Interview with Siobhan O'Brien

Siobhan O'Brien graduated from Towson University in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education, special education. She did much of her preparation at the Northeast Maryland Higher Education Center in Harford County, Maryland.

Miss O'Brien is a special educator in the Harford County Public Schools. These are her reflections. Miss O'Brien, thank you so much for your willingness to come in

and chat with us about your experience in Towson University's Harford County Northeastern Maryland program. This will add greatly to our understanding of the changes in our teacher ed programs at Towson across time, and I think

a good place to begin is in the beginning. So would you share with us a little bit about your early social context, where you grew up, what you were thinking about in terms of careers and how that changed from one move to another

and as you were going into high school? Sure. I grew up in New Jersey, I was born in North Jersey and at the age of seven I moved to Toms River, New Jersey.

So right at the Jersey Shore. I can remember wanting to be a teacher from the time I was four years old. My dad worked, is a civilian for the military.

He's a contractor, and my mom, she also had worked as a civilian in the military. And then when she had myself and my brother, she wound up staying home with us.

So there wasn't any teachers in the family. So I'm not really sure where I got the idea from, except from I guess all the teachers I had had. My best friend and I had it in our minds that we were going to

be teachers. We were going to go through all the years of school together and become teachers. And we played teachers with all of our dolls and stuffed animals

from the time we were four years old. We had a desk and chalkboards and everything else. When I moved to New Jersey, Toms River, New Jersey, it was a little bit harder of a move

for me. It was in second grade, but it was in the middle of second grade, so that made it very difficult. And at that point, at seven years old, I knew that that was

important for me, that I helped create a good experience for second graders. I knew it was a hard grade. Going into a new school was very difficult for me, but there was

a lot of expectations that had changed. And I see that now in education as well, how each year progressively gets a little bit more difficult and second grade can be a challenge.

And I had made that goal at seven that I really wanted to make sure that I could make a difference for kids because I knew how hard it was going to a new school and how important it was to have a good teacher who made you feel comfortable.

And having someone make that transition into a new school, a new experience, almost flawless. And I wanted to be that person that made someone feel safe and comfortable in a new environment or just inside a classroom.

And so that was really, that driving push for me was that monumentous moment where I moved and I said I wanted to do something positive with it. So I lived in New Jersey and I wound up moving here with my

father. He, like I said, he worked for the military. So he was transferred over to APG and it was just the timing of it all.

He had gotten a promotion and Fort Monmouth was closing. So we were very, very fortunate and the timing was right for all of us. I have two younger brothers.

One was going into high school and the other was going to be starting college as well. So it just worked out really well as far as the timing went. Not all of us thought so at the time, but now looking back, it

couldn't have been a better experience. Right off the bat, I started at Harford Community College and I was, again, apprehensive about starting not knowing anybody there. So did you start at HCC right when you moved here?

I mean, that was... Yes, I moved in August and it was August, about maybe August fifth. So I had a couple weeks of getting settled and then I was right into it.

Wow. Yes. It was a quick transition and I felt very fortunate. Harford Community College was very easy.

They they really made it easy to figure out what classes I was going to have to take. I knew going into it I wanted to be a teacher. I had taken some... I had changed my mind here and there

in high school and in college. Originally I was like, oh, do I really want to be a teacher? Maybe I want to... I was always very good at math. So I thought maybe I want to be an accountant or maybe I

want to do hair because I really enjoy doing that, and I was always doing all my friends' hair, and I had taken some time, but my heart was always in it for teaching. I had coached basketball from the time I was about twelve years

old. I was coaching the younger kids and I grew up with that experience of mentoring younger kids or coaching younger kids. I had always volunteered to teach CCD and different types of

programs and any opportunity I had to kind of just encompass that leadership role in a group of kids. I babysat everybody within the neighborhood and I enjoyed all of that time.

And as much as I think I questioned it because it was something I always knew and I was afraid that I didn't really weigh out all my options, but I always went back to it. So I started in the education program.

At that point, I knew it's what I wanted, it's where my heart was. In my heart, I wanted to be a gen ed teacher.

