Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Special Educators Compete For ‘Top Teacher’ Title

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

A special educator could be named the nation’s “top teacher” on television’s “LIVE with Kelly and Michael.”

Of five finalists in the talk show’s national teacher hunt, three are special education teachers.

For “LIVE’s Top Teacher Search,” viewers were invited to nominate teachers for being “outstanding mentors to their students in and out of the classroom, for making their schools better and for going above and beyond to serve their communities.”

Special education teachers from New York, Texas and Connecticut are now in the running. All three were nominated by parents of their students for going the extra mile.

Timothy Bavosa, whose son has autism and a history of emotional outbursts and tantrums, wrote in nominating teacher Ann Marie Rooney that because of her efforts his son has had no outbursts all year and is now able to participate in many mainstream classes.

Meanwhile, Lisa Clements sought to spotlight teacher Suzette Steward for helping students be successful outside the classroom by creating a camp for kids with disabilities to learn social skills and expand their abilities while having fun.

GUEST OPINION: Connect apathetic students to technology, extracurricular activities

Excerpt from: Oakland Press (click for full article)

 

The two most important challenges I face in my job include the number of students in my classroom and using technology to make my lessons more interesting to the students. Since state funding for schools has been cut, our class size limits have been lifted. This makes it more difficult to give each student the individual attention they deserve and need. I have donated numerous hours of my time to help my students before or after class, especially if they return to homes where their parents do not help them with homework. Students today crave technology whether it is videogames, Smartphones, iPods, and social networks. As an educator, I recognize that technology is the key to gaining student interest in the content being taught in my classroom. I am consistently striving to learn about new technology to utilize in my classroom. I am using a SmartBoard, response devices, website (mrlerchenfeldt.weebly.com), on-line tutoring software (studyisland.com), and a social networking site (edmodo.com) to engage and formatively assess students.