Tell+Us+About+Yourself

In the space below, take a moment to introduce yourselves to you cohort. Let us know your teaching background, areas of interest, hobbies, and where you see yourself in 10 years.

Hi, my name is Stacey Hardin. I have been teaching for 3.5 years. I have one daughter who is nine and is loving life right now. I recently moved to Florida in hopes of entering this program and I am so excited that the pieces are fallen in place. My areas of interest include cultural diversity and Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities. My hobbies are reading, spending time with family and friends and traveling. In 10 years I would like to be working in Washington, DC doing something with policy changes in special education. While working with several different levels of students I have noticed the many many issues that students, teachers, and administrators face every day. A wise person once told me that the thing that bothers or aggravates you the most is the thing you were put on Earth to change. So here I am. I would love the opportunity to assist in creating or fixing education policies for students with disabilities. I am extremely excited about what is to come and can not wait to meet you all!!!

Hello, my name is Kelly Schaffer. I have been serving individuals with autism and related disabilities since August of 1995. Two sons have survived my efforts to raise them, one is 20 the other 14. My husband, Pascal, is a saint (in disguise). He continues to endure the changes imposed in his life and encouraged me to apply for the program. He has been a teacher for 18.5 years to date, and more than pulls his weight in our home. Very MANLY... Favorite things to do include eat and laugh. My hope is that 10 years from now, something of a unique experience afforded me will count. A sorely needed understanding of what exists and problem solving ways to establish safe meaningful learning environments is my aim. Can't wait hear about you.

Hi! My name is Barb Serianni...I am a bit more seasoned than most of you, but I like that. I have earned every gray hair on my head! "Youth may be admired for vigor, but gray hair gives prestige to old age. " (Prov 20:29, Msg) Although I have to tell you...I am NOT old...simply aged, like a fine wine:) My three children have also survived my parenting, they are all parents themselves giving me 4 grandsons. I have a grand niece who also calls me Grammie, and she is the apple of my eye! I watch each of them with a special educator's eye and see ADHD in at least 2..both of whom are clearly gifted. All are bright and healthy...I am overwhelmingly blessed! You will no doubt tire of hearing about the antics of my brood! After the death of my husband and a mid-life career change, I taught for 12 years...many of those attending to mild to moderate SWD. I grew up into a school principal and had the privilege of serving many students of various learning, physical, mental and emotional disabilities...their smiles and hugs were often the highlight of my days! In 2010 after that dozen years of teaching and leading without education credentials, I decided to return to school for my M.A. in Ex Ed. I have a couple of classes to take this summer to finish...It feels good to see the end in sight! I decided that I really like school, especially UCF...so I am staying to do my PhD as well. I guess one day I am going to have to grow up and leave UCF...but not yet! I am excited about the next 3 years...My time here so far has taught me that I have MUCH to learn...I am grateful for the opportunity and the wisdom to understand how important it is to take full advantage of every learning experience that comes my way. In 10 years I will no doubt be teaching...where only God knows...My desire is to have my finger on the pulse of policy and best practices as it relates to ALL students, but in particular SWD. My experience has taught me that we do not always do a good job at screening SWD...some are missed, some are improperly identified...students who struggle in learning, labeled or not, tear at my heart. I am a huge fan of RTI...but real world experiences (while admittedly those are limited) seem to indicate that we may have a long way to go in fine tuning RTI practices so that the process serves the student rather than simply being a check in the box for compliance for a school or district. At heart I despise injustice, I strive to defend those who can't defend themselves...I am a bit out of the box (box?what box?)! My friends, family, parents and students know they can come to me for unadorned advice and council. I endeavor to speak the truth in love...not glossed over, but simply the facts. I have been known to ruffle a few feathers and stir up a few debates... I love it! I have a tendency to question why, how...and the status quo...Strap on your spurs cohort...this will be the ride of our lives!

Hello Ladies, Well I guess I am a little late in the game with adding my info and I apologize to you all for that. Let's see.. a little background on me. My name is Jillian Gourwitz and I was born and raised in the suburbs outside of Detroit, Mi. I am the youngest of three children, with 3 additional step brothers (2 from my dad's marriage and 1 from my mom's marriage). I have 3 wonderful nephews. The oldest is starting HS this year, the middle nephew is starting MS and the baby is starting kindergarten. My youngest nephew was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 14 months and it is an all day, everyday struggle for both him and his family. So, we are frequently doing fundraisers for JDRF. I always knew that I wanted to be an educator for individuals with special needs. My mom was a teacher and she has been a huge influence in my life. I completed my B.A. at Michigan State University with a double major in Elementary Education and Special Education with a specialization in Specific Learning Disabilities. After my internship year I packed up and moved to Florida to work as an ESE teacher and complete my M.A. in Ex. Ed. with a certificate in ASD from UCF...Woo Hoo!!! I have been teaching for 5 years and in this short time I was able to have many varied experiences. My first two years were spent at a bi-lingual center where I was an ESE-VE teacher for grades 3-5. Due to a large caseload I was able to work with other colleagues to complete trainings in co-teaching and implement this with our students. This was a wonderful experience for both me and the students. After that second year my principal was offered the opportunity to open a brand new school in Avalon Park. She brought me on as the only ESE teacher in the school. The first year of this school I ended up with a caseload of 5 kindergarten students who received self-contained services and about 47 K-5th grade students receiving resource services... and no ESE para. This year taught me a lot about the education system as a whole, as well as, how I could best assist individuals with disabilities. After a discussion with one of my professors I decided that waiting to go back to school to complete my PhD didn't make sense. I decided that the best route to reach my goal was to move back to Michigan (in with my parents) to save money so that I could go back to school full-time. While in Michigan I worked as a Teacher Consultant for a very small, rural district. This district implemented FULL inclusion with Teacher Consultant and Paraprofessional support. At this school I co-taught in a 5th grade classroom in the morning and a 3rd grade classroom in the afternoon. It has been these experiences that have lead my interests to co-teaching and how ABA (applied behavior analysis) practices can be implemented for students with ASD in a general education setting. In 10 years, I see myself working with future general and exceptional education teachers on best practices for students with disabilities and how to implement these strategies. I also see myself continuing research in the field of ABA with a specific interest in co-taught and/or full inclusive settings. I can't express enough how excited I am about beginning this program and sharing this experience with you all. Over the next 3 years I expect that we all will become very close and I look forward to getting to know all of you even better!!!