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Hey there, my name is Jaime Duffy and I am excited to be on this journey with everyone on our way to certification! I have been in the teaching profession in one way or another since I was 18, when I started volunteering at my local church. I was a paraprofessional for many years, where I found my love for working with students in a special education setting. From there, I began working in ABA and became an RBT working within community, home, and school settings. I have found myself a wonderful teaching position within a classroom with students with multiple disabilities where the students are 17 through 21 years of age. In this environment, I can combine my acquired abilities from ABA and my educational background. Also, did I mention that I worked as a veterinary technician for 20 years! I hope one day to combine my experience with animals into my work with people with special needs as a certified therapy animal specialist.

I hope to progress in my goals I have set for myself by learning as much as possible from this class and apply it daily to my lesson plans and classroom fun! Good luck to everyone !

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Good Evening Everybody,

My students call me Mr. Will but Will is okay. I have been in the field of ABA for the past 8 years in both public and private settings. I began my journey as a substitute teacher, then a paraprofessional, and now head classroom teacher. I am currently a K-2 ABA Teacher in the town of West New York, NJ. My role as an ABA teacher is to educate my students on either life skills from washing their hands, to understanding how to count up to 100. I hope to gain insights on the realm of special education and/or education itself from this course. I feel there is so much to learn in the field of education, and there are so many perspectives and possibilities with education.

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Greetings all! my name is Wyatt Beekman and I am a first year music educator in Newark schools. I am required to teach general music from preschool all the way to fifth grade--as well as manage the junior high school bands. My duties as a music teacher are to ensure that every student learns how to read and write music, including the act of performing music through various different instruments and or singing. My school campus consists of two separated buildings--in which preschool and kindergarten students reside in their own campus away from the older elementary grades. The district is indeed difficult to teach in, but I desire to improve my craft through experience and developing my skills as a full-time educator. I can only hope this course helps me achieve my goal.

-Wyatt

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Hello everyone! My name is Louis McCrae (you can call me Louis). This is my 2nd year teaching full time, and my 5th year with experience in the classroom (counting long term and building substitute experience). I currently teach 5th grade (all subjects) in the Trenton Public School District. I hope to achieve a better and deeper understanding of the social studies subject, and learn different ways to make the subject more interesting for my students.

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Hello Everyone!

My name is Michael Dec. I am a Kindergarten-First grade Autism teacher for Elizabeth Public Schools. I have officially completed my first full year as a teacher, being that I started last January. I currently work with my students focusing on their IEP goals and objects. Our district has a very detailed system for the Autism classes and I follow the system to have my students work to meet their goals and learning needs. The system that I use is VBMAPP. I look forward to this class, because I want to be able to apply what I learn about human cultures and histories in order to reshape my thinking and the thinking my parents might have related to their children's needs and my part in supporting them.

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Hi, I am Melisa King. I currently work as a Teacher for students with autism and behavioral issues. I started working as a teacher's assistant for the district in December 2000. When my daughter was four (2018), I returned to school for my bachelor's. After graduating, I started working as a substitute teacher in my district, which led me to the NJCU New Pathways program as an alternative route to getting a teaching degree.

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Hey Everyone

My name is Terence Fritzky and this is my 2nd Semester at NJCU. Not unlike some of you I fell into teaching later in the game.

Teaching was a profession that I had long avoided. Yet, now I find myself in thick of the profession and have truly never felt more fulfilled. I have always been someone who wanted to procure a benevolent change for others. However foolish it may have been, in an effort to bring more goodness into the world I decided to attend University to receive a degree in Political Science. Receiving such a degree was something I believed would provide me with the best avenue forward. I ended up receiving my Bachelors at Seton Hall University. And after much pushing from some of those who know me best I finally decided to roll the dice and apply to an open position at the Calais School in NJ.

