Using Data to Make Decisions about Professional Growth Blog 11   This week we learned about using data to make decisions in our professional growth in our weekly session at the Connecticut Aspiring Leadership Academy for Special Education. Our presenter was Mary Beth Bruder. She casually and deftly slipped in again and again on how […]

How to be a Special Education Leader Blog 10             This week I got to meet Deborah Richards. She was our presenter on what kind of leader we want to become in the special education field. Richards is with the Connecticut State Board of Education and Director of Student Services at Capitol Region Education Council

True Colors Blog 9   Well, this has been kind of interesting. Our special education presenter, Darla Gundler, who has a handicapped daughter who is now a surgeon, spent some time with us going over True Colors. She talked about her daughter’s rise through the special education school system to become a successful surgeon. And

The Department of Education Blog 8             Recently, I have learned more about the Department of Education. The Department of Education chose my school district as one of the school districts to pilot a new program to streamline the special education individualized education programs (IEPs). They want to make IEPs

The History of Special Education Blog 7            I got my master’s degree in special education in 1995 from the University of Hartford. Since then, I have spent a good part of three decades working in and out of the special education classrooms in public education. And the thing tickling my fancy now that I’m

Crip Camp Blog 6   So now that I’m officially part of the first cohort for the CT Aspiring Leadership Academy for Special Education, our first assignment is to watch Crip Camp. I’ve never heard of the movie. I don’t know anything about it. But, the special education leaders of our group tell us that

CT Aspiring Leadership Academy Blog 5   So, there I am, just minding my own business teaching my social studies and special education students at Brookside School, when I get an email that catches my attention. It is an email about a new leadership program in special education. I thought it would be great to

Returning to Teaching Blog 4   After teaching for a decade in New Britain, I resigned and packed my family up to go teach in the business world. I had been offered a very lucrative job to teach in the real estate industry in Florida. Southwest Florida’s real estate market was exploding, and people were

The Early Years of Teaching Blog 3   As mentioned earlier, I started my teaching career with Saint Thomas More. It was an unconventional start to my educational career. Saint Thomas more was an international preparatory boarding school that didn’t require teachers to have a teaching license. But did require teachers to live there on

The College Years Blog 2             My friend Danny told me that he had gotten his master’s degree in special education from the University of Hartford. Their program was quicker than the program at the college where I was taking my social studies classes. I drove down to the University of Hartford to talk to