2022-2023 School Year 

The 2022-2023 school year has been such a wonderful year full of lots of learning! This is my first year of teaching where I have worked as a Multiple Disabilities Support Teacher (grades Kindergarten - 3rd grade) at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Philadelphia, PA.  I have eight students who have very diverse needs.  Here is a brief overview of some of their strengths and needs.  

Strengths:

All of my students possess amazing personalities! They are all such hard workers who constantly adapt to overcome their challenges.  Their smiles can light up your world. Some of my students possess academic strengths, others possess incredible interpersonal capabilities.  They are all nonverbal, but they make up for their lack of verbal communication with adaptive gestures, vocalizations, and other nonverbal means of communication.  Each of them is so unique and special. It has been my absolute privilege and joy to be their teacher.  I am so proud of all that they have learned this year!

Needs:

My students all possess significant intellectual disabilities, so I like to make all of my lessons as concrete as possible.  Many of them also possess complex medical needs, which are accommodated in my classroom. Three of my students are non-ambulatory, but that doesn't limit their participation in class!  Four of my students have complex behaviors which include physical aggression, pica, extremely high sensory needs, and an unusually (dangerously) high pain tolerance. I love working with the students to change their behavior into something more safe and socially acceptable.  

Since I have had a large class of wonderful students, I had the privilege of working with two one-on-ones and a classroom assistant.  Some of my students also had nurses.  I am so appreciative of all of the support from the staff in my room.  They all work so hard to ensure that the students are safe, well cared for, loved, and ensure a positive learning environment. 

In the following pages I have compiled a few different highlights from this year.  As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to visit the contact page and reach out to me! I would love to answer any questions you have! 

Click on the buttons below to explore!