It’s a non profit state funded private special education school that caters to students with disabilities and ptsd from severe bullying, as well as, students with spectrum and behavioral disorders. It is the epitome of work worth doing. And as someone who was searching and desperate to do good work, I have definitely found just the place. It’s truly  a rare thing, when it is your work that gets you through your week, and that is what the Calais family has given me. For me there is no greater place to be.

As of now I have my Certification of eligibility in k-6 and as  continue to work through the NJPT alternate program at NJCU, I am also simultaneously working towards my TOSD. I currently work as one of the schools transition teachers, as well as history.

As I alluded to before, my journey to begin the process of becoming a state certified teacher starts and ends with my desire to give back to others. Despite my stumbling upon teaching later in the game than many, I am truly grateful I have. As I continue through the studies of this course, I hope to learn ways to better incorporate my student's cultural background into my lesson plans.

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Hello everyone, my name is Fabiola Sepulveda , but I prefer to be called Fabi by all. I am currently working as a 4th/5th Math and Science teacher for my towns school district; for which I haved worked for since 2019 as a substiture teacher, and now as a certified/contracted teacher. I am however also an anthropoligst/archaologist. I attended Montclair State University, where I received my BA in Anthropology and History. Then I continued my education at Monmouth Univeristy, where I received my MA in Anthropology/Archaeology. Aside from my personal life, I am continuing my education in the field of teaching; and for this course specifically, I hope to learn how to better intergrate human culture and history to my classroom in order to discourage biased beliefs. I look forward to this course!

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Hi Everyone!

My name is Ashley Addison and I am currently a Language Learning Disabilities (LLD) teacher for grades K-2 in the Livingston School System. This is currently my 5th year teaching in this setting. I work with children with various disabilities while teaching each subject from ELA and Math to Social Studies and Science. When you can't find me in the classroom, you will find me on the basketball court as I coach the high school girls basketball team. Before entering the education world, I received bachelors and masters in Criminal Justice at Molloy University in Long Island. I decided to go Alternate Route because of my love for children and it has been a great fit so far. I look forward to learning different aspects of culture within my lesson plans! I also look forward to working with all of you.

-Ashley

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Hi everyone! My name is Madison and I am currently an MD 3rd and 4th grade behavioral teacher at a school for behavioral children. I focus on academics and getting them as close as i can to grade level as well as working on preventing and getting of behaviors altogether to hopefully send them back to district with strategies such as individual behavioral plans and school wide incentives. I was a substitute on and off throughout undergrad at a special services district before i decided to change careers and become a full time teacher. I would like to hopefully get as much as i can out of this course and learn to do better with lesson plans and incorporating cultural aspects into my lessons as well.

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Hey everyone! My name is Brian McHugh. I have been around the education field since I can remember. My mom used to be a special education teacher and then later became a supervisor for special education. I have my bachelors in psychology. I originally wanted to become a school psychologist, but I took an internship working hands on with children with developmental delays at Brain Balance. I fell in love with it and applied to be a paraprofessional while still coaching afterschool.

I work with adults with autism (18-21) and I would not change it for the world. The school I am in works with ABA therapy and it changes their lives for the better. I am currently the teacher of the classroom since the beginning of the school year. I am in charge of 4 learners and 3 other paraprofessionals in the classroom. We work collaboratively to ensure that our students are meeting goals and objectives in their IEPs. I have also been with my school now for 6 years.

A goal of mine is to enhance my knowledge of social studies to help my learners grow. I also would like to know more information to keep some of my more advanced learners engaged during a teaching lesson.

I look forward to connecting with you all and having a great semester!

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Hi everyone! I'm Nicole and I am currently a 3rd grade teacher in Central Jersey (if you believe that's a thing). I went to college at Rowan University from 2017-2021 and earned my bachelor's in psychology, with all intentions of getting my master's and then becoming a school counselor. But, COVID happened in 2020. and as soon as public schools reopened, I decided to start substitute teaching to get my feet wet and get used to the elementary school environment again. Not long after I began substitute teaching, I realized that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher! So, that is how I got started with the alternate route program and how I got to where I am today.