I always thought I was going to be a second grade teacher and make that a great year for everyone. So when I went to Harford, they said, well, we have this program and you could get a degree in education, but you

could also get a degree that would have you taking courses not only to become a general educator, but also a special educator. And I thought, wow, I never really considered becoming a

special educator. In my experience in school, special ed was its own classroom. It was a wide variety of students who really were so

excluded from the rest of the school. When they came, nobody knew their names, nobody knew who these students were. And so in my mind, special ed was this excluded part of the

school that was almost in its own world. And I thought, well, I don't think I really want to do that, but it would be great experience to have in addition to... Absolutely.

So when you came to Harford Community College, that was a two year program and you got... Actually it was a two- year program and I received my AAT from Harford. I graduated, I had taken courses, again, in elementary and special

education. All of the courses there were very much geared towards where I was going, my professional career path. There was some courses, like the science courses that were... At

the time, I was... I'm not the biggest science fan, so I wasn't enjoying as much, like, biology. But by the end of it, I really felt like I did get a lot out of it.

And I really did love it because the professors were wonderful. But then I saw how it applied to what I needed down the road, and that was great to see that connection. Absolutely.

So you finished that program and did you already know that there was a Towson University connection? I had heard talks of it. My first year I went to Harford and especially that first semester,

I kind of just... I didn't have that long or that two year plan. My two year plan was to, you know, do the best I could, graduate with the highest GPA I could and really enjoy the classes and make the most of it.

But then my third and fourth semester, I started to hear some talking about a new program that was going to, again, geared towards that elementary and special education dual degree, and it was going to be in Harford County.

And I was really excited about that. I knew that I wanted to stay close to home. I didn't want to live on campus. I wanted to be able to work and I wanted to be able to see my

family and be... Have that family time as well. And it was important to me to... I have a, I did all of this schooling with a daughter, she's seven now. So when I went back to school, she was only a couple months

old. And so, yes. And so it was important to me to have that time and not spend an hour in the car driving and an hour driving back because I

always enjoyed that drive home but it never seemed quick enough. So when I heard it was going to be in Harford County, I thought, wow, that's going to be a great experience for me.

And that would be a great opportunity for me to continue my education and do it somewhere through a college that I was aspiring to go to, but in a location that was close to home and very convenient.

I had experiences in Harford County through Harford Community College as well, and I've really enjoyed working in Harford County. I liked the curriculum, the teachers, the administrators

that I had met. As minimal as that experience had been at the time, I enjoyed it enough to know that if there was this cohort that did evolve, I would love to stay in Harford County and experience even more

opportunity and build more relationships within the county. So by my fourth semester, there was a couple of us who kept trying to find out more and more information and we would go

over the criteria and we'd try and make sure that there was enough people to start this cohort. We knew that there were sixteen people that would get into the cohort, but it needed at least I think it was twelve people to run.

So a lot of us were trying to get more and more people because we wanted to make sure it ran. Some of the people I went to school with had kids, some had wives or husbands and full time jobs, and some had just

graduated from high school and went right into college. But they never wanted to leave the county. They grew up here, they went to school here and they knew that they wanted to stay within Harford County.

So we had a wide range of people who were interested in the program and who wanted to do the program for different reasons. And we wound up finding enough people that we had sixteen to start the program.

And the opportunities that Towson gave for us and the way that they've made it so convenient and so flawless in the the necessities of becoming part of the program, it was just a great experience.

There can be so much paperwork and so much time that goes into the application process, and they really helped walk us through every step of that. And that was another push for every reason why we wanted to do

it. We felt very supported, all of us, and we felt like there was such a passion for this program to take off, and that was important to us as well.

So you were part of that very first cohort that went through, my heavens. Tell me a little bit about your coursework in the program. Now you've completed your AAT from Harford Community College

and now you're really going to concentrate on those professional courses. Could you tell us a little bit about those? Were they theoretical?

Were they more hands on, practical? Combination of both? I would definitely say a combination of both. I think that it was very practical,

more so. I think every course applied to everything that we were doing and that I still do now as a teacher, as a special educator. We took classes in figuring out what books children would

like to read and doing author studies. And we would take classes on... Have projects on how would we incorporate all students and multicultural classes.

And then we had experiences within Harford County Public Schools, not only in our student teaching, but prior to. I remember I did thirty hours of internship for reading. And I actually did that at Youth's Benefit elementary school where

I teach now. And it's ironic because as I did that I was in a second grade class with the most wonderful teacher I have ever taught with and she was just great.

