Sheena: Our Passions as Our Professions

As the end of the school year quickly approaches, I realize that attending the CEC 2011 Convention & Expo was exactly what I needed at this stage in my career. Countless amazing, inspiring, and dedicated people were placed in my path, giving me the perspective I needed to move forward on my journey.

As I attended sessions and asked questions about the realities of co-teaching—my favorite subject, as you all know!—I was shocked to hear veteran special educators both acknowledge my professional concerns and encourage me to continue on the path. Their positive and supportive responses were just the consolation my young, passionate teacher’s heart needed.

I believe that my two years of co-teaching have been miles’ worth of footsteps on an unfolding journey. The trails have been both rocky and smooth, but I’ve learned from each step and have discovered a deeper awareness of who I am and what brings joy to my life. I love seeing smiles on children’s faces when they accomplish a task they didn’t think they could achieve. I love being a mentor and advocating for the needs of my students. I love to experience change, whether it inspires a shift in attitudes or behaviors, or gets students to try, try again when they are so used to simply giving up.

My passion is who I am and a primary source of my joy. Empowering and giving voice to those in need is at the heart of that passion. I was glad to meet so many other like-minded professionals at the CEC convention.

For example, I met an amazing woman named Amrita Chaturvedi. In her early 30s, she is a professor at St. Louis University who helped found the Hope and Joy Society for the Underprivileged in 2004. One of this NGO’s community outreach initiatives is the Asha Deep Vidyashram school for underprivileged children in Varanasi, India. Amrita’s school serves children born into poverty, children from traditionally marginalized castes, and children with disabilities. When I told her about my Peace Corps service in Niger, West Africa, she shared that she was actually looking for partners to expand educational opportunities for children in Africa! I was moved by her passion and by the fact that her youth didn’t prevent her from living it.

One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from Nelson Mandela’s autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom. He wrote, “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” The CEC convention served as that mirror for me. It was a much-needed week of professional inspiration and perspective in which I reconnected with my deepest intentions and passions. I would recommend this event to any new special education teacher as one of the most powerful and meaningful professional growth opportunities out there. I am certainly grateful for the experience, and now motivated and equipped to continue my journey!

Other sources of inspiration that I met at the CEC 2011 Convention & Expo:

• Dr. Festus E. Obiakor’s journal Multicultural Learning & Teaching offers incredible insight into the exploration and examination of learning environments and education for students and professionals of diverse multicultural backgrounds. Obiakor is with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
• Professor Todd Fletcher’s cultural competency development program with graduate students in special education. Fletcher is at the University of Arizona.
• Professor Sumita Chakraborti-Ghosh’s Brazil study abroad program, inclusion study, and service learning for graduate students in special education. She teaches at Tennessee State University. 
• Vesna Candic and Hannah Ehrli are two Orlando, Fla., teachers who support the development of special education programs and outreach in Serbia.
• Alan November, an advocate for technology education and the convention’s opening keynote speaker. I loved his message of intercultural awareness, global communication, and holistic learning by teaching children to connect through the innovations of the internet.
• CEC Caucuses for Individuals of Diverse Backgrounds.
• Jannis V. Floyd, President of the National Caucus of Black Special Educators.

 

Comments

[Turki Alzahraney]

Hi Sheena, the conference that you attended looks like fantastic. I agree with you that attending workshops and conferences are a great way to develop our teaching skills, find different teaching methods, and stay aware of anything new in education. In the last February 2013, I attended the 50th annual international conference hosted by the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) in San Antonio, Texas. In this conference, I attended 19 workshops but five of these workshops were amazing. One of these workshops was entitled “What works in the classroom and what every teacher can do?” In this workshop, I learned five strategies that can help me to teach students how to develop strong reading, writing, and spelling habits. In addition, I learned some tips for developing each habit, how to use classroom time effectively, and how to plan a lesson based on knowing specifically what I want my student to learn from the lesson. Actually, because I am interesting in reading and diagnosing reading, I would like to focus my study in my PHD on reading and diagnosing reading for students with learning disabilities (LD). Therefore, while I was in the LDA conference, I tried to attend any workshop that focusing on reading, or on teaching effective strategies for struggling readers, or strategies for students with LD. Other examples of the workshops that I attended and focused on reading include:
- “Why do some students struggling with reading?” In this workshop, I learned that there are three types of struggling readers.
- “Effective strategies for struggling readers.” I learned many strategies in this workshop that can be used with students who have difficulties in reading.
- “Diagnostic Decoding survey”. In this workshop, I got a packet that can help me to assess the basic and advanced decoding skills of readers of almost any age. After attending these workshops, I feel that my teaching' experience became more successful. Thanks Sheena for sharing your experience.

[amber]

This blog was essential to me. I wanted to go to this conference last year but was unable to due to money. After reading this blog I am convinced that next year I have to go to the conference. Staying in with new research, trends, etc is so important in education!

[Heather]

This blog truly demonstrates the true ability and the success of being a professional and attending a conference to make yourself a better teacher. I am not a special education teacher yet but am in graduate school trying to become one. We are learning about the importance of staying up to date and knowledgeable about trending issues and new regulations pertaining to special education. This conference that you attended looks like a great way to stay plugged in and aware. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Teachermum]

Wow - thanks for this informative post. I read Mandela's autobiography years and years ago, and obviously at that time, the quote did not mean anything to me as I don't remember it. Now, however, it is so relevant and powerful and I am certainly going to carry it with me on the rest of my journey.

Thanks for sharing.