• What led you to become an educator?
I worked for non-profit agency to help kids in need. I helped kids deal with behavioral issues and realized I wanted to have a greater impact and affect more lives. With teaching I can do this and spend more time with kids.
• How has living in the community where you teach affected your students’ lives?
It helps make me more accessible to my students. They know I don’t live two hours away. If there’s an issue, I can go to their front door and ring their bell – which I’ve done. They trust me because I’m honest with them. I feel teachers need to communicate with students to be effective. I want to come across as a person who wants to help.
• Describe the students in your classes.
They’re typical teenagers. Being social is always in the forefront of their minds. They love computer games, MP3 players, surfing the Internet, cell phones, and graphic/web design. However, it’s important for me to remember my students bring a lot of issues to the classroom.
I find I need to work with students; not dictate to them. I work hard to be a positive male role model and I think that’s why students often come back to visit and shake hands. I treat all of the students in my biology inclusion classes the same. There is no difference between special education and other students – they all need to learn and they all need guidance to learn.
• How do you help promote responsibility with your students?
Student responsibility is so important because any time they are more cognizant of their
responsibility, students will perform better. I adapted IDE’s The Great Student Rubric and connected it to a star chart. Each week, students set goals using the rubric so they can earn stars towards their class participation grade. The rubric helps students understand the class expectations and they know their attitude towards school is rewarded with their stars. Students who participate in class get checks on the chalkboard for their answers and this promotes participation. I believe it’s extremely important to give students feedback on their progress in all areas of school – academic and behavioral.
Students are also responsible for collaborating and working together in our classroom. When they collaborate together, it teaches them to respect one another’s opinion. We want them to be able to work well with others so we hold them responsible.
• How has collaborating with your two co-teachers affected your students’ success?
It’s affected them immensely. The fact that we work well together helps us get the students involved. We can reach all students and differentiate as needed. Sometimes we each take half of the room and other times we circulate around. I never just focus on the students with special needs. Because we can step in and out of different roles, the students can’t tell a difference between the two of us - we’re just their teachers. Our students love feedback and there are two adults in the room to give it to them.
• What are some of the goals that you have for your students?
My number one goal is for them to learn the content and apply that content across different subject areas. It’s important they carry the knowledge that we teach and apply it somewhere else. We provide them with activities that deal with real-life situations. A real-life connection helps them understand content. If students can use what we teach in a real-life situation, then I know I’ve done my job as an educator.