A large part of my educational philosophy has come from working as an Itinerant Science Assistant for the past ~15 years. I have taken a large amount of safety training throughout my time as an Itinerant Science Assistant, from the online courses above, to in-person training at the Henry Grube from Flinn Scientific. I took online courses through Boreal over the years and as a group in 2009, we traveled to Edmonton to take a lab safety course and brought back many new safety practices to the district. I have read the Science Safety Resource Manual (SSRM) many times and have created lists and documents that are in use today within School District No. 73 today. I authored the chemical hygiene plans for Brock Middle School and Westsyde Secondary School, making those schools safer spaces for staff and students.
Every year since approximately 2013, I have taken the anaphylaxis training for schools. I have taken it directly in person and through the online course through Allergyaware.ca. I think it is of the utmost importance that we continue to keep this training updated and relevant. I have personally had an anaphylaxis reaction while in school; I had a reaction to my flu shot and was given epinephrine twice before taking an ambulance ride to the hospital. It was an unexpected reaction, and I was lucky the travel nurse who administered it had two doses of epinephrine.
In 2022, I took the EASE course for educators. I saved my course material because I found the training valuable and wanted to be able to refresh my memory when I felt the need. I think it is a great piece of training that I hope the Ministry of Education extends and keeps developing. I particularly liked the mindful breathing training, to help students practice mindfulness. I definitely will encourage my fellow teacher candidates to consider taking the course when available to them. I think taking as much mental health training as possible will be an asset in any future classroom.