About Us
Our Team
Our Impact
FAQs
News
Contact Us
Corporate Programs
$

My Wishlist

Mrs. Shayna Szumach
Add Me as a Friend!
Wilson Magnet High School
Hometown:
Rochester, NY
Class Information:
Room Number: 307
Students per Class: 20
Class Description:
Picture please, if you will, a big city, bigger dreams, and yet, bigger obstacles. I work with several special needs, self-contained English classes of various grade levels in a low-income area in the bad part of town. My students range in age from 15-21 and vary in reading from 1st-11th grade levels. My wonderful group of young men and women need your help. We do not have a classroom library of any kind (unless you count various books that the library was discarding and I commandeered). We have children`s `picture book` dictionaries that my students are embarrassed to use and we do not have thesaurus`. We have one `student-use computer` but no printer. From the bottom of our humble hearts, we ask for your assistance to help increase our ability to read leisurely, and academically, and write as well. We are a very journal-based group of excited writers in Rochester, NY and would love to show our gratitude with thank you letters to our sponsor.
Position:
Special Ed. Teacher
Needs:
Video camera to record plays and skits and speeches that students create, Software for creating podcasts. 1 computer capable of editing video from the camera and mixing tracks for the podcasts. DVD burner to provide students with copies of their finished products..
My Philosophy:
Students, like technology, are our future, and we have to embrace both our students and the technological world that they are being brought up in. Only once we embrace the technology that we so often tell our students to put away during class, can we better connect with our kids.
Personal Information:
About Me:
I'm a 25 year old 3rd year teacher who has spent the last 8 years in various classrooms working with students. I am glad to finally have my own classes to work with and look forward to another 30+ years in this business.
College and Degrees:
Bachelors from Niagara University in English and Students with Disabilities Education 7-12. This summer I am beginning my Masters program at Nazareth College as a Computer / Technology Education Hybrid student.
Activities:
I'm working on committees to reevaluate the book lists, reworking the school crest, and working independently with students on special assignment independent studies.
Favorite Books:
I'm probably Laurie Halse Anderson's biggest fan. I love all of her books, from Wintergirls, to Speak, to Catalyst, Chains, Twisted.... all of them. I love Young Adult literaure. I'm also a fan of Wendy Corsi Staub's Lily Dale series. Lastly,and mainly because I teach English, I love the classics, Emerson, Poe, Shakespeare, Chaucer... and so on....
Favorite Quotes:
"It's not just having a job, it's having a purpose." - Oprah Winfrey "Thosewho will not read have no advantage over those who cannot read." - Unknown.
Interests:
Professional Wrestling and mixed martial arts, reading quietly under a tree, baking, remodeling my home, book clubs, professional development.
Employment History:
Currently in my 3rd year in the Rochester City School District in Rochester, NY as an English / Special Education Teacher at the high school level. While in my undergraduate years, before I began my 3 years in Rochester, I developed (from scratch) a GED Program for adults with Traumatic Brain Injury, worked as a substitute and summer school teacher at a school for children with severe and multiple disabilities, worked as a Special Education Itinerate Preschool Teacher in students homes, and worked in an alternative high school 6:1:2.
Why Do I Teach?:
This is like asking "why do you breathe?"... I teach because it's the most necessary, important, and thankless profession. I teach because it's all I have ever known. I teach because I sincerely feel for my students, and love them like they are my own. I hurt when they struggle and I rejoice when they succeed. I teach because I have unending patience and a passion to continue learning until the day I take my last breath. We never stop learning, and teaching is one of the only professions out there that won't LET you stop learning. Like Oprah said, "It's not just having a job, it's having a purpose."... this is my purpose....