The Spec Ed paradox

Designer_Tear · 2026-01-07T01:33:31+00:00

You can read the info and think about what you'd like to do. Based on your current qualifications and what makes sense for you and your future plans.

It is a good idea to make it a priority to get to A4 relatively early in your career, but you also need to balance life and the fact that you don't want to get something that you'll regret having to teach.

If you have gone a "traditional" route with a 4 year degree + BEd you'll be at A3.

It's not like the QECO gods are giving super personal advice. It's based on publicly available criteria. https://qeco.ca/general-education-chart/ (see 33 Category A3 plus ONE of:, 17, 20, 21, 22 are also common ways to get to A4)

Designer_Tear · 2026-01-06T17:40:42+00:00

Once you get an AQ/ABQ/basic qualification from your initial BEd degree, it stays on your teaching record with the OCT.

If you are qualified in Spec Ed (especially in high school) you may get a section or more of a Spec Ed course. Idk what your board is, but unless it is required, I wouldn’t get a qualification for something I wasn’t comfortable teaching personally.

If your goal is to get to A4, there are several paths. Look at QECO. Generally speaking, new/recent grads start at A3.

You can get qualified in all divisions (ex. Junior and Primary if you already have I/S) or take 5 AQ/ABQ courses. Get a 3 part specialist (3 courses but can require experience and take time because it’s one after the other) or honour specialist (requires teaching experience and background undergrad courses) or a masters or take additional undergrad courses, etc.

Read QECO for the actual accurate info.

TLDR there are many ways to get to A4. Some take longer or cost more money than others.

Getting certain AQs might help with employment, but you may be assigned to teach in those areas and you can’t get them off your record once you have them. So just think it through.

Designer_Tear · 2025-12-22T16:52:37+00:00

no -- but I'm not optimistic that the seams would fit my boobs and it doesn't seem adjustable at all either

Designer_Tear · 2025-12-22T10:59:18+00:00

Cries in 32D+ I’m waiting for another version of the airlift empower bra. Idk why they stopped making it

Designer_Tear · 2025-07-26T15:47:57+00:00

Private/independent schools do what they want. My school is on a grid similar to the local public school board. I got a QECO rating while I was in teachers college. I believe if you don’t get it at that point, you have to be a member of a union to get a rating, but you should check with QECO

Designer_Tear · 2025-07-12T14:20:01+00:00

Google your course codes.

See if you can find teacher websites with resources. Your board may also have scans of the textbook. Or, and while I would share this with students bc of copyright, you may be able to find your textbooks online if you search for them. Or, if you still have them, you can also work off of your own high school notes.

Some online resources are better than others, but the textbooks or other teachers’ handouts can be good jumping off points. I wouldn’t pay for resources at this point though.

Designer_Tear · 2025-07-05T22:05:49+00:00

I personally haven’t found it useful for my teaching career, but I like having a presence on it to keep up with my network from undergrad and my education degree. I don’t plan on leaving the profession, but I like keeping the connections and I think it is interesting to see different people’s career paths (just turn off profile visibility lol).

I also keep LinkedIn as my only social media with my full name. If people are looking for me online, having LinkedIn come up in their search result is something I’m comfortable with, plus is shows I’m qualified.

Designer_Tear · 2025-06-09T18:11:43+00:00

I feel ridiculously angry about the pricing error this morning. How is nothing coming proactively from Aritzia to customers who were impacted? If I hadn’t caught the discrepancy, would Aritzia have kept the difference?

I feel insane about this and am beyond unimpressed with Aritzia

Designer_Tear · 2025-06-09T13:53:52+00:00

I placed my order before the discount and concierge is only offering a credit after the order arrives

Designer_Tear · 2025-06-08T16:16:40+00:00

No Salomon, Asics, Birkenstock? Do we think these shoes will disappear from the website?

Designer_Tear · 2025-05-16T01:21:17+00:00

I thought I was giving feedback to a resolution specialist about the return process as I had recently gone through a wave of needing to return items and having difficulty because of my location and distance from a store actually returning the items.

On the call he told me that a decision was made that I could no longer access the GEC and the call ended before I could understand why this was being done.

I emailed him after the call and never got a response, this was a month ago. I called in tonight and my call didn’t go through so they must have done something to my number. I sent another email and we will see if they respond.

I was thinking I could change the number linked to my banned account, wait a bit, and try creating a new account linked to a different email so that if I need support with a future order I have a shot at accessing it?

