Showing posts with label Teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teacher. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

How to Implement IDEA: IEP and its Limits

by B. Lana Guggenheim, Staff Writer

All students are individuals and require individual attention, but some students are in need of special aid due to disability, autism, or other non-normative factors that hamper their ability to learn at the same rate or pedagogic style as the majority of their peers. For them, the US Department of Education has IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This legislation provides resources and tools to help children with one or more of 13 listed disabilities, including learning disabilities. While not every child with learning or attention issues will qualify for aid covered by IDEA, there are many options for those who do. One of those options is the IEP, or Individualized Education Program.



IEP is not the only education aid program; it bears some similarity to the 504 plan, including the government bearing the cost of any programs or services offered to aid the child in attaining educational goals. However, the IEP is much more specialized, as well as more difficult to obtain. A child declined for an IEP might yet be covered by 504 services, which tend to modify a regular education program in the general classroom, rather than arrange for a wide array of services outside of it or alongside it. Because the IEP is more highly specialized and encompassing, the law requires much more stringent documentation and implementation.


An IEP legally requires a written document, and the team involved to include not just the student’s parents, but a school psychologist or other specialist, a general teacher, a special education teacher, and a school district representative. The child’s abilities and progress need to be carefully monitored, and immediate benchmarks and long-term annual education goals need to be specified, thus allowing for progress to be measured and goals to be attained. Also, in order for an IEP to be implemented, the child needs to have both an in-school evaluation, and an official diagnosis by a specialist or medical professional. The law requires that meetings of the IEP team occur at least once a year to keep parents abreast of developments, but they usually occur more frequently, and can be called by parents at any time. Finally, a transition plan must kick in a minimum of one year before the child graduates high school and reaches an age of majority. This is when the child herself often is present at IEP meetings, and includes services and support to help the student transition from school to a successful adulthood and achieve post-education goals.



To compare, a 504 plan does not require all these individuals, nor even a written document. Furthermore, while a 504 committee includes parents, the law does not specify the individuals mandated to be on the committee, nor does the law even guarantee parent participation in these meetings, nor is the committee required to keep the parents abreast of developments, nor does it include transition plans as a matter of course. That is not to say that 504 plans are inherently inferior, but they are definitely less thorough, and are probably better suited for students with less severe difficulties or borderline cases.


What happens if things go wrong? The IEP has specific legal processes to resolve disputes. A parent can ask for mediation, and in cases where this does not resolve disagreements, can file a due process complaint. This requires a parent writing an official complaint letter, after which there is a resolution session. If this fails to resolve the issues, a formal due process hearing is held in front of a hearing officer or administrative judge. After this, the parent can file a civil lawsuit. Any agreements reached in any stage of this process are required to be documented in writing. Similar options are available for disagreements arising with the 504 plan, but the steps are not as formalized as they are with the IEP.


The IEP is clearly one of the more intensive options of the few that exist to aid struggling or disabled students. Because it is so comprehensive and requires cooperation between so many people, implementation can easily become difficult. Especially in underprivileged and underserved school districts, teachers are often overwhelmed and don’t receive the support they need to properly execute their general duties, never mind the extra effort it takes to help a struggling student. In addition, both IEP and the 504 plan are aimed at students in public schools. Students in private or charter schools are less able to access these resources to aid children, putting yet more pressure on already strained families, students, and teachers.  But lack of funding and overcrowded schools are well known problems in public schools all over the nation, and as a result students are often underserved and teachers are over-stressed, but those struggling students in need suffer the most.


In fact, disparities in school funding both between school districts and within a district are well recorded. Moreover, in 23 states there are noticeable gaps in funding allocated to rich districts versus poor ones. Children living in poverty arrive in school already disadvantaged, and need more resources just to get on an even footing; instead, they are held further back, and as a result, children in poverty lag behind their wealthier peers across the nation. Studies in New York and Texas show large disparities both within and between specific school districts, which further exacerbate the gap between the rich and the poor. In New York City, the gap could be as high as $400 per student, in favor of the wealthy. And poverty exposes children to many factors that cause developmental delays. A home with lead paint, common in older buildings, might lead to permanent mental disability. Children in low-income homes often lack access to books, adequate healthcare, and their overworked parents lack time with their children, which is a crucial factor for emotional and mental development. This also means that problems will be spotted later, when they are more difficult to address. Already disadvantaged, these children arrive to schools that are more ill-equipped than they ought to be to adequately address their needs.


