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Ms. Sandy Goodwick
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Monroe Elementary School
Hometown:
Addison, IL
Class Information:
Room Number: 7
Students per Class: 9
Class Description:
I have an active, hard working and delightful bunch of kids who also have various disabilities, including cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and intellectual disability. Teaching them is a great and wonderful challenge!
Position:
teacher
Needs:
a SMARTboard and related materials. My kids are far more interested in what they can see than what they hear. While I've created well over 100 PowerPoints for all aspects of our program, PP doesn't easily lend itself to real interaction. When I use my digital camea to capture pictures/ video of class activities, the children are fascinated - and watching themselves becomes a valuable language lesson. My students with autism are almost enturely visually focused.
My Philosophy:
Care deeply about what you do. Always ALWAYS work to do your best job. Each child is a precious gift to be valued by using the best teaching strategies available.
Personal Information:
About Me:
I've been teaching since 1972 - here in Caifornia since 1974. I love driving up the coast, walking among the coastal redwood or giant sequoias. I have an abundant sense of humor. And I just got a spa! AND - my picture... I'm the one in red, with the camera. (And yes, that IS Obama - and The White House invited me to the Los Angeles Town Hall meeting last March! WOW!)
College and Degrees:
Concordia Teachers College/ River Forest, IL (now Concordia University Chicago) - B.A. - California State University - Long Beach (severely handicapped credential), California State University - Los Angeles - physical/ health impairments; early childhood special education.
Activities:
enjoying my new spa, ahhhhh!, gardening (term used loosly here - I don't know the names of what I buy, I just stick 'em in dirt and water them and hope for the best) I want to get into art (painting) - but get cold feet taking an art class because I am utterly convinced Rembrant, Picasso, Renoir and whoever else is there too (teaching!). And I have a hammered dulcimer and want time to actually play it!
Favorite Books:
for easy reading - John Grisham. I like history/ social sciences and biographies - everything from '1491' to numerous books re: American revolution, Lincoln, slavery ... Science also - 'The Brain that Healed Itself'
Favorite Quotes:
Probably anything with a wry sense of humor that is very creative, or something short yet deep.
Interests:
Career-wise ... disability awareness/ inclusion, advocacy for kids w/ special needs, linking with others having the same condition I have, that spa I just bought:), sleeping in on Saturdays ... trying to figure out how I got to be almost 6... (I can't say the word!) - faith and community
Employment History:
general education for 21 years (Lutheran schools); since 1994 - special education with a large regional educational agency in California
Why Do I Teach?:
I teach because I love what I do. I also teach because as a young child with a rare physical disability (Moebius syndrome), I saw how cruel children can be - and how ignorant teachers can be - and that lesson compelled me to be the best I could be, because I never wanted other kids to go through what I experienced. I am just as excited and committed to teaching today as I was 37 years ago. I have taught children in a 2 room, rural Christian school ... children in the inner city of Chicago ... infants/ toddlers and preschoolers with exceptional needs ... and now, 2nd - 4th grade children who also have disabilities. Teaching is just as important for the gifted Kindergartener as it is for the child with exceptional needs, and the family that loves him. I've learned that what had once been my source of isolation and deepest pain - has become a source of insight and compassion. Kids today need far, far more than what is required in NCLB - they need to learn how to accept individual differences of all kinds - and to know deep in their hearts that they can, one day, reach the stars.
Percent of Students are:
     At-risk: 100 %
     Special Needs: 100 %
Percent of Students are:
     White/Caucasian : 10 %
     Hispanic: 50 %
     Asian: 30 %
Free/Reduced Lunch Program Enrollment:: 80 %
ESL Enrollment:: 90 %
Average number of students in class:: 10 students
Number of students I teach:: 10 students