Samantha Humphreys is a French and English teacher here at OVS. She teaches ENG4C and ENG3C, as well as some Core French Courses and our French Immersion Courses. She has been teaching for 7 years and has been with OVS since 2020. We thought her students might like to learn more about their teacher, so we asked her to answer a few questions about herself.
Where are you from and where did you grow up?
I am a first generation Canadian. My parents are both from a small town in Austria called Nickelsdorf and I was the first one in the family born here in Canada. I grew up in Mississauga and recently moved North to enjoy the small-town life.
When did you realize you wanted to become a teacher?
I have wanted to be a teacher since I could talk. My favorite game as a child was playing “school”. I even made homework sheets that my grandpa filled out and returned to me each week when he visited.
Where did you go for post-secondary and your teaching degree? What did you study/specialize in?
I went to Brock University for Concurrent Education and studied French and English.
Do you prefer teaching online or in a classroom? Why? How do they compare?
I find that both learning environments have different things to offer and I enjoy both for different reasons. I love that online learning in the continuous enrollment model allows teachers and students the flexibility to schedule their time around other aspects of their lives which can be so beneficial for ensuring balance and supporting good mental health.
What is your favourite part of being a teacher? What about this career do you find rewarding?
The best part about teaching is for sure the students and the relationships that can be built in the classroom but also in extracurricular activities and coaching sports teams. When I can see students are feeling supported and successful it makes my job worth it, whether that’s in the classroom or another part of school life.
What are some of your favourite pastimes, aside from teaching?
On rainy days, I really enjoy reading, scrapbooking and quilting but more often than not you will find me outside hiking, stand up paddle boarding or exploring a local farmer’s market.
What is one piece of advice you would like to share with your OVS students?
I think that sometimes we get so caught up with doing things “the right way” that we try to fit ourselves into models or examples and forget that this is supposed to be about our learning, which should be personalized. I wish more students would take a look at the assignment criteria and rubric and reach out if they have an idea of how to meet the criteria with a format that better suits their learning style and strengths. A lot of the assignments I design are open ended in terms of format but I think traditional schooling has made this a scary concept if we aren’t used to it.
What is the first thing you would do or buy if you won the lottery?
I would travel and live abroad with my family for a few years. I think exploring the world and immersing myself in different cultures is one of the ways I learn best.
If you couldn’t be a teacher, what career would you most like to have?
Now that I have a brand new daughter, I think I would choose to do at home day care if I couldn’t teach so that I could spend more time with her.
Any other information or fun fact you would like to share?
My first language is German and I learned French in school, which makes me trilingual. I would love to learn Spanish and Arabic in the future.