From IHE in NM to SOU in OR: Major Geograhic and Professional Transitions



Lucy and I in the snow.

 There's quite a story about how I came to be at SOU in OR, but let's leave it at this: My move here was instigated by a vat of butter, a Native elder, and a worn out road atlas. On moving day, it decided to snow which is a rare occasion in southern NM. It seemed like NM was giving me a light kick-in-the-pants, saying, "Get outta here, kid. It's time to move on up the road." So, once again, with my Toyota Echo packed to the gills, my family and I went waaaaaaay up the road. As soon as we arrived to Klamath Falls, the sky opened up and dumped out about 5 feet of snow.  My desert dog, Lucy, could walk right over the 5 foot fence in our yard and head out for a night on the town.  Lucy, I don’t think we’re in New Mexico anymore.

I started my work for SOU mid-year. But in the morning, I taught at an Oregon elementary school in Klamath Falls. I was adjusting to a new state, a new elementary school, and a new position as a university supervisor. I spent so much time in my classroom on evenings and weekends that I’d have pizza delivered directly to the school. I only lived three blocks away, but I couldn’t talk myself into leaving until the job was finished or until my brain was too fried to carry on. This was supposed to be a half-time position. My partner and dog would come to visit and stay to help. They have always been tremendously supportive of my teaching crusade.

I know there are MANY teachers out there who put in countless, unpaid hours in order to be amazing professionals. I also know that there are teachers out there who need to step up their teaching game. It pains me to see how teachers are lumped into one category and put under such aggressive scrutiny in the media. I just don’t see how this degradation is going to inspire teachers to go the extra mile for their students.  Perhaps teachers need to be given the opportunity to reignite their passion for teaching. This can be exhausting work, so professional rejuvenation is critical. Is it rejuvenating to continually hear messages in the media that are unsupportive of teachers? I know this topic will be revisited…

In the afternoon, I drove from school to school to support and guide student teachers in the field. I can’t recall exactly how I felt as I transitioned from teaching elementary students to teaching graduate students. I can remember feelings of insecurity, some fear, and a dash of excitement. I often hear student teachers say that they feel like they’re “faking it” when they start teaching. I suppose I can relate to that statement.

It wasn't until the next school year that we moved to Talent, OR and I started teaching and supervising full time for the special education graduate program. In the next two years, I taught a huge variety of courses (behavior management, assessment, reading, math, special education law, characteristics of exceptionalities, human relations, inclusion strategies, etc.). For my third year, I am teaching and supervising for the MAT and elementary education undergraduate programs. I am able to concentrate my efforts on inclusion strategies and literacy with an occasional special education class.

It’s my intention that this blog will focus on my current teaching experience, but I’m moving forward knowing that I will write about whatever needs attention. Whoooo knows what that may be. I do know that I’m itchin’ to write about my students…

Teaching & Living in Navajo Country

At Petroglyphs National Park
 in Albuquerque.

Gallup, New Mexico couldn’t have been more different from western Pennsylvania. From the grocery store to the rodeo, the post office to the classroom, I got used to being a “bellagonna.” For those of you not familiar with the Navajo culture, a bellagonna is a white girl. I can’t tell you how many people in Gallup named their white dogs “Bella.” I loved how people seemed to tell a story when they gave directions to their house or when you asked them if they had a good day. I loved the smell of roasting Hatch chilies in the autumn. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend Saturday afternoon than hanging out at the Navajo flea market: Fry bread dripping with honey, the unbeatable prices of handcrafted silver and turquoise jewelry, and the deep wrinkles on the elders’ faces as they held hands with their great-grandchildren.

Navajo Country is a unique area of the world and I was blessed to live there amongst resilient, artistic, and easy-to-laugh people. Of course there are hardships (poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, etc.). But there was something about living in this region that fed my spirit; I became an adult while I was living there, and I could almost feel the Great Mother reaching up from the earth to hold me during the hard times and to smile at me during the high times.

Churckrock in Red Rock State Park.
For a time, the red rocks were my
view as I washed dishes!

It’s hard to put my teaching experiences into words. I LOVED my school, and the children, their families, and the staff became my family. When I decided to move away, it felt like I was leaving my family all over again. I miss them all tremendously. I was able to take on many responsibilities while I taught in Gallup. I had the privilege of updating our special education program to reflect best practices in the field. We tried many new approaches to delivering special education services, including creating a deaf education program, inclusion services, and gifted and talented services. We were data driven and used response to intervention techniques long before many other schools and regions in the US. Students were exited from special education when appropriate, thus debunking the perception that special education is “a life sentence.”  I learned to become an educational leader during my tenure at Indian Hills Elementary School. I frequently look back at the teachers and administrators with overwhelming gratitude; they provided an atmosphere where I could blossom as an educator.