Programs like IEP are meant to aid these students, but these underserved schools and over-extended teachers all but guarantee that they will not receive the help they need to succeed in comparison to their middle- and upper-class peers. The IDEA legislation and IEP program are crucial steps needed to make sure that students with special needs can flourish to the full extent of their potential, and in the case of students from impoverished backgrounds, break the cycle of poverty and disability. But that can’t happen unless teachers and their schools get the support they need.


Works Cited
Brown, Emma. "In 23 States, Richer School Districts Get More Local Funding than Poorer Districts." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 11 May 2016.
"Building The Legacy of IDEA." IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004. US Department of Education, 2004. Web. 11 May 2016.
"The Difference Between IEPs and 504 Plans." Understood.org. Understood.org, 27 June 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.
"Guide to the Individualized Education Program." US Department of Education. US Department of Education, 3 Mar. 2007. Web. 11 May 2016.
Guin, Kacey, Bethany Gross, Scott Deburgomaster, and Margeurite Roza. "Do Districts Fund Schools Fairly?" Education Next. Education Next, 17 Aug. 2007. Web. 11 May 2016.
Lee, Andrew M.I. "How IDEA Protects You and Your Child." Understood.org. Understood.org, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.
Lovett, Kenneth. "EXCLUSIVE: Rich, Poor School Funding Disparity Hits Record." NY Daily News. NY Daily News, 11 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 May 2016.
Schwartz, Amy Ellen, Ross Rubinstein, and Leanna Stiefel. "Why Do Some Schools Get More and Others Less? An Examination of School-Level Funding in New York City." Diss. Institute for Education and Social Policy Wagner and Steinhardt Schools New York U, 2007. Steinhardt.nyu.edu. Steinhardt NYU, 2007. Web. 11 May 2016.
Stanberry, Kristin. "Understanding 504 Plans." Understood.org. Understood.org, 03 June 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.
Stanberry, Kristin. "Understanding Individualized Education Programs." Understood.org. Understood.org, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.
Valles, Rebecca, and Shawn Fremstad. "Disability Is a Cause and Consequence of Poverty - Talk Poverty." Talk Poverty. TalkPoverty.com, 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.
Zorgian, Kris, and Jennifer Job. "Poverty and Special Ed." Learn NC. UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education (UNC-CH SOE), 2010. Web. 11 May 2016.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Elementary, My Dear Reader


Thanks for returning to the Enky Inc. blog! Today we have a great addition to our American Education Week content: an interview with an Elementary School teacher from New York City. She has been a teacher for a couple of years now & teaches in a charter school in Brooklyn. In this interview, we’ll learn about some of the experiences, challenges, & learning experiences she has had during her time as an Elementary School teacher, as well as the advice she has for those considering teaching as a profession. Now before I ramble on any longer, I’ll let our teacher Paige Kane take over from here!

Do you teach in a public or private school setting & what grade do you teach?
I teach in a Charter School setting and I teach fifth grade. 

Do you specialize in a specific subject or do you teach multiple subjects?
Since I teach elementary school it is still general education. I teach all subjects throughout the day, including English/Language Arts (ELA), Math, Science, Social Studies, & Writing.

Do you feel as though you have a good degree of control or discretion over what you teach, how you operate your classroom, and how students are assessed? Or are these factors generally controlled by the school or district?
My school follows a common core curriculum. Our math and ELA lessons are scripted and from the Engage NY curriculum. In this sense I don’t feel I have much autonomy in the way the lessons are taught, however, I do find it helpful that in these lessons I know I am hitting all of the standards and learning targets for the grade I teach.  Overall, I do feel I have a great sense of autonomy in how my classroom is managed and assessed. 

Can you give an example of a lesson you taught to your class recently?
I work at a Science/ Environmentally based school and we are very lucky to have partnerships with other organizations. One such organization is Construction Kids. For a science lesson we taught the students about variables and how they can affect an experiment. We identified the independent, dependent, & control variable. Our class was then able to take a trip to Construction Kids where they built catapults and manipulated variables. They worked to hammer all of the pieces together and then tested them. The students had to make a hypothesis based on the variable they decided to change. Such variables included changing the tension of the rubber band, changing the length of the arm, changing the angle of the arm and using different size projectiles to launch from their catapults. This was a great lesson because we really got to teach this concept in the classroom, but then the students actually got to see the real life application of what they learned. 

