100-word response
Sarah
My name is Sarah Graham and I am currently teach 7/8 ELA in a small NH town. My family and I bought a house just over a year ago in Maine, right on the NH border. I have three beautiful children and five obnoxious, but wonderful, cats. I am a passionate gardener, avid reader, and mediocre basketball coach. One of my guilty pleasures is the tv show “Supernatural”, but I am also addicted to “Game of Thrones” and “The Witcher”.
I have spent most of my adult life working in restaurants. I have been working at the same restaurant on the coast of Maine for the past 10, almost 11 years. I have waited tables, bartended, worked the cash register, and hosted since I was 15. Since I was a child, I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. My father is a teacher and I always wanted to work in education. However, when I had my children, I decided to stay in the restaurant industry to raise my children without putting them in childcare. Now that my youngest is in third grade, I was able to finally start pursuing my own career goals. I began working as an educational technician 2 years ago and have finally finished my certification. I have been teaching since this past June. I am about halfway through my MEd in Online Education.
The small school that I work at doesn’t have many different special services. We are extremely short-staffed, so we don’t even have the right amount of paraprofessionals in the building on any given day. Our school does have an amazing Guidance department, including a social worker who is on staff for the rest of the year. We are a very inclusive school and do not separate any students to the Special Education Department. Our students work well in the LRE every day. We have one student who is ESL and who is only about a Kindergarten level in seventh grade. He is a great kid, but just can’t understand and speak English. We have to work with the county to get him any services. He should have services that are more involved, but we are too small a school to get the necessary assistance.
I am looking forward to working and learning from all of you throughout the next 8 weeks.