My name is Mrs. Lisa Anderson. I am a Special Education Teacher who works with the Sugar Glider Team. This is my 14th year teaching at Emerson Middle School. I received my undergraduate degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and my master's degree from National Louis University. I have been working in the field of education for 18 years.
A fun fact about myself is that I grew up in Park Ridge. I attended Field School, Lincoln Junior High School in 7th grade (before Emerson was built), and Emerson Middle School for my 8th-grade year. Also, I attended Maine South High School. I am very proud to be able to give back to the community in which I grew up by teaching in District 64.
I believe that an open line of communication between students, parents, and teachers is a key element in a successful transition into middle school. I look forward to getting to know you and your child. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.
Resource Support Class:
Resource is a structured support class for students who may struggle academically and functionally within their school day. Students who qualify for this class will attend it during one of their exploratory periods once every day. In this class, we will be working on executive functioning skills, which include some of the following areas: goal setting, organization, time management, and study skills. We also address academic areas of need for individual students.
Resource Level Classes:
Resource-level Math and Language Arts are classes where we can provide a small class atmosphere, slower pacing to better understand concepts, and a more individualized program. We can access each student on a more individualized basis. This allows us to support them within the classroom to meet their needs. This setting is beneficial for students who struggle in the areas of reading, writing, and language arts. Students in this class are progress monitored using the STAR reading comprehension assessment, Oral reading fluency prompts, and written expression for correct writing sequences.
Co-Taught Classes:
This year I will be teaching two co-taught classes. I will be teaching two sections of Math with Ms. Gryzik on the Flying Penguins team and with Mrs. Scibek on the Phonix team. Co-teaching is when a general education teacher and a learning behavior specialist (special education teacher) share the responsibilities of planning lessons, delivering instruction, and assessing skills in a heterogeneous classroom. These classes are in the general education setting and use the general education curriculum. Some students may receive a modified curriculum in these classes, but not modified content. All students will have access to the same curriculum concepts that are required in 6th grade.
Please click on the navigation bar to access the webpage for each class for more information.