The Teacher I'm Becoming

At the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year, I began my journey as a support facilitator. To make sense of everything I was learning and experiencing, I started writing down the reasons I liked the role and the parts that were more difficult for me. This list represents the truth of my world for one school year. It is only one person’s perspective and does not take away from the importance of being a support facilitator or attempt to explain every aspect of support facilitation. This is simply my journey, and I thought you might enjoy reading the things I liked and loved about being a support facilitator, as well as the things that challenged me. Reasons I liked being a support facilitator: I was able to help many more students than I would have in one separate ESE classroom. I was able to take data, complete paperwork, and make sure the students I serviced were supported with fidelity. I had opportunities to teach both students and teachers in this role on a daily basis. I was given...

The Final Week of the School Year Has Arrived... I cannot believe we have arrived at Memorial Day weekend! This year has given me memories, lessons, and experiences that I will carry with me for years to come. Each administrator, teacher, parent, and student has left an invaluable mark on my educational journey and helped shape the teacher I am becoming. I have learned that I will never be “just” an ESE teacher, a Support Facilitator, or a Separate Classroom teacher. I am a teacher for all students, whether they are learning in general education or in a separate classroom setting. This year helped me grow in my ability to screen students for targeted skills, analyze Tier 2 and Tier 3 data, monitor progress, and use that information to help close learning gaps. This year, I completed training to administer   Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills , also known as (DIBELS).   DIBELS is a screening tool used to monitor and detect early literacy and reading skills...

I cannot believe this is the last full week of the 2025–2026 school year! It feels like this year has flown by, but at the same time, I feel like I have experienced every single month in its entirety. I am thankful to have my blog memories to look back on and remember the growth, lessons, and moments from the year. On Monday, I served as the test administrator for students completing makeup ELA and Algebra assessments. Algebra was an all-day test, and I enjoyed working with the middle school students. I also quickly learned that extra computer chargers are a must! On Tuesday, I helped with fifth grade Science testing until about noon. I also assisted a colleague with collaboration logs for social skills support for students I work with regularly. Before this year, I did not know much about support facilitation or what collaboration logs entailed, so this was another reminder of how much I have learned throughout the year. Later, I participated in an IEP amendment meeting for a studen...

It is hard to believe school is only a couple of weeks away from ending! This week I spent the majority of my week testing, just as I will again in the coming week. On Monday, students in grades 3-5 participated in the FAST ELA progress monitoring assessment. Students with IEPs have specific accommodations listed in their plans, and those accommodations must be followed during state testing. For more information, families can visit the Florida Accommodations Reference Guide for details about accommodations for students with disabilities. On Tuesday, makeup testing began, along with 1:1 testing for specific students who had not yet completed the ELA assessment. My classroom A/C was also magically fixed thanks to one of my amazing assistant principals, which made a huge difference!  In the afternoon, I had the opportunity to work with a student who was having a difficult time getting started. We have all been there. Another teacher stepped in to support, and I was able to observe th...

Week 36: I Can Do Hard Things Monday I hit the ground running, but this week felt a little more challenging since I had not been feeling well. As I settled into my first group, I realized I was not thinking as clearly as I normally do. It reminded me that even teachers can struggle with a math problem when we are tired or under the weather. It was a good reminder that learning requires patience—for both students and teachers.  As my schedule has grown increasingly full this year, I am more aware that not every student I support can always see me when unexpected situations arise. Later, I pulled a group to work on similes and review missed questions from a previous assessment. During that time, I noticed that some students can struggle to accept feedback when they feel confident in their answers. Moments like these are important opportunities to build flexibility and encourage deeper thinking.  I ended the day with an IEP amendment meeting and time spent catching up on paperwo...