What Drives the Mindful approach?
Special needs, unique teaching.
As a Special Education teacher, I’m able to identify specific learning styles using official IEP documentation, assessments like the WIAT III, Woodcock Johnson IV, QRI Reading Assessment, as well as student work samples and teacher records. Coupled with my own observations, I’m able to develop learning plans that include formal milestones for measuring progress and improvisational elements to adapt his teaching style to each new piece of general ed classroom material.
I do my best work with students before classwork becomes a burden, training students in organizational strategies and assistive learning tools before classwork kicks into high gear. However, I can also step in and tend to fires as they happen, getting students back in good academic standing so they can be eligible for sports, extracurricular activities and participate in graduation ceremonies .
Raised in the East Bay, I know the opportunities and challenges students with IEPs face in Bay Area schools.
Despite tight school budgets and limited resources, my years of classroom instruction have helped countless students exceed expectations in each of their courses. By maintaining open lines of communication between families, teachers, support providers and individual students, I ensure education plans are implemented to the highest fidelity while ensuring my students have the skills necessary to self-advocate for their learning needs and achieve academic successes independently.
When I’m off the clock, I like spending time hiking around East Bay trails with my family, biking up mountains on pavement or gravel, and volunteering my time to bicycle advocacy groups in the Bay and Guadalajara, Jalisco. Before the pandemic, I was the after school boxing club coach at BHS and therefore the only person students were allowed to punch (if they could catch me).
Education
- Ed.D Candidate, Learning & Instruction, University of San Francisco
- MA in Special Education, Mild to Moderate, University of San Francisco
- BA in American History, Carleton College
- California Teaching Credential – Special Education, Mild to Moderate
- CEC Teacher at San Andreas High School in Larkspur
- Formerly taught at Berkeley Unified School District, supporting teachers and students in math, physics, biology, language arts and technology.
What parents and students think