This is my 2nd year teaching, I taught 2nd last year and this year I am teaching third. I also coach the Middle School Field Hockey Team as well. I truly enjoy teaching elementary school students and coaching middle schoolers.

I am looking forward to learning about all of you and for all of the knowledge we will gain this semester!

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Hello. My name is Luisa. I graduated from NJCU in 2019 with a Bachelor's in Biology and completed a few education courses. In high school I was part of the Future Teachers of America Club as I had a desire then to be a teacher. After starting college I became more interested in medical research and briefly worked in a drug research facility. During the height of the COVID pandemic it became difficult to find employment in medical research facilities if it wasn't geared toward COVID research.

I got my substitute certification and began to work as a Middle School Science teacher, mostly remote. I am still currently a Middle School Science teacher but in a different school with a Provisional License. I am taking part in the New Pathway program to convert to my standard license.

My classroom integrates technology through Mosa Mack, a program that follows the New Generation Science Standards, hands on learning and social emotional learning. Being a Title 1 school resources are limited requiring some creativity to complete experiments for students to grasp Science concepts in a fun way. This year I also have the added challenge of my homeroom being an inclusion class that requires varied modifications and accomodations for students to achieve their academic goals.

In my 6th-grade science classroom, I hope this course can help me create more culturally relevant and engaging lessons. I can connect scientific concepts to different cultures by exploring how various societies understand and apply science, such as indigenous ecological knowledge or historical contributions to astronomy and medicine. Incorporating storytelling and literature can make complex ideas more relatable, and cross-disciplinary projects can help students see the connections between science and the world around them. By bringing in global perspectives and encouraging collaborative, inquiry-based learning, I can foster a more inclusive and meaningful learning experience that resonates with my students' diverse backgrounds and interests.

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Hi My name is Natosha (pronounced Na-tah-sha) and you can also call me Tosha. I have worked with all settings of students from 2 to 20 and in private school, charter school and public school, both general ed and special ed. I have worked with children for twenty years now and I am currently working as a special education teacher in a school for students with autism and other disabilities. My students ages range from 17 to 20 and they all have been diagnosed with autism, and are all on a preschool-kindergarten level in every subject. I have a staff of three one on one paraprofessionals and I am responsible for supervising them and instructing them on how to assist me when carrying out the daily instruction for my students. My students come from various districts and backgrounds so I would like to gain more knowledge of integrating world cultures into my lessons and planning at least three times a week. I hope everyone enjoys the semester!

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Hey there!

I’m Morgan, and I’m a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) at a school for students with autism. I work mostly with kids who have a lot of aggressive or self-injurious behaviors, which definitely keeps things interesting! Our school’s a bit different since we follow ABA principles in everything we do, so it’s not your typical general education setup.

I work with students aged 11-14, but what they’re learning varies a lot. Some are working on reading and comprehension, while others, especially the non-verbal ones, are focused more on vocational skills. Each kid has their own individualized goals and plans, which keeps things super personalized. For example, I have two students learning to fold laundry, but we’re teaching each of them in totally different ways. As a “lead teacher” (though my official title is BCBA or Trainer of ABA), I guide the paraprofessionals who work one-on-one with the students and help with behavior intervention.

When it comes to social studies, I’m really excited to figure out how to make it work for my unique students. Social studies can be taught in so many different ways, and I’m hoping to learn new strategies to help my kids engage with and understand the world around them.

If you’ve got any questions about my school or what I do, feel free to ask!

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Hello, my name is Jameson. I am an elementary school teacher in South Jersey. I started my career in education as a paraprofessional in 2021. I really loved it and this job convinced me to pursue a career in education. I did not go to school for education. I got my bachelors from Montclair State in political science and I received a masters in community development from Rutgers-Camden.

I teach first grade in a working-class district in Camden NJ. I teach reading comprehension and writing and sometimes math as well. In this course, I would like to increase my understanding of cultural and social differences among communities and understand ways to incorporate social studies in other fields.

