The Lighting of a Fire

I have taught 9 years of special education: 2 years in Fully Self-Contained (K-6) & 4 years in Resource (K-5) 3 years in Inclusion (Grade 5)

My teaching style stems from the words of William Butler Yeats, “education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Teaching is not about pouring knowledge into a child; rather, it is about helping them ignite a spark that translates into a thirst for knowledge and lifelong learning. I whole-heartedly embraced the roles and responsibilities of an educator, and my teaching style very much reflects this. As an instructor, it is vital to identify students' needs and design lessons on whole and individual levels that address these needs. Building upon students' strengths and learning styles is crucial, and it becomes essential to learn this in the beginning in order to plan effectively. I believe it is the instructor's job to make material relevant to students' lives, bringing in real-world examples and outside materials when necessary and appropriate. The resources I bring into any given lesson speak volumes of my creativity, and show that I strive to attain this relevancy. I believe that I teach from my heart and my head equally.

I have been a member of Kappa Delta Pi, a national education honor society. I was also nominated as my school's "Teacher of the Year" during the 2011-2012 school year. As part of a Teach Plus T3 Initiative, I currently hold the lead special educator position in my elementary school.

After graduating from Providence College with a degree in Elementary & Special Education, I decided to embrace my adventure gene and move to Hawaii. My first two years of teaching had been in a very poor section of Oahu, where I taught a fully self-contained special education class. With a room filled with K-6 students with a variety of disabilities and learning styles, I had to get creative. Many of my products come from this experience. After Hawaii, I secured a teaching position in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in Clarksville, TN. Here, I am on my fourth year teaching resource. My caseload spans from Kindergarten to fifth grade, and I enjoy creating materials to further each student's education. I continued my learning through obtaining my Master's in Curriculum & Instruction from Scranton University.

When I am not teaching or developing activities and lesson plans, I enjoy reading books by Jodi Picoult. She is an amazing author, and once you pick up a book it's hard to put it down. In the wintertime, I love to travel to Vermont with my family, where I enjoy snowboarding. I also have taken up videography as a hobby, where I mix video footage into an entertaining video backed by music. In my opinion, it's the scrapbook of the 21st century! I have even incorporated this talent into teaching, as I have developed many self-modeling/self-monitoring videos for my students with autism.