I have been teaching in the Special Education field, going now into my 18^th year. I have primarily focused my career on Life Skills, post-secondary transition programs and vocational adjustment classrooms. When I started out I was overly exuberant – I felt everyone could be independent and live on their own, no matter their disability. I wanted to set the bar high, believing (as I still do), that people will rise to MY lowest level of expectation! Every year I worked and worked, often to no avail at getting these students 40 hour a week jobs and independent living arrangements, not to mention the resistance I received from parents and guardians. I simply could not comprehend why no one could see the “great good” I was trying to impose on my students! After all, isn’t that what everyone wants for their child!

During my 9^th year of teaching I had a young lady who was a student with an Intellectual Disability, had a seizure disorder and was extremely immature for a young lady of 20. When she began attending our post-secondary program, I met her mom – and it all became clear to me as to why this young lady was so immature – after all, her mother insisted that this young lady still call her “mommy!” I was horrified. All the great work to create independence in our students, and I still had a parent insisting on being called “mommy!” In my distress I called our secondary SpEd coordinator who had been “in the business” a long time. I explained my grave concern over this issue, explaining my views, my training, my knowledge and my desire to help students become independent. With all the wisdom that this great leader had, she explained something to me that changed my life – and my outlook in dealing with students and families. She simply said, “Gina – there are just some parents who NEED their kids to be disabled. After all, they’ve accepted it, lived with it and now, you, an outsider, are trying to change their way of life. They’ve accepted the fact that their children need them in order to be successful – that they need them to fight their battles – and now, YOU, an outsider, want to take that very familiar role away. Instead of “demanding” independence for all, why don’t you try and “foster every child/families maximum level of independence” – in other words, meet them where they are. Find out what THEY want instead of what you think is best.” That changed my life! And it helped me change the lives of many students when I simply accepted them where they were and tried to find out how to help them move forward at THEIR pace and with THEIR goals. To this day, the above mentioned young lady is “employed” at a local insurance office as she has been for the last nine years – the same insurance office where her mother works – and is a valued member of that team.

I am beginning my 4^th year in my current district. When I first came to the district, the other Life Skills teacher I “teamed with” had a free enterprise business that was intended to be for the students to use for field trips, Community Based Instruction, Work Based Learning, etc. The “problem” was that there never seemed to be any money in the activity account, other than to buy supplies for the business. Over the course of two and half years, I watched as what seemed to be a lot of money was made, but none was ever shown as profit. When I was “promoted” to my current role as department chair/coordinator, I began to really question the teacher and paraprofessionals in that classroom about where the money was going. The paraprofessionals were clueless as they just “followed orders and had nothing to do with the money.” The teacher avoided my questions completely. At that point, I took the issue to my Principal and my Special Education Director. Upon their investigation into the business, it was discovered that this particular teacher had, over the course of about 12 years, taken well over $20,000. This has been one of the most difficult dilemma’s I have ever encountered due to several reasons:  first, the teacher was a good teacher who really seemed to love the students; 2) the teacher was a single parent whose daughter actually attends this high school; 3) I personally never want to see someone lose their job, but this was a moral as well as ethical dilemma; 4) I don’t like being a “snitch.” However, I felt that this was a travesty-the district I work for is a Title 1 district, and all of the students in her class were/are below poverty level. Taking money from those students was more than I could stand to see happen. The teacher ultimately lost her job, but has since regained employment in another district. The business is back to making money and supporting these students in the way it was intended.

My personal philosophy regarding how to motivate students consists of two elements: building relationships and establishing communication. In fact, my whole philosophy of life is centered around those two elements. I truly believe that building relationships with people, students or otherwise, is absolutely crucial. It would be very difficult to try to get anyone to do anything for someone unless that person feels that they matter to the other person. People want to be heard and to be seen. They want to know they matter and that they are valued. If you can make that happen for a student, there is very little you cannot get them to accomplish. And the same holds true for dealing with their parents, other teachers, counselors, community members or the cashier at the local Wal-Mart. Value people and relationships and you’ll motivate people.

Establishing communication is another critical element in motivating students. So often as teachers we spend our time communicating negative information to or about a student.  I currently share an office with my Inclusion Staff and the majority of phone calls made about a student are those telling someone how “bad” that student is. This happens a lot in the classroom, too. The best teachers I’ve seen are those who communicate positively with and to their students. This goes back to being valued – do we value the students we deal with, and if we do, how are we showing them that we do? I think finding positive ways of speaking to and about them would change many students’ lives – it will change our interactions with parents – we will be seen less as the enemy, and more of a team member. Communication helps build the idea of a village all working together toward a common goal. If the village members are arguing, complaining or just being negative about each other and the work, most likely, little will be accomplished.  But when we work together, value each member’s role in the team, praise and encourage one another, we are often unstoppable.