And I only got to spend thirty hours with her, but teaching, she showed me a side to writing that all students were excited about. The boys, the girls, struggling writers really got excited. And to me that was a great experience because I saw a grade

that I was, you know, so interested in really do so well. And so I had the experience of teaching in Harford County. And then I also at Youth's Benefit, we also did thirty hours in another school in Harford County.

And then we went on to our student teaching. So we had done a lot. So you did... Even when you were just in your course work before you got to that student teaching semester, you were in schools

already. Yes. Very nice. When we get to student teaching, I assume that you're going to have to have an experience both in elementary education and

one in special education. Could you tell me a little bit about that experience? Actually, this was that changing moment for me. I started to have more experience with special

education when I got into the classroom for those thirty hours. But once I got into special ed to my student teaching is when I knew I wanted special ed. I had two very different experiences.

My first one was actually a two- week, a two-day-a-week internship. So the first semester that we had our student teaching, we went two days a week to a school for eight weeks. So I wound up going to Bel Air elementary for eight weeks, two

days a week, which is... The socioeconomic status of that school in particular is very middle class. It's very much that diverse... There's some some students who live in the apartments that are

rent controlled or through Section 8. But then there's some whose parents are both doctors and, you know, so there's a different status from top to bottom. But it was amazing to see as the special educator, how much

experience, how much exposure, how much it had changed, but how much you get to be a part of so many different classrooms. There was... I was expected to mainstream into the classroom. I was expected to co-teach with teachers and I had minimal

amounts of small groups that pulled out of the classroom. I did a lot of co-teaching, which I just thought was wonderful.

I mean, all of the students were so excited when I came into the classroom because it was another teacher and they felt more successful in those small groups. And we could gear towards the needs of all of our learners or

differentiate for our higher learners because there was two people there. And it was an experience I had never really been such a part of.

And I just really enjoyed it. And I enjoyed it because the kids enjoyed it. They benefited from it so much and they felt successful when they were in a group where they were with same ability peers.

They were able to share more as opposed to kind of feeling self-conscious and going back into their shell. And it was amazing to see that their personalities would come out and it was just amazing.

My next school was Joppatown elementary school. I did the two days a week there and then we went into the full time in the next semester, in my fourth semester. Joppatown was, again, another great experience, and I think it

was the most life-changing experience I've ever had. I was in a fifth grade class and I was actually really nervous. I didn't know if I wanted to be in a classroom of students that were that age.

I always like the primary kids the very, like, the kindergarten, first, second and then to go to fifth grade... I was nervous and I went as a general educator, which was different because I really fell in love with special ed.

But once I got there, I met with my mentor teacher prior to going in the classroom and I really connected with her. She took the time to explain every single kid and their needs and the different diversities within the group.

And they actually have a program at Joppatown, It's called CSP, Classroom Support Program, and it's a program where all students... It's the next step after we determine that students aren't in an environment that's

appropriate inside their general education setting, a classroom support program might be more appropriate. So a lot of the students who were in that program came into our classroom.

I see. So I was able to work with students with severe autism and emotionally disturbed students. And that was just that point where I knew this is what I want

to do. I want to be working with these kids. So was there... This is still... Do you have a special educator in that classroom typically? Was it a co-teaching kind of? It was a co-

teaching at times. There would be inclusion helpers coming in with the students that came in from the classroom support program.

There was a child in the program and I still have the card that he gave me. On the first day I came in they said he doesn't really make those relationships and we really connected and had a great

rapport. But he was a student with autism and he was always in the classroom. So he would have an inclusion helper most of the day with him,

but a co-teacher or a special educator would come in for reading and for math and then throughout the... For science and social studies and all, and writing, we would be in there, myself and the mentor teacher.

One of the things that I really loved about my mentor teacher was the fact that she knew that I enjoyed special ed, even though she kept trying to convince me to be a general educator.

She's like, you're really good at it. You'll love it. You should... She knew I had a passion for co- teaching.

So she would, when we would sit and plan and she took that time, she'd say, OK, how do you want to deliver this lesson? And she put the ball in my court. Would you like to lead the lesson and I'll observe or do

you want me to take a small group or do you want to co-teach it? And it was great because that's where I learned to build a co- teaching relationship was with that mentor teacher.

