TeacherGoals Podcast Episode 9
Empower Students with Disabilities to Achieve Success in the Classroom with Briona McKinney and Samantha Fecich
“Language is connected to the beliefs we have. And those beliefs are then connected to our approach and our actions.”
Strengths Based Education
Do you understand how educational technology and special education can positively impact students? In today's show, Dr. Samantha Fecich and Briona McKinney, provide us with amazing tools, tactics, and strategies that they have found effective to help students with disabilities achieve academic success. They also share how to prepare the future generation of teachers to become educators of excellence.
Briona McKinney, M.Ed, is an Autism Spectrum Disorder Teacher Consultant for Birmingham Public Schools in Birmingham, Michigan, and a Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Certified Instructor. Briona has contributed to CPI’s podcast series, Unrestrained, in Episode 58, "Classroom Choreography and Improvisational Education," and has written multiple articles for CPI’s blog, including "THINK Before You Speak, PAUSE Before You Act" and "Facing Back-to-School Anxiety." She is currently pursuing her post-graduate certificate in Human Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice.
Dr. Sam Fecich has worked as an associate professor of education for seven years. She is the author of "EduMagic: A Guide for Preservice Teachers" and "EduMagic Shine On A Guide for New Teachers." Dr. Fecich earned her Ph.D. in learning, design, and technology from Penn State University. She also holds an M.Ed. in special education and an M.Ed. in instructional technology from Penn State. She is a certified instructional technologist in K-12 special education, K-12 elementary education, and pre-K to sixth grade in the state of Pennsylvania.
Tune in and get a deeper understanding of how to empower students with disabilities!
3 TeacherGoal Tips
1
Tip 1:
Educational Technology makes the impossible, possible, especially for students with disabilities
2
Tip 2:
Use identity first language
3
Tip 3:
Immersive Reader is a great tool. If you're a special education teacher, be sure to try it out!
This Episode Features...
Briona McKinney
Briona McKinney, M.Ed, is an Autism Spectrum Disorder Teacher Consultant for Birmingham Public Schools in Birmingham, Michigan and a Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Certified Instructor. Briona has contributed to CPI’s podcast series, Unrestrained, in Episode 58, "Classroom Choreography and Improvisational Education," and has written multiple articles for CPI’s blog, including "THINK Before You Speak, PAUSE Before You Act" and "Facing Back-to-School Anxiety." She is currently a student at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan pursuing her post-graduate certificate in Human Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice.
Samantha Fecich
Dr. Sam Fecich has worked as an associate professor of education for seven years. She is the author of "EduMagic: A Guide for Preservice Teachers" and "EduMagic Shine On: A Guide for New Teachers." She is a fan of pumpkin spice lattes and listening to Christmas music all year round! Working with preservice teachers is an honor, and it's so exciting to prepare the future generation of teachers to become educators of excellence.
Dr. Fecich earned her Ph.D. in learning, design, and technology from Penn State University. She also holds an M.Ed. in special education and an M.Ed. in instructional technology from Penn State. She is a certified instructional technologist in K-12 special education, K-12 elementary education, and pre-K to sixth grade in the state of Pennsylvania.
Erica Terry, Host
Erica Terry is a 20-year educator and co-author of the Eva the Diva Girl rhyming picture book series written with her daughter, to empower young girls to build confidence and grow in self-love. She is also the founder of Healthy Wealthy Educators, where she equips teachers with actionable tools and resources to start a profitable online business and build generational wealth without stress.
You can find her hanging out on Instagram @ericanterry_