Role: Special Education Teacher
Industry/Sector: TK-12 Education
Year graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt: 2022
What are you doing now?
I am a middle school special education teacher. I teach all subjects: language arts, math, history, and science.
How did your LDRS degree prepare you for a teaching credential?
The biggest thing was also the hardest thing: looking at myself. The first semester of really looking at myself as a person, and figuring out who I wanted to be in the world, and why I wanted to make a difference really opened up. Why I do what I do, and why I want to do what I do. Really looking at myself helped me figure out my strengths, my weaknesses, and it taught me how to build off those strengths and weaknesses.
When I started this year as a teacher, that was the first thing I did in the first week of school: I told the kids “Let’s talk about ourselves -- what are our strengths and weaknesses? What do we want to see in our school year? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Why do you want to grow?” etc. It helped me attach to my students and get a relationship with them, and find things out about them that I think they didn’t even really know until they were asked the question, “Who are you?”
So, looking at myself helped me answer those questions: Why do I want to help everyone? Why do I want those leadership skills? How am I a natural leader? It helped me flow into becoming the teacher that I want to be.
How have you grown as a leader since you completed your degree?
I learned great classroom management skills from one of the Leadership courses based on managing groups of people. I looked at that class as a classroom management class, and it was fantastic. I had my very first teacher review about a month ago, and I got a perfect score. I couldn’t believe it! My biggest compliments were my classroom management. They said I did very well when kids randomly raised their hands. I didn’t dismiss them, I asked “is it part of this lecture, or can it wait until after?” and they would answer honestly. We had a discussion if it was pertinent to the lecture, otherwise we would wait. It helped us stay on topic and not lose too much class time. It’s a simple sidestep without giving that student too much of the attention, but also letting go of having the last say.
It’s okay letting things go as a leader, especially with middle school kids. If you can respect them, you will gain their respect back. But if you can’t talk to them with respect, you’re never going to get that back. I learned to control my own behavior, mannerisms, and tone: I notice my tone of voice, body language, and the way that I react or don’t react. I have a lot of students who get triggered for a lot of reasons, so the way I carry myself sets the mood of my classroom.
What is next for you professionally?
When I graduated from Humboldt in May 2022, I was already working as a paraprofessional in my classroom. I took over as the intern teacher while I started my master’s program, and working on my credentials in mild to moderate special education, which I should finish by May 2025. After that, I plan on teaching special education for as many years as possible.
I have two young daughters, but once they graduate high school, I would like to jump up and teach at community college level, and I’d love to teach special education classes. I think we need more special education teachers, and we need a more realistic look into special education classes. There are so many dynamics, and you have to know your students. You have to know their temperaments, their triggers, their parents and families; I feel like I wasn’t prepared for that. I want to give back by teaching and say, “Hey look, I know it’s overwhelming, but you’re not alone, and you’re not the only one going into special ed,” and when you attach to these kids, you make that difference, and it warms your heart. When you see their progress by going up a reading level or completed that math assignment, and they didn’t need your help, it’s the most rewarding thing in the world.
