I have been a special education teacher for thirteen years, working in the New Jersey Public School System. I have been fortunate to work with a wide variety of students regarding age, disability, and background. I am very proud of the work I've done as a classroom teacher and look forward to many more years assisting students in reaching their potential.
For seven years, I successfully taught students afflicted with Autism. This opportunity gave me experience in using Applied Behavioral Analysis and more recently Verbal Behavior Analysis. Working with such a population of students, I began to learn the skills and requirements a teacher must bring to all students in order for them to be successful.
These lessons were further reinforced when I began working with older teens and young adults afflicted with severe to moderate developmental disabilities. For four years I created and implemented a community based, life skills program. I taught students the skills required for success once they graduated and entered adult life. We used the community as our classroom, teaching everything from consumer math, to language arts, to job and life skills. This experience taught me every student can learn when given the proper settings and opportunities.
I continued my education at Farleigh Dickinson University, winning a scholarship to become certified in Orton Gillingham. Orton Gillingham is an extremely successful method of teaching students with Learning Disabilities, specifically Dyslexia, how to read. Orton Gilliingham breaks down the labryinth of skills required for reading. Multisensory teaching is used to directly teach each of these skills. Of course, each program is specifically tailored for the individual child. This was my first experience working with students afflicted with learning dissabilities. This experience gave me insight into, among other things, the devastating effects learning disabilties have on a child's self-esteem.
After completing the program at Fairleigh Dickinison University, I began working as a resource room teacher and in-class-support teacher for students with learning dissabilities and behavioral disorders. This experiences affords me the opportunity to hone my skills in managing a class containing a wide spectum of abilities.
When taken as a whole, my years as a teacher have illustrated the necessary skills and concepts a teacher must bring to his/her students in order to foster success. These skills and concepts I incorporate with every student, both in my classroom and in my private work. Each student has their own strengths, interests and learning styles. Addressing these perosnal traits not only keeps the lessons interesting for the student but also ensures success. Lessons need to be individual and progressive. Viewing one's own progress is a great movtivator; especially when success has been difficult to achieve in the past. Furthrermore, each child must feel respected in order to develop the confidence to take academic risks. Risk fosters progress. Lastly, each individual needs to be taught the techniques and strategies that will make learning easier. For many children these strategies and techniques come naturally, with little or no teaching. Others need direct instruction.
Whether in my classroom or private practice, I use the experience I have gained over the span of my career to not only make children feel successful; but be successful.