It's a rite of passage to adopt a
"Rez dog" while living in this
region. Here's my baby, Lucy, who was
born to a wild dog in Churchrock.

I actually had a dream last night about one of my former students. It was almost like he was checking in with me and I remember whispering in his ear, “Always remember how special you are to me. You are loved.” I hope that message was received. I’m friends with some of my students’ parents on Facebook and can’t believe that my former elementary students are dating and going to formal dances. I’m getting choked up as I remember them. I asked my students to trust me, and they did. Many of these students had very little reason to trust people, so I made sure that my every action was worthy. I worked every day for them- the students well being was my full time job. After a couple of years, I started to get invitations to birthday parties, baseball games, etc. When they left for middle school, I’d bring lunch to them so we could catch up. I loved them, and I wanted them to have many options as they grew up. The realization that I had no control over their education once they left elementary school was almost maddening. So I learned to have faith.

Here's my gang of supporters
at graduation. Many of them graduated
the following year!

I would never have been an effective teacher if it wasn’t for all of the training I received along the way, including earning a Master’s degree from Western New Mexico University. Now that I’m a teacher educator, I think about my professors frequently and appreciate them deeply. Finally, that leads me to my current career path and I’m so excited to start blogging about my current students. More soon!

How I became a teacher: The story of a budding social justice warrior

My Nanna was a piano teacher. My mother was a Nurse’s Aide instructor. But teaching does not run in my blood and I never had those magical moments as a kid where I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I loved school, but I was on a social justice track while studying at Penn State University and never considered teaching.

I was earning a degrees in Women’s Studies and Psychology and minoring in International Studies. I studied abroad in Maastrict, The Netherlands during my junior year. I was a trained and active domestic violence and sexual assault counselor for the local women’s shelter. I was a counselor for The Second Mile Summer Challenge Camp- a goal setting and team building camp for at-risk kids. I coordinated training for incoming freshman through the Center for Women Students. I Took Back the Night. Every spring break I went on a service trip (Boston, New Mexico) through Alternative Spring Break Club. I was a TA for Introduction to Women’s Studies the last three semesters of college. Being active, involved and helpful made my blood pump. During autumn of my senior year, I made a very conscious decision to put aside my musical endeavors so that I could concentrate on social justice issues. No more acting and dance classes. No more long tours with the choir. No more voice training. I was a change maker, a young leader in a very important fight.



My Aunt Charlotte is hugging
my cousin Charlie in this family
portrait taken when I was in HS.

 Senior year was upon me and the big question was, “Which area of social justice can bring about the most positive change?” The answer to this question would lead me to know what kind of work I would pursue after graduation. I didn’t want to be one of those academics that completed their terminal degree without having down-and-dirty real life experience. Conversations with my advisor (also the instructor who took me on as a TA) lead me to think that the field of education was probably the best place to put my social justice efforts. My thinking was if young children have positive role models who offer a safe space to explore the world they may grow up to be positive role models for their children and community. Change could actually take place in this forum. After all, I knew how important teachers were to the survival and success of students. I am who I am today because of certain teachers (Thank you Ms. Good & Ms. Tacz! And thanks to my Aunt Charlotte who taught me how to be a kid.)

I believe that “life” leads us where we need to be. One day I was walking through the always-crowded Student Union and I bumped into an acquaintance from camp. She was in the middle of an interview with Teach For America and told me a little bit about the organization. I looked into it. As the puzzle pieces of my life were whirling around my head, they seemed to fit perfectly together as I read about TFA. And on top of everything, one of the available teaching regions was in New Mexico. My previous service projects in New Mexico left me with an itch to go back and do more. It was all too perfect.

I applied to Teach For America without any doubt in my mind that it was my destiny to be a public school teacher in a rural, high needs area in the US. I desperately wanted to be a racial minority in my new community and I wanted everyday to be an adventure. After writing numerous essays, observing classrooms in public schools, teaching a lesson and going through a long series of interviews I was accepted to TFA as a 2002 Corp Member in the Gallup, New Mexico/Navajo Reservation region. Wow.

Fake meditation in the
high desert.

Another detail that I want to explain set me on a path to become a special educator and advocate for students with exceptionalities. When I was filling out my application for TFA, I was asked to check the boxes of grade levels and topics that I would feel capable of teaching. After all of the options are presented, there was one last question that basically asked if I was willing to teach special education. Willing. I’d just completed four years of social justice training and was quite the critical thinker, so of course my brain honed in on this word. I was under the impression that TFA was a progressive organization that focused on educating marginalized students. Could there possibly be a more marginalized group than students who are racial minorities, living in poverty and also have a disability? I knew that checking that box would seal my fate to be a special education teacher. Check!

And that’s exactly what happened.