Hello!

Welcome to our Earning a Learning blog! We are Julia and Lindsey, two best friends who started out as high school English teachers and made our way into our current roles as high school counsellors near Vancouver, BC. We love sharing mental health tips and strategies for educators. We also create SEL and English Language Arts resources, which we sell on our TpT store www.earningalearning.com. 

We both went to the same school for our B.A. and B.Ed. degrees and met at orientation for our education program. We were sitting in a large auditorium with hundreds of people we didn't know and they asked us to turn to the person next to us and introduce ourselves. We both despise this kind of activity. However, we did as we were told, and bonded over our connection to Lindsey's hometown, where Julia's dad also grew up. 

We were lucky to have many classes together, and became close friends, eventually going to the same districts and living together for both our short and long practicums. After our long practicum, we were both hired in the same district, and began our teaching journeys.

A couple years in, we both knew that we wanted to pursue Masters degrees, but neither of us had really settle on a pathway yet. Lindsey had been working at (and loving) an alternate school. She loved how it allowed for closer connections and more meaningful conversations with the students. Between that, and the challenge that so many teachers face of striking that work/life balance, she decided to attend an info session for an M.Ed. in School Counselling program that was building a cohort within our district. 

We both decided to go for it (we don't do things alone, clearly), and have had zero regrets since! We both love our roles as counsellors, even though we are no longer working together (let's be honest - that was the best part). We love how every day is different, and the way we get to have those meaningful conversations with our students and connect with so many of them. It's also nice to work with and get to know all the staff in the building in a way that would be difficult as a classroom teacher.

We both still love geeking out about English and have continued to teacher English classes in summer school over the past 6 years since we started counselling. This is what inspired us to start our TpT store and our Earning a Learning journey. 

We can't wait to connect with other passionate educators. We can't wait to share what we've learned in our careers so far, and to continue learning along with you. Thanks for visiting!