She wasn't one that was going to sit back or do what she... Clean up her room or anything like that. She was really hands-on and took the time. And that's another thing that Towson really does well is they

choose teachers and make sure those teachers understand their roles. They meet with the teachers, they explain the expectations. They have a meeting prior to getting their interns and

lay out the expectations. And they really make sure that the teachers are prepared for us. And that made a difference because I had great student

teaching experiences. They were both very different and very different environments, but they were both experiences that shaped me as a teacher, and as a teacher

I look back at all the interns that we have at our school and how much of the mentor teacher comes out in those student teachers, those little quirks and those little things that you say throughout the day really are

things that they pick up. And it was things that I was picking up and I said that the things I picked up were positive, but I think it was because of the selectiveness in the teachers that were

chosen. So you've completed your student teaching full time and you're getting ready to graduate. And how are you feeling?

Are you feeling fairly confident about... We knew that getting a teaching position might be difficult. We were told that Harford County wasn't sure.

Every year every school system has to wait for numbers and wait for the budget. So I think we were all a little nervous. One of the things though, again, I had a wonderful professor who

really took the time. If you wanted to meet with her, had any questions, she would take the time to answer them and to help you. Tony Guidi was the one who sat down with me and I said, Tony, I

really love Harford County. I love the teachers I have been working with. I love the schools I've been working with. What should I be doing to make sure that I have put myself in a

position where if I would be a good asset to their teams, the principal would acknowledge that? And she said, well, I think you need to ask the principals to come in and observe you.

And I thought, oh, my goodness, OK, if that's what I have to do. It was very scary as a student intern because I thought, I'm not ready. I can't do this.

And my mentor teachers both said, you're fine, you're going to be great. And they sat and they planned. And the teacher, the special education teacher that I co-

taught with and the gen ed teacher that I co-taught with on both schools, they both sat with me and planned out the lessons. We went through the lessons and I felt good about the lessons.

And the principals came in and observed me and they made me feel great about the lessons. They actually had a post conference with me and they sat down and they did a formal evaluation where they evaluated

everything, like, as if I was a first-year teacher. And that was a great experience because then going into my first year teaching, I knew what to expect, but I also got feedback that helped me changed my teaching in a way that was

positive, but it also made me feel a little bit more confident about what I was doing because they had great things to say. So I felt very good at that point. And with that being said, I actually went to something...

We had called it the rodeo. It was an interview day that Harford County has. There's two different days. One is for general education, one's for special ed.

And I had expressed my interest and love for special education to both principals at the two different schools and the assistant principals and anyone and everyone I would tell how much I love special ed

and how surprised I was at that, not even sometimes realizing how that might shape or change my career path from gen ed to special ed. But I was invited to the special ed rodeo day and I thought, Oh

my gosh, this is such a great experience. And I got there and I again, just raved about the special ed program, all of the curriculum that I was exposed to, the interventions I'd been exposed to and how much I loved what

Harford County had done because I had developed such a passion. My mentors had a passion for teaching. My professors had a passion for being part of this program.

They had a passion for being in Harford County because their kids were in Harford County. They loved Harford County. And that passion just came out so much and everything that I

did and in that interview day, and I wound up going to about eight or nine different interviews within that one day. There were half... We got a schedule of the schools we would go to.

We had our mock interviews during different days through the cohort that we were in. Our professor, Tony Guidi, had a panel of very well experienced interviewers.

We had superintendents that had retired, that had worked within neighboring counties and administrators and teachers. And we had mock interviews where we were, the whole class was

there and we were each asked a question. We had mock interviews individually. She gave us questions. She went over a lot of our resumes.

She went over time and time again with us. And if we sat down and had questions, she was there to openly discuss them with us and help us through each step of the process.

And that was part of it, is that professional piece. So going back to your original question, was I nervous? I think I would have been if I didn't have the support, if I

didn't feel so passionate, if I didn't have some almost holding my hand every step of the way. And not in a way where they were doing or giving anything to you, but they guided you through these things.

It was the questions that would come up. Having those questions made us feel confident. But what I noticed in that interview day is how much I had already been prepared for that interview day that I didn't

realize and that didn't come from those mock interviews. I was given so much information about teaching from my professors and when I was asked a question, I knew exactly what the answers were because we had discussed those questions.

