Butterfly

Last night I was at a stockshow meeting and one of my donors for a field trip asked me, "are you going to give me a letter for your trip this year?" Of course I answered yes, but I made me realize later  that this trip that means so much to me, also mattered to that person. What a feeling!!!

So this will be my 5th year to take all the special needs children at my campus to Morgan's Wonderland. I'll never forget that summer watching the news about someone building an all inclusive park for all, and thinking wow I wanna take my class. 

As educational budget cuts have been made field trips are limited. I didn't take no for an answer. I have the support from awesome people in our community that support us each year. I now have my donors asking me for a letter. 

I woke up this morning reflecting on this thought and as a teacher it brought tears to my eyes. You see working in the field of special education you are always different (not less). The love and support from my district and community make me have such a belonging. 

If you know me you know that each year it's a day of celebration not just for these kids, but my parents who embark on so much. I just feel so blessed to say to others, "this is my 5th year taking my class to Morgan's Wonderland."

 I can go on forever so I'll stop, if you haven't been, you must go. Thank you to all my sponsors and supports. We are blessed to experience this each year. Thank you!

http://m.morganswonderland.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.morganswonderland.com%2F#2695

This week...keep calm and data collect.

It's 9 weeks testing week and we have report cards out next week. In PPCD I'll be sending home my IEP report cards and sharing student progress with all my parents. I'm starting my additional documentation with my PPCD kiddos on their Star Program evaluation. I love this ABA baseline kit that helps me identify and data collect for student needs. I'm able to data collect with 1:1 ABA time with each student durning in centers. I really enjoy this part of the day because it's seeing them apply their growth. I'm excited to have my BCBA supervisor see how we are using this program with the kids and then will start on data collection for VB-MAPP next month.

2014-2015 Classroom in Pictures

It has been a very busy week back to school from our Christmas break. I just wanted to post a few pictures of things in my classroom I couldn't live without.

#1 my wagon. This is actually the 2nd wagon I have gone thur. This baby collects my kiddos lunches in the cafeteria, brings things from my car, delivers things to classrooms, calms some of my kids down for a quick ride, and can be decorated for any event! We love our wagon and is a staple in our classroom. 

#2 our kitchen

The kids love this pretend and learn center. I have seen so many of my non-verbal kiddos go into conversations with this center. It's a great independent play center. When the chef asks I always order a pizza, cake, and bread. They have good deliverly service too!

Transformation Tuesday 2012-2013

This is pics of my old classroom at RVLA. It was Dr. Suess theme. Just wanted to show pictures of how my classroom and theory of centers/ materials in the classroom as transfored over the years. So this was 2 years ago. Look out for my 2013-2014-2015 classroom as soon has I fight off this cold! 

All about me!

Hi! I'm Wendy and a passionate special education teacher. I think before I start blogging about my classroom and my teaching experience, you might want to get to know me (or so I hope bc I'm pretty awesome)!

So why call it teaching on the border? I reside in the beautiful Maverick County in Texas. Eagle Pass is a small rural community on the Texas/ Mexico border (between Laredo and Del Rio if you follow that Rio Grande). I've lived here for 6 years now with my amazing husband , Carter man (1 years old), and 2 dogs  Chili & Pepper.  I love photography and love taking pictures of kiddos.  

I have been teaching for 5 years now as a life skills/ Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities(PPCD)/ resource.   For this blog I will be focusing on my PPCD classroom and journey in autism.

Long story short. I was born in Indianapolis, IN, lived in The Woodlands, TX for 11 years, moved to Franklin, TN and where I graduated high school at Page High. I moved back to Texas (bc everything is better in Texas) and got my undergraduate degree in Special Education at Sam Houston State University. I certified as special education EC-12, English as a Second Language EC-12, and Generalist EC-4.

The rise of autism is growing rapidly. As a huge beliver in lifelong learning I returned to school to gain more knowledge (bc knowledge is power) in the field of Special Education. I'm in my last stretch of classes at Texas A&M University in College Station on-line cohort model. When I graduate in 4 months I will graduate with a master's in Special Education with BCBA option.

So what is BCBA? Board Certified Behavior Analyst.  In order to take the written exam I'm also in the process of completing my 1,500 supervised required hours.

Why all this work? It's for my kids. I don't teach, my kids teach me! I love working with children on the autism spectrum disorder, or any needs in that matter. I have become very passionate about Applied Behavior Analyist (ABA) methods in the classroom setting. It's scientific and research based methods that I have seen make so many changes in my kids.

So that's me in a nutshell for now. Please know I have horriable spelling. I was exempted from spelling errors when I was 13 and since then I rely on spell check. If you find spelling errors in this blog please let me know so I can correct.

My next post will be pictures of my classroom and me describing the function of my classroom materials.

Enjoy and thanks for reading!