Hi! I’m Natalie.
I’m an autism-focus teacher working in a high school self-contained classroom for students with extensive support needs.
I’m also a wife, mother, and Nana to my amazing little grandson. Importantly, I’m also the mother of a child with special needs (now grown). I’ve experienced the assessment, referral, IEP, and transition process from preschool through graduation and I know the myriad of emotions, fears, and frustrations that families face. I vividly remember sitting in IEP meetings not understanding half of what was being said, and not feeling like I really had a voice in the process
My personal experience with my daughter influences my work, not just with my students, but with families as well. I’m passionate about empowering families and ensuring that they have the knowledge and confidence to advocate for their child as lead members of their child’s IEP team.
Before switching to high school special education 5 years ago, I worked in various roles in early childhood education for 20+ years. It was a huge leap moving to high school, but I use my child development knowledge and experience every day in my classroom, and I believe it has helped me to better understand and predict my students’ needs.
My Teaching Philosophy
There are several principles that I have brought with me from early education, and they are the cornerstones of how I run my classroom:
- Regardless of age or ability, for students to be successful in school, we must see them as competent learners and respect their right to an active role in constructing their own learning.
- We must recognize the value of relationships in the learning process, not just with our students, but with families as well.
- We must acknowledge the distinct needs and strengths of each individual child and make accommodations to meet those needs as well as opportunities to build upon and share their strengths.
- We must see our teaching role as facilitating learning through intentional experiences, activities, environments, and interactions vs. simply “teaching” students what to do or how to do it.
- We must encourage students to ask questions, to think critically, and to ‘think about their thinking and learning processes.
- We must allow for the individual and varied means of expression students may use to communicate what they know, what they are capable of, or the progress they have made.
- We must consider our environment a third teacher, ensuring spaces that are safe, calm and offer areas for exploration and experimentation, interactions, movement, creating, and self-expression.
- Finally, we must engage in continuous observation and research in order to evolve and improve our teaching.
Education and Experience
Education and Teaching Credential
Professional Experience
- California Teaching Credential, Education Specialist, Extensive Support Needs
- MA, Education
- BA, Early Childhood Education
- AA, Merchandise Marketing
- Education Specialist, Extensive Support Needs special education teacher, San Francisco Unified School District
- Education Coordinator, Preschool and 2’s Classrooms, University Child Care at Mission Bay
- Owner, Director, Lead Teacher, laffodils Preschool and Child Care
- Quality Improvement Coach, San Francisco Preschool for All
- Child Care Partnership Coordinator, Early Head Start for Family Child Care Project
- Child Care Consultant
My Passion and Focus
Two things I am particularly passionate about are sensory integration and supporting what many call “challenging behaviors”. But we know, of course, behavior is a form of communication and the more intense the communication the more excited I get about having a student in my classroom. My colleagues think I’m nuts, but I absolutely love the process of getting to know the student and figuring out what he is trying to tell us. In my experience, behaviors are generally sensory driven and once we figure out what a student’s sensory needs are we can support him to regulate enough to engage, participate, and learn.
If you follow me on my blogging journey, here’s what you can expect to read about.
- Since I love all things sensory, I will write about sensory integration and sensory processing challenges. I will also write about supporting sensory driven behaviors and supporting students in an autism focused classroom.
- I am all about empowering families and providing them with the knowledge and support necessary to advocate for their child and take on active roles as members of their child’s IEP team.
- Since readers come from different roles and experiences, I will share some general information on the autism spectrum as well. For some of you, this will not be new information, for others though, it will be, and I hope it will help to educate and inform, hopefully busting some myths and stereotypes along the way.
- As we all do, I have opinions, ideas, and thoughts that may differ from others and will share them here. I promise to keep an open mind and hope you will share your thoughts as well. I believe we all benefit from RESPECTFUL dialogue and the sharing of ideas and information.
Join Our Newsletter
Subscribe to receive our latest updates in your inbox!