Teachers of
West Milford Township Public School District
(Apshawa School and Westbrook School)

More on Fifth grade & Special Education teachers
Tanja Lane, Judy Mett, Maryanne O'Brien, and Connie Barry

Tanja Lane has been teaching at Apshawa for seven years, and has taught both fourth and fifth grades. She grew up in West Milford, attending Westbrook School, the middle school, and the high school; in fact, her first principal as a teacher had been her elementary principal when she was a child, and many of her colleagues were her childhood teachers. "This makes working in West Milford very special for me," Tanja says. On her experience in the workshop, Tanja says, "This workshop has been a wonderful source of information. I learned more than I expected to."

Judy Mett has been teaching for 26 years ... she spent six years teaching second grade, one year teaching third grade, 18 years teaching fourth grade, and is currently teaching fifth grade. Judy says, "Humor is an important part of my classroom," and adds that she decided to work on this particular PBL because, "I believe students should feel free to be themselves and work in a safe, bright environment that is conducive to learning."
"This workshop has helped me to develop another strategy to bring into the classroom to provide the students with a way to be successful," Judy comments, "It will enable me to reach students with a wide variety of learning styles and comfort levels."

Maryanne O'Brien has been a teacher for 23 years, 17 of those years in West Milford. She has taught special education at the elementary level, but has been teaching fifth grade for the past four years. Maryanne is returning to West Milford in Academic Year 2002/03 from a one year sabbatical as a New Jersey Technology Fellow. During her fellowship year, Maryanne mentored and modeled technology for Passaic County teachers. "PBLs work quite naturally into my teaching philosophy," Maryanne says. "If we all need to be lifelong learners, then my greatest gift to my students is to teach them how to learn and to give them those skills. Content acquisition will change from stage to stage, but knowing how to acquire knowledge will serve them through all life stages."

Connie Barry started her teaching career in 1975. Connie has always taught Special Education. Her first teaching experience was with Behaviorally Disabled students in a private school setting. She has worked in a number of public schools since then, including Wanaque, Mahwah, and here at West Milford. Her experience ranges from Preschool Disabled to Visually Impaired, with every type of disabling condition in between. She is currently in a Resource Center, primarily working with 4th-6th grade students. Connie provides Replacement Reading, Math, and Language Arts, In-Class Support for Social Studies / Science and Out-of-Class Academic Support. "As a special educator," Connie says, "my goal is to help all children to meet their maximum potential. I take great pride in helping the mainstream teachers and students reach a better understanding of the learning challenged students that are within their midst."