AddingToYourClassStash

I am in my 3rd year of teaching special education in Alabama. Before teaching, I tutored elementary students. I have spent 6 summers at a camp for kids and adults with special needs.

My teaching style is the kind where I am on the ground teaching my students with flash cards one minute and standing on a table talking in different voices while doing a vocabulary review game the next.

I struggled in school. I had to work my tail off for every B test grade. I studied with tears in my eyes most nights. In middle school my mother sent me to a reading camp where I finally learned how to read a text and comprehend what I was reading. I am a note taker. I take all the notes. In college I would take notes for my friends when they would sleep in and they would still do better on the test than me. I struggle to store information from just hearing it. I have to read, write, sing, dance, whatever to get it drilled in. I had a classroom set up in our laundry room at home growing up. I had a large white board, old reading workbooks, math sheets, etc. I would teach and reteach my materials to the wall. There is no telling how many spelling words I wrote in that laundry room. Needless to say, I have been teaching myself since 3rd grade. I have an interesting learning style, and I like to bring that diversity to my classroom now.

I am a 23 year old working in BHM, AL. I am married to Tyler who is in OT school. He and I met right before I went to college. He introduced me to Camp S.M.I.L.E of Mobile, and that is when I fell in love with working with children and adults with special needs. In Jefferson County we call it "Exceptional Education." I am still learning every single day on how to be a better teacher and supporter of my students. I really stink at planning for my week ahead of time. and I wish that I knew more about how to meet my students needs. But I know I have a strength in the creativity department and that is what I thrive on. My "why" is that I want to be who my students need. I needed a teacher to be patient with me, encouraging, creative, and insightful. My favorite way to teach is one-on-one sitting in the floor with activities and manipulatives.