I remember one teacher in particular, it was a teacher specialist had asked me, what what sort of assessments would you use for your teaching? And when I gave him my answers the last one was I would use

some kind of exit slip or a post- assessment and I'd use a pre- assessment. And he said that I was the only person, and I was his last interview for the day,

I was the only person that said they would use a pre- and a post- assessment. They all said formal or informal, but a pre- and post- assessment, and that was an expectation that we had.

Our professor, every single lesson that we taught needed to have a pre- and a post- assessment. And I knew why because my professor guided me through that and said, well, if you don't know... If your students are all

capable of doing this, you don't need... Why are you going to teach it to this basic level or, you know, 50% of your students? And to me, it was just second nature.

It was silly that, you know, he thought it was so random that I've said that. And I thought, wow, I'm really prepared. Now, at the special ed rodeo, were you invited to do an interview

at a school? How did that process work? We actually... It was a wonderful day. We were invited to go to the rodeo.

We were each... There was only two of us selected from the cohort at the time. There was 25 people selected to go to gen ed and 25 selected to go to special ed.

There was somebody that had to have recommended you. And inside those 25 people there were people from different states, different schools. But it was people who had made an impact, who had expressed an

interest for Harford County. And I think it really helped having as many people come in to see me teach as possible. And again, that was something that was really impressed upon

by my professors. But we were actually asked to come to Cal Ripkin Stadium, which is... There's a beautiful building inside it. And so we were asked to go there and there was, I'm not really

sure how many schools, but there was schools, elementary and middle schools that were there for special ed because our degree has us certified to teach anywhere from kindergarten to eighth grade in special education.

And I think it was probably about 30 to 40 schools were there. And there was about two people per school. It was usually an administrator and either the instructional

facilitator or a teacher mentor. And they gave us in the morning meeting a schedule and they had already pre-planned which interviews we would have for the day.

Like I said, I think I met with eight or nine different schools. So I didn't meet with all of them. And they did range from elementary to middle schools. The schools that I met with... Youth's Benefit elementary school

is the school that I work at now that actually was on my list. And I also had Havre de Grace Middle School as one of my classes, one of my choices in my interviews. And I had worked with a special educator over at William S.

James, which is another elementary school in the county, through one of my experiences through Towson. And when I went down to sit at Havre de Grace Middle School, she had been promoted to the instructional facilitator.

So she said, oh, and she looked at the principal at her school. She said, oh, I know Siobhan. She came to observe me for thirty hours and she didn't sit there like most of the people who come.

She did everything she needed and she works. She goes, she's a good one. I'm just going to put a check plus. And she...

And it's because we had spent time together and she, again, knew my passion. She knew the program I was in. She really felt like I had been given the experience that would

be able to guide me in teaching. And that's what we talked about in my interviews. They didn't really ask me a lot of questions. They asked me about how the cohort was going, if I had

any other experiences that I would like to share with them. And we talked about those experiences in different schools and the different aspects of gen ed and special ed. But we have already had such a good rapport that it made me

feel very comfortable. And it goes back to the exposure that the program allows within the county. We had been at so many schools, so I didn't recognize this

basis. So it made me not as nervous going into those interviews. Youth's Benefit, my interview there, I had talked about how I was there for my reading class, how I had come in and worked with a

teacher for thirty hours in the reading program and we had to collaborate and she loved that, the assistant principal there thought that was great. She loved the teacher I worked with and she went back and

really talked more to the teacher. And two days before I graduated, I received a phone call with two offers, one for Havre de Grace Middle, one for Youth's Benefit. And that was...

How wonderful. Two offers. And my first interview. A lot of people, a lot of people from my cohort, they had their interview.

We have a screening interview and then they would go to the different schools and some people had one interview at the school, some might have two or three 'cause principals might have had a couple people that they were thinking about.

But I had that twenty minutes, really, of just sitting there and feeling great and confident and just kind of talking like we were old friends and I was done. And I just felt like the luckiest person in the world

because of that. But it went back to my experience and everything that my professors had done for me while I was in the school. The expectations they had really reflected so well on what

my performance was and they made note of that. And that was very important to my career path. So you chose Youth's Benefit. I chose Youth's Benefit as a special educator.

Like I said, middle school, and it might be a venture that I try one day, but I knew starting my career, I wanted to be in elementary school. I knew that's where I felt comfortable and confident, but I

also had a passion for it and I knew I wanted it more than anything. And that's where I started teaching. I started as a special educator.

