Meet Theresa . .

"After teaching Special Education for five years and language arts for one, I found teaching science more interesting and challenging than I originally thought and I have thrived in the science environment. I find it a perfect match for my personality. . ." -- Theresa Maves

Theresa has worked at O'Leary now for six of her ten years of teaching. During her first year she was a special education teacher working with Meile's 8th grade team. Theresa decided to try teaching a specific content area and began teaching language arts. She had 75 students and 90 minutes every day in which to teach. Though it was the first year she and Meile were not on the same team, she thoroughly enjoyed this year of teaching.

When she learned that the following year's language arts teachers would have 170 students and only 47 minutes a day in which to teach, she decided to switch to science. Once again she and Meile were unable to work on the same team since at the time Meile was on a year's leave. The fourth year Meile returned and the team took on new challenges.

"This was an exciting year because Meile and I piloted a block for math and science and created several integrated units among these two subject areas. These were quite different than our earlier units. Rather than focusing on immersed integration, they were specific to these two content areas. We spent our fifth year at O'Leary developing curriculum and looking for "easy to implement" technology practices. We are continuing the journey this year as well." -- Theresa Maves

Theresa continues to have special education students in her classes who require curricular adaptations. She designs curriculum she believes will engage each student at his or her own level, meeting each student's need for meaningful learning experiences.