There are many reasons for a child to get behind in school, including learning differences like intellectual disabilities, autism, and dyslexia. I am noticing a different pattern, though. Many students who are significantly behind come to me with some type of trauma in their past, whether it was the death of a loved one, a…
At the beginning of the school year, I had the privilege of teaching about nine precious students in a life skills classroom. Two were medically fragile and had full-time nurses. It was a joy to be able to teach them. The job had its ups and downs for reasons other than the children. The paperwork,…
Last year, I had a former boss contact me from a school I had worked at as a special education aide. She said there were teaching opportunities available. I was not certified yet but she encouraged me to try another alternative certification path. I did and literally, overnight I was accepted at Teach Us. Before…
Today was my first substitute teacher job in several years. For a while, I tutored twelve middle schoolers for Sylvan. They are not my favorite age to teach. However, since this is about to be my full-time job I can’t always be picky. I’m also intentionally throwing myself into tough situations to gain experience. When…
According to Yvette Zgonc, “Phonological awareness (PA) is the understanding that our spoken language is made up of words and that our words are made up of individual units of sounds called phonemes” (Zgonc, 2010). Children must be able to play around with and hear oral sound patterns before they can relate them to print….
In my Child and Adolescent Literature class at the American College of Education one of the Module 2 videos states, “Research suggests when children are read to 6 to 7 days a week, they may gain as much as a year’s achievement in reading” (EDUC4103 Module 2, 2024). Everyone knows how important it is to…
Right before the storm hit tonight I went to Goodwill and found these teaching materials! The above is for practicing multiplication facts. I can’t wait to use it! Below is for my kids with ASD. They love anything new I bring to the clinic! On the way home, for a few minutes, I could barely…
I have about seven packages out for delivery or on their way to my apartment. Here is a sneak peak into the fun stuff. There are lots of new curricula that I have described on the math and reading pages. I can’t wait to dig into them! I also recently bought this ball chair for…
I had an amazing weekend going to San Antonio for a Journey concert! Of course, I had to stop at Goodwill while I was there! Here are some of my San Antonio and Austin finds!