It was ironic because as I started, the more and more I went into the year, I realized how fortunate I was. Through my Towson program, we had a special ed class, and the special ed class,

we were expected to utilize IEPs, individual education plans, and we were expected to write goals. We were expected to write accommodations. We were expected to perform assessments and diagnose

students. We were... Our expectations were high. But when I got into the teaching field, I was far above teachers that had been there for two or three years because I had that

experience with someone who knew how to teach that experience to a teacher. Another great thing was because I was student teaching in the county, I utilized the Maryland online IEP system that Harford

County was using, which is a hard program for new teachers to learn, in addition to curriculum and everything else, of course. And I had had exposure to it, so much so where I felt confident enough to use it.

And it was the year where all teachers were then expected to use it. So I walked in and I had three young special educators that I was working with.

One had four years experience, the other had three, and one had one and a half. And I actually helped them with the program, which was so neat because it made me feel like I was part of that team as opposed

to the dead weight they had to carry. And they would come to me and ask me questions and we would collaborate more because I had that experience. Absolutely. Wonderful.

Yeah. So you've now taught for three years, and does that mean you're on the eve of being tenured? Yeah.

I found out on May first at my end of the year evaluation that I've received tenure, that they recommended to the Superintendent, and so I was recommended for tenure.

Yeah. And it is such a sigh of relief to have that big weight almost lifted off your shoulders. But I definitely felt confident in that.

I didn't ever... Because of every experience I had, I knew what the expectations were. I had received evaluations from principals before I started

teaching. I knew what the post conferences were. I knew what end of year evaluation should look like. I knew what the expectations were for me and I felt like I

knew so much about my roles and responsibilities that I was able to easily fulfill them and manage my time because of the experiences I had. And so I was able to feel confident.

I think I felt more confident about becoming tenured than I did about getting a job. And I got a... I was very fortunate to get a job so early. Have you done pretty much the same kind of job over the

three years that you have been teaching? Have you switched at all? I actually have switched every year. The world of special ed is forever revolving and evolving,

and our numbers consistently change, and so do our teachers. I have two teachers who I've worked with for all three years, one of the beginning teachers I had worked with, she

had moved, and then we had a new one start this year and she's moving and so we'll have another new one. But the two that have stayed have been wonderful. We actually are all great friends and we collaborate all

the time. I actually had one over my house last week and we were up 'til 8:30. We started working right after school and were working 'til

8:30 doing file reviews and working on IEPs. But we were able to do it in a way that's fun, but we all collaborate on what our responsibilities will be for the year.

So we actually just sat down this week and looked at next year. My first year teaching I worked with just third grade and I enjoyed it so much.

I had great general educators that I co-taught with. I worked with eight different teachers within the grade level. I could have taught with six of them. I started off with ten kids, I dismissed one and went all the way

up to sixteen by the end of the year. So I qualified a great amount of students for my first year. I had a great experience my first year as far as being tested.

My parent communication was vital, and that was something I also had been taught and was so reinforced throughout my educational program at Towson, was how important it is to keep that communication.

And that saved me because parents at Youth's Benefit want to know what's going on in their child's education. And it seems so, so obvious, but it's not something that you always think of between lesson planning and grading and

copying, making those phone calls or sending those emails about those good days and those not-so-good days was vital. And that was something that was important. My next year I switched from third to third and second.

So then I was split between two different grade levels. And that was a great experience. It was interesting trying to balance schedules and last year I was first and second, which I loved.

It was a great experience. Again, the scheduling's tough, and next year we're kind of... What's so nice is we've gotten to a point where we're comfortable enough with each other

now, we've worked together, we've collaborated for so long that I'll be second grade primarily, but I'm also helping manage in different areas and different grade levels, which we thought would be a good break for each of us.

Each of us is going to have one or two times throughout the day where we'll go to a different grade level and teach with a different teacher and be exposed to different kids, kids that we're all familiar with because we've seen and we make sure the

students are all aware of the different special educators. This is the students in special ed and it's nice because then the kids who are in first grade will know when they come to second grade who I am and they look, it's that familiar face for them

and it's made it so enjoyable for me. So when they walk in, I know their name on the first day of school and I know what what they probably did over the summer. But then they walk in and those ones who are a little nervous,

they feel more confident. So I've had very different experiences. I think I've changed the classroom I've worked in. This will be my third classroom in three years.

