I am an Early Childhood Special Education teacher. I have been working in a special needs
preschool classroom for the past four years. Prior to that, I was a Head Start
teacher with special needs and at-risk students for 5 years. My
passion is teaching children with Autism and other developmental delays. My students range from a developmental age of
5 months to 5 years with significant impairments in communication,
socialization and cognitive and adaptive skills. (Their chronological ages
range from 3 to 6 years.)
My mission is to differentiate instruction so that all children
are engaged in learning 100% of the time despite their varying levels and
abilities. I use a creative approach to teaching as I embed learning and
functional skills into everything we do.
When I am not working with students or preparing materials for
my students, I enjoy spending time with my boys. Emmitt, who just turned 5, is a wonderful
actor in video modeling clips and social narratives. Payton, who is 15 months, is a great
candidate for trying out my latest workboxes and testing out the classroom
environment. Anything he can get into, the student probably will too. I use him as
my test. If he gets into things he
shouldn’t in the classroom, then I know I need to rearrange, store things
differently or add a visual to tell students “No, this is off-limits!”
In
my free time, I enjoy sharing and collaborating with colleagues and other
professionals. That being said, my sister has been persuading me to start a blog
for quite some time. I am eager to jump into the world of blogging but also
quite nervous as I am far from tech savvy so bear with me
as I learn the ropes!! |
| Payton, my 15 month old, smiling for a picture in the safe
place
after being removed from an off-limits area.
|