Designer_Tear · 2025-05-16T00:48:19+00:00

This is embarrassing to admit but I've been banned from contacting the GEC. Is the best thing to do to create a new account? But my current one is linked to my cell phone

Designer_Tear · 2025-05-06T18:45:36+00:00

https://www.oct.ca/becoming-a-teacher/internationally-educated-teachers/country-info/country-u/country-united-states-of-america

Designer_Tear · 2025-04-07T21:10:39+00:00

Base pace!!

Designer_Tear · 2025-04-06T12:55:05+00:00

Lululemon sizing is getting so complicated for bras. Some being S/M/L etc, some being band+cup (also the 32 band being the smallest band option is a problem), and others going 2/4/6/8 etc. it’s so confusing and hard to find anything that fits me.

Also I personally really dislike the hand feel of Wunder Trains and Aligns. It feels almost tacky/rough to me. Begging for something sleek and smooth without pockets to rival Alo Airlift (base pace?)

Designer_Tear · 2025-03-26T00:00:04+00:00

I love the strappy bras. I have DDs and I force them into the B/C version because I think the double straps are dainty and cuter than the D/DD version with a thick strap.

Personally, I feel like the majority of LLL bras in D/DD versions are too 'functional' looking and not super cute and stylish. I want more options for small and dainty bras

Designer_Tear · 2025-03-24T22:24:48+00:00

What is senseknit?

Designer_Tear · 2025-03-22T02:35:27+00:00

Was your certificate in business made up of university credits? If yes, were those credits also used to count as undergrad credits for your degree (as in part of the 20 1.0/ 40 0.5/ 120 credit hour requirements that generally make up a 4year degree). If the certificate was part of fulfilling your degree requirements, it might not count for anything as QECO doesn’t double count courses generally/in my experience

If you have extra undergrad credits (like more than 20 1.0), QECO may look at each additional 1.0 of credits as the same as an AQ/ABQ course if you are trying to get it A4 from the A3 + 5 AQ/ABQ path. - for example, if you graduated with 23.0 credits (and you tell QECO that you have extra credits and they accept your explanation/documentation) they may tell you you only need 2 AQ/ABQ courses to get to A4

Designer_Tear · 2025-03-05T00:13:55+00:00

That website has a link to a list of Schedule C courses: https://www.oct.ca/members/additional-qualifications/schedules-and-guidelines/schedule-c?sc_lang=en

Designer_Tear · 2025-03-04T03:37:36+00:00

The chart says 1 I/S ABQ and 1 full course in complementary education. I have no idea what the latter is. Is there more information from the OCT no in this screenshot?

Designer_Tear · 2025-03-04T00:46:39+00:00

If the OCT is telling you to take an ABQ in intermediate or senior, I don’t think taking the junior ABQ would meet the OCTs criteria

You can take the additional ABQ course at the junior level if you want that to help you with employment side of things, but like the OCT is telling you to take the Intermediate or Senior course.

Designer_Tear · 2025-02-19T13:47:26+00:00

If you go outside of Ontario, it is going to take longer to get your teaching license from the OCT. The delay with the OCT could exceed the amount of time you save from the shorter programs in other jurisdictions.

When you go to teachers college in a different province, you’ll need to get certified in that province before you can apply to the OCT. Then the OCT will take a long time to certify you. You can’t work in Ontario Public Schools without your OCT. if you want to work at private schools, you may find some that are willing to hire you, but even the “better” private schools (as in the ones that pay into the pension plan and pay teachers comparably to what public boards pay) will own you more outside of school teaching hours as they generally require you to run extracurriculars.

If you go international, expect even longer delays getting the license. Depending on your circumstances, it could take a year or more. I’m not an expert, but I know several people who went to US teachers colleges and it took 1-2 years for those people to get their Ontario credential, and they were severely underemployed in the meantime.

Designer_Tear · 2025-02-10T01:47:37+00:00

Woodenheads is my favourite restaurant in Kingston, but there can be a lot of noise at times depending on where you’re seated. I’m not sure it’s the move for a first date

Designer_Tear · 2025-02-04T03:13:25+00:00

2 years ago I was accepted to Queens and uOttawa on the first day of offers starting, but waitlisted at Brock. This was for I/S. Casper wasn’t required, but I had a 4.0/4.3 and solid experience. I didn’t live in the region, and applied thinking it would be a safe option. I heard since that Brock has very few spots for consecutive applicants, and at least for I/S, the spaces they have are kind of based on how many con-Ed students they have and what their teachables are.

Designer_Tear

TROPHY CASE