Introduction

            Hi, my name is Ross Ellis. I am a new addition to this class (started Monday, 9/10), and am looking forward to working in a class filled with other, future English teachers.  I am trying to catch-up reading the class materials, blogs, and doing some blogging of my own—please bear with me for this week.

            I am originally from Minnesota, but went to high school in Columbia Falls, MT.  Following high school, I went to The University of Montana-Missoula and received my BA in English literature with a minor in economics in 2000.  Since then I have enjoyed working in a few different fields before making the choice to become a secondary education English teacher.  To make a long story short, here is the condensed series of events.

            After college, I worked as an action photographer with Rocky Mountain Photography; I took action shots of whitewater rafters in West Glacier during the summer and ski and snowboard racers atop Big Mountain in the winter.  This was a great job, but left me with some down time during the spring and fall shoulder seasons, so I got into teaching byway of becoming a substitute teacher in the flathead in 2001.  Substitute teaching led to me pursuing a job teaching English as a second language in Xi’an, China from 2003-2004.  My experience teaching in China got me hooked on teaching, and helped me to realize that I have a passion for working in the field of education. 

            I returned to the states to start a career as a trainer with The American Red Cross Blood Services in Missoula.  I worked with The Red Cross from 2004-2009.  In 2009, the economy crashed and with it, my job as a trainer was replaced by an online training program out of Tucson, AZ.  I enjoyed working with The Red Cross, but it taught me the difference between teaching and training.  Teaching someone to think for themselves is very different than training someone to methodically perform a series of steps.  However, I find both teaching and training to be complementary skills for working in the classroom.

            Oddly enough, the same online revolution that cost me my job with The Red Cross provided me with the opportunity to pursue my passion for teaching.  After spending a couple of years working as a carpenter and doing some odd jobs, I began my master’s in education at Montana State University through an online program called the Northern Plains Transition to Teaching program (NPTT).  I’ve been living in Kalispell, MT and working as a substitute teacher while taking classes with NPTT since the spring of 2011. 

            My involvement with NPTT has brought me here to Bozeman, where I am preparing for student teaching next spring.  I really look forward to working with all of you in a traditional classroom.  Now it’s time to get back to playing catch-up.