Well, this will be my fourth. So it's been different, but I like that. That's what I love about special ed is that every year it's going to be different.

Every year the needs of your students is going to change. But I feel so fortunate because no matter what grade level I've gone to, the teachers that I work with are wonderful and they're really open to the suggestions I have or to working

with me. And they really comment on how much I don't seem like a new teacher. And I always go back to, I don't feel like a new teacher

because I feel like I was given so much as a Towson intern that I didn't have to go into it kind of blindsided like some people. Going into the county, every county has their different curriculum.

Every county has different expectations, different evaluation processes. Especially in the world of special ed, there's programs, there's just the expectation the amount of time students spend in the classroom, their

expectation for co-teaching is different and the models of co- teaching I was handed on my first day at Towson and I've seen it and I've experienced it through Towson.

I've experienced it as a teacher now, and it was ironic, but my first year at Youth's Benefit, myself and one of my co-teachers actually taught a professional development session on co- teaching because they really loved, every time they came into

our classroom, the models that we had, the ways that we pre-assess and post- assess and utilize that information and the different, the rapport that we had built, the rapport with our kids.

And I go back to, it was easy to flow into that because I knew what the curriculum was going to look like. I knew I had such a back knowledge that I really had time to build that rapport with my co- teacher and we could look at

different models and we could identify the ways to best meet our kids' needs. Harford County really does a great job giving you a lot of resources within the county as well.

And I was aware of that. I knew that and I was told to utilize those, and you really do need to be aware of what's out there. And not everybody is, unfortunately, because they're

never told. And if you're not told about these things, you won't know them. And that was something from the beginning,

Mrs. Guidi, our professor, made sure that we knew the different roles and what the responsibilities of those individuals in the schools were. So this way, I knew that there was a mentor teacher for new

teachers who was going to be able to do certain things for me and help me enhance my lessons. And she said, make sure you have them come in and help you because that's what they're there for.

And I think in my mind, I would have felt like, oh, am I incapable of doing it? Or am I asking too much for asking for help? But it wasn't that way.

And they were excited when I came to them for help because they wanted to see that you wanted more, but they didn't want to overwhelm you. So I do feel like I was very fortunate and my roles have

changed. But I've been prepared for each of those. And after three years and you're beginning to think of how you personally might want to move professionally.

Can you tell us a little bit about what that future might look like? I'd love to. I go back to, I do like change.

I do like that the world of special ed changes. But I do like the idea of being very aware of what else is out there. I do have the dual degree.

So eventually if I want to go into the classroom if the opportunity's there, I would love to, not anytime in the near future, but eventually to have that experience because I am taking courses again at Towson because of the accessibility of

because I'm actually taking my courses at at the HECC center. It was the HEAT center when I first started and now it's the Higher Education Conference Center.

And again, it's only twenty minutes from my house. It's nice because I could leave work and get there. A lot of people have to take online classes or different things.

And I have that... I like that face-to-face. I like having those conversations. And so I've been working towards my master's.

It's a program called Human Resource Development for Educational Leaders. So I am working on my administrative path. And again, I've had great professors.

I had one professor who was a Superintendent and his passion again was just contagious. And it helps you to maintain that. But the great thing is we're creating and implementing this

new curriculum that's going to go nationwide, which I'm really excited about because I had the understanding of why they thought this was important. They want everybody within the nation to be on the same page,

and to me, that's really important. I think it's beneficial for all kids to be able to go from one school and if they have to pick up in the middle of the year and go to another, they're able to not feel like I've done this or

I don't have any clue what's going on. They're still around that same page. And to me that's important, but I'm given the information of why it was developed.

I understand it because I participated in these classes that really dive deeper than what you might get as an educator in the professional development because you have more time.

So I feel like I can keep that passion going through these master's classes. And what I like is the flexibility of the timing. Having the twenty-minute drive there and back is great.

And having the... It really works well with teachers' schedules. They really make sure that you're getting the most out of the program. The professors are very, very intentional in the material that

they're giving you and how you can apply it to what you're doing already and what you would have to do as a school leader. So I feel like the program I'm in is really fantastic right now.