Thanks!

- Jameson

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Hello, my name is Jacqueline (or Jackie), and I have over 8 years of experience in Special Education. I began my career as a paraprofessional in K-8 classrooms, which sparked my desire to pursue a career as a teacher.  After much hard work,  I am now dual-certified Special Education and Middle School Math, and I currently teach  Special Education for grades 7-12 at Park Ridge High School.  I teach Science, Math, ELA and History (World Cultures) to special education students.  What I love about teaching special education students is that they are amazing kids who want to learn and progress.  As a teacher, I have a lot of patience, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see them make progress, no matter how big or small.  Their academic, social and emotional growth brings me so much joy everyday.  I am a excited to take this course because I currently teach World Cultures and want to learn more about being an effective teacher. It is interesting to see my students so interested in historical, cultural and current events content. Have a great semester everyone.

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Hi everyone, my name is Kaitlyn. I have a history degree and absolutely love everything about history, geography and current events! I am truly a history nerd in every sense of the word! I started my master's in history last year and I'm about halfway through it but put it on hold to complete these courses and the Urban Education master's that NJCU offers. I will complete my other master's shortly after as I can't wait to research and write about the Salem Witch Trials!

I currently teach first grade in the Elizabeth Public school system, and I love it! I never thought I would enjoy teaching littles, but I really do!

I hope this course helps me learn how to weave social studies into the curriculum of other subjects. As a self proclaimed history nerd, I believe that social studies and similar subjects are often forgotten or left out of key teaching times so hopefully this class helps me figure out ways to get it in other topics!

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Hello All!

My name is Susan, and I hold a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition. Last year, I decided to sub and was offered a position with the district. I loved subbing so much that I accepted the position of a fulltime teacher. I currently teach 4th and 5th grade math and science at Barlow Elementary School in Plainfield, NJ.

I enjoy learning both how to intertwine different subjects and how to relate material to the students, their culture, and their families This has much to do with Social Studies.

Here is to an amazing semester!

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Hello everyone! So nice to see so many special educators here! I started my journey 14 years ago as a para and TA, took a break to help run an inclusion program with a nonprofit, and am back in the school system finishing out my teaching cert! I love the special needs population and have enjoyed the last couple of years back face-to-face with so many amazing students. This year, I am a classroom teacher at The Deron School and am teaching a classroom of 3rd-5th graders with ASD, ADHD, OCD, and anxiety diagnoses. I hope to gain a better understanding of how to differentiate lessons for my learners, and make the subject matter relevant and meaningful them.

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Hi Everyone,

My name is Randi. I have a masters degree in Forensic psychology, but in 2021 started working as a paraprofessional. After 3 years of working as a paraprofessional, I am now a teacher and work with kids ages 5-9 who all have autism. The school I work at focuses on children and adults with autism. My goal is to learn ways to teach my students about social studies in ways that will keep them interested.

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Hi everyone!

My name is Francesca - you can call me Frankie! I worked as a paraprofessional during my undergrad studies and earned my degree in psychology. I decided to get my certification to teach special education since that's where my passion truly lies. :)

Currently, I teach self-contained in an ASD program within a public school. I have a mix of grades 4 and 6, with 7 students in total. I also have four paras! Some days it can feel like too many people to manage lol.

My goal for this class is to learn more creative ways to integrate social studies and world culture into my special education classroom!

I look forward to working with you all and wish everyone a wonderful and productive semester!

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Name: Danielle or Dani is fine!

Background: I originally went to school for social work and have my BSW. I am now going back to school for teaching. I started out as a paraprofessional in 2022 after graduating. Last year, I taught for a full year as a long-term substitute in a Language and Learning Disabilities (LLD) classroom.

Current position: I am currently a long-term substitute teacher for the 9th-12th grade Multiple Disabilities (MD) classroom at Pinelands Regional.

Goals: I would love to learn how to integrate more diverse readings within the classroom, especially in the special education setting.