What has been the impact of standardized testing, if it has had any, in your teaching experience?
I have been very lucky in this domain because I have a principal who does not want teaching to revolve around test prep but around conceptual learning. That being said I do feel the pressure for my students to perform well on state tests because overall it does affect the rating of your school and how you are viewed as a teacher. 

Have you worked with English as a Second Language (ESL) students in your classroom before? What was that experience like & what language(s) were the students speaking?
I have worked and currently work with ESL students. When I was student teaching I worked in a school on the Lower East Side which had predominantly Chinese immigrant children. Many children came in not speaking a word of English (and this was a third grade classroom). In these instances I worked one-on-one with the students on basic and necessary vocabulary and decoding skills. For example, this would be identifying a word and matching it to the picture with its meaning. It is definitely a tedious experience and can become very frustrating for the teacher. However, I can imagine going to a new country and not knowing the language and imagine the amount of frustration I would feel, and this is what these students feel. I have also worked with Spanish speakers and children from Africa who speak different languages and dialects based on where in Africa they came from.

Is teamwork a big part of your job? If so, can you explain how & give some examples?
Teamwork is a big part of my job at the school I currently work in. I work on what is called a “PLT” or “Professional Learning Team.” This is the group of people who teach the grade. For example there are three fifth grade classrooms with two teachers in each so I have six people on my team. In order to create consistency throughout each grade level and what each class is learning, we plan all of our lessons together as a team. We also have a period called intervention where we group students based on need between the three classrooms. We will “share” our students during this period and it helps to continue and foster a sense of community within our team.  We get a better understanding of all of the students in our grade level. On a basic sense of teamwork, we will run off copies for each other or just give suggestions or encouragement on lessons or how to handle difficult students. 

What is your average day like?
The misconception that people have about teachers is that we teach core subjects from 8-3 and that is our whole day. We are responsible for up to 28 children at a time and that means not only for their learning but also for their emotional wellbeing. My day consists of teaching the core subjects of ELA, writing, math, social studies and science but it also consists of making sure my students have had breakfast, understanding why a student may be walking into the room looking sad and how I am going to make sure that student is still able to learn today.  It is understanding that each student has a distinct personality and learning style and knowing how I am going to reach every student so that every student is learning. On some days it means calling parents after school, making copies and going to meetings. So while we do have a schedule and routine that we follow daily, I would say there is no “average” day for a teacher.

What made you choose the profession of teaching? Specifically, why did you choose the elementary level to teach?
I chose to teach elementary school because I really like this age group. They still have an excitement about learning and an excitement about coming to school every day. With older students you are dealing with a lot of physical and emotional transitions that come with the age. I wanted the focus of my day to be teaching and learning.

What is the hardest part about your job?
The hardest part about my job is closing the gap. I need students to be able to master certain standards in order to move on to the next grade. However, I have students that come in at the beginning of the year (fifth grade) and don’t know their multiplication tables or when to use a period. It’s a struggle of how far I can go back to fill these gaps and still make sure I get through everything in the grade level curriculum.

What is your proudest moment as a teacher?
I honestly don’t know if I could pinpoint my proudest moment as a teacher but overall seeing a struggling student finally grasp a concept that they have had difficulty with and knowing that you were the one that got them there always feels very rewarding.

How has becoming a teacher changed your outlook on life/the world?
Teaching has taught me patience and really opened my eyes to the discrepancies in the education system. 

What advice would you give someone who is considering entering the field of teaching, specifically elementary school?
I would tell them patience, patience, patience. Be patient with even your most difficult student. Every child wants to learn if they can. There will be days where you will cry and you will question your decisions because you will feel like you’re not making that difference that you set out to. Believe me, you are. Be patient with your students but also with yourself. Going to graduate school can teach you what a perfect classroom will be like but in all honesty, until you are in a classroom with 28 faces looking back at you, you won’t truly understand what teaching means. As a first year teacher, be patient with yourself because while you are the one