I was able to take two courses and then you can take the courses as you feel comfortable. There's no set schedule where you have to do three courses here, three courses here, which is nice because we all know there's

some times throughout the school year that are going to be very, very busy. And to overwhelm yourself or feel overwhelmed is going to impact your teaching and you as a person.

And that's important to me that I get the most out of the classes because I've actually begun to enjoy taking them rather than it's something I have to do. And I want to take the time to get the most out of it, but I

also want to do it in a way where it's positively affecting my life. And it's been that way so far, which I'm really grateful of. But what I like about that administrative path is if I go

into the general education classroom, I'm not only as a principal or assistant principal or as a leader within the school system, have the background gen ed, but I'd have it as special ed and vice versa.

I think it's important to be diverse in the school. So this way when you are having your PLCs, you're able to meet the needs of all of your teachers. You're really making sure that you make it meaningful to

everyone because sometimes you have to give this information that doesn't pertain to everyone. So making it meaningful is really a passion of mine and having the diversity within special and gen

ed, I think, helps get me down that path. Absolutely. Certainly. Well, we wish you the best of luck with that program.

Sounds to me like you're taking things at a pace that's appropriate for you and that's most important. Yes. One question we always ask is what kind of advice would you

give to someone who is considering or thinking about becoming a teacher? I've actually been asked this question a lot. And a lot of times people will say, oh, my daughter or my son

is thinking about becoming a teacher. They're thinking that they might want to go here, here, here. And I always come back to, I was given so much opportunity in the program that I participated in.

If it is something that they're passionate about teaching and especially in Harford County, the cohort that I participated with was great. But Towson in general as a whole provides so much guidance for

teaching. It really gears towards what you're going to need. And I just think that it's a program that sets you up and what you need to do is if it's something you're passionate

about, follow that passion, but do it in a way where you're going to make the most out of it. Teaching is such a gift and the students really benefit from the time you're able to spend with them and learn with them and

having the background in the curriculum already. Having all of those procedures, the expectations kind of in your back pocket going into education opens the doors for building your relationship with your coworkers, building your

relationship with your students and not having to struggle through a year of learning curriculum and learning to differentiate and learning all of the things that you can get out of your education.

Towson made it affordable. Towson made it really nice for me and it was flexible. I had great professors who understood and I was honest with them about everything, and I think that's a huge thing.

If you want to become an educator, you have to learn that we're all on the same page and we have to work together. It's a team approach. As much as you might be in charge of a classroom, you

build your foundation as a team. You are going to learn from the beginning that teaching is... A school impacts your teaching. A school is that learning community for your students.

And then your grade level is another team you'll participate with. And there's so many different teams you'll be a part of within the school system.

And you have to learn to really work as a team. And that was something else that I was taught. You might not always see eye-to-eye. I mean, everybody teaches differently, everybody learns

differently. And what's easy for somebody might not be easy. And that's the same in teaching. And you're going to learn that your teaching style might not be

the best for everyone and you have to be flexible. But if you have a passion for teaching, it's going to be the best thing you can give to your students. And I can't thank every teacher that I had, every mentor

that I had, every professor I had enough for the passion that they inflicted upon me. I know that especially, and I remember saying at Towson, I had our professor, Tony Guidi, she said to me, I know that you

love what you do and I know you're capable of this. And those words stuck with me from that first semester on. And that was my guiding, like, words of wisdom is her confidence in me because I went into it a little nervous.

I thought, Oh my gosh, am I going to be able to do this? It's a lot of time. It's a lot of... But she believed in me and that was enough to get me through.

And I not only wanted to get through because I had a passion for teaching, but I wanted to get through to prove to her she was right. She had every reason to believe in me.

And I think that being open and being honest helped me develop that relationship with her. And then she helped me, she guided me through the program. But then building those relationships in a way that

is professional with the people who you're going to school with and who you have to rely on to get these lesson plans done and work as a group with. You're going to have to be open and you have to be honest and

you have to work on a professional level. And that was the greatest thing that I took away from my time at Towson is being professional and being open and being honest in my professional career, in my educational career,

and be open to change and just be willing to roll with it and be willing to grow. I just feel so fortunate because all of those things were things that I was definitely nervous about.

And those were things that now come so easily to me because of the experience that I had and the support that I was given. Wonderful.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for your time.