nighters or stay up really late to get stuff done. I’m now in a stage in my life or mindset where I feel that I would like to enjoy life, do what I love, and rest. There is nothing wrong with rest, but I am realizing that if I value this new pace of work, it’s ok to stay no as well. I guess that correlates to doing what you love as well. I really enjoyed spending time with my brother. I think we’ve done Prince George well and he even took a moment to get to know my cat. See image below. That’s a big deal and I am very appreciative. My twin bro should be home soon.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, March 30th, 2025 | Comments Off on Twinning
