Hi. Christina Leonard here

I also teach special education. In Albuquerque, NM

#ECET2SW And honor families for the expertise they bring to the table

A3 I agree with Janea. As a mentor, I strengthen my own practice, as well as (I like to think) benefiting the new teacher I mentor as part of our district program.

#ECET2SW#buenapark A4 I am fortunate that our school has really developed a positive culture for teachers to develop leadership skills in house: developing PD opportunities, taking on leadership roles in response to educational needs of students as shown by data from testing.

#ECET2SW I agree. Also peer-to-peer sharing opportunities before sharing our in a whole group. Or writing opportunities where the teacher helps by providing sentence stems or tracing opportunities for part of a response.

#ECET2SW Having students set their own goals and celebrate mastery of them ensures equity

Hello from Albuquerque!#ECET2SW

A6 Even if you cannot find like-minded colleagues on campus, there are many online resources: Facebook groups, bloggers, online newsletters...it’s an amazing world out there! And then the people down the hall may come...when they see how inspired you are.

What a seismic shift this would produce. Everyone gains when we actively collaborate. I see it as a really powerful instrument to change education across the board.

#ECET2SW. A4 So many students arrive on campus in states of anxiety, worry, deprivation, trauma: how can we help them, as well as alleviate the strain put on other students around them when we need to focus on getting their “pre-education “ needs met?