Room 412

My Teaching Philosophy

Why do I teach?​

I teach because I have a passion for being an advocate for students who cannot advocate for themselves.  The challenges in Special Education are actually what drew me to the profession.  I am not scared of potential trials and tribulations within my field and I embrace each as a specific learning opportunity for me to grow.  I find fulfilment in teaching students with disabilities because I know the lessons both in academic and functional living will set the groundwork for more independence in all settings.  I also want to redefine the key ideas and assumptions of our lowest intellectual populations.  I know that our students can succeed on their highest level if we can tap into best research based practices and instruct them to the best of our abilities. ​

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What do I teach?​

I have received and Undergraduate Degree in Special Education with emphasis in Reading Comprehension.  I have also obtained a Master’s Degree in Special Education focusing on Adaptive Curriculum.  I have worked closely in both my undergraduate and graduate programs with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities.  I am skilled at working with both groups.  My objectives in teaching are always to strengthen student’s core academic skills while also not neglecting their functional living skills.  I will incorporate their Goals and Objectives into the lessons I create and always include the most up to date researched based teaching practices as well.  I hope to further my students’ academic and functional living skills to lead to more independence.  My students will be taught in a classroom that will help to prepare them for real world academic encounters as well as providing the scaffolding needed to transition them to perhaps a co-taught or resource classroom as well as to middle school.​

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How do I teach?​

I teach using a variety of skills and methods that were taught to me both during my undergraduate and graduate school careers, along with my prior years’ experience.  I prefer to use the Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan format when creating my classroom lessons because I believe the format works well to teach students with disabilities academic and functional living skills.  I am a big advocate of the teacher continuing to research and practice using research based strategies and I work hard to always include approaches drenched in research to teach my students.  I use a Universal Design for Learning Approach in the classroom and prefer to teach lessons that are cross curricular in nature.  I am an advocate of direct instruction because I believe it affords students with disabilities the best chance at grasping and understanding the material.  When appropriate, I also love using discovery learning.  I think it affords students a more personal and relevant approach to learning in the classroom that can build upon their background knowledge and prior knowledge on the subject at hand.  I love in incorporate technology into my lessons because it allows the lessons to be more interactive and engaging for the students.  Allowing students to lead lessons is another component I enjoy adding to my classroom.  Turning students from passive pupils into engaged leaders, who take responsibility for their learning is a treat to watch!  I delight in using the SMART Board and think that including technology into the lessons I teach permits students to both learn the objective while also strengthening their technology skills as well.​

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How do I measure my effectiveness?​

I use a combination of lesson plan objectives, individual student objectives and class wide objectives in order to clarify if my students and I are meeting our goals.  My student’s individual goals and objectives are measured and calculated daily.  I design my lessons with their goals and objectives in mind.  I document their progress towards these goals and objectives to ensure that they are being met.  I use classroom wide objectives to measure behavior management and time on task.  I want my classroom to be efficient and use our time wisely to meet our intentions.  My lessons also always have an independent practice element to them so I can gauge understanding and see where problems might arise.  All of these different goals and objectives work together to ensure that I am completing my job to the best of my abilities and that my students are making adequate progress towards the completion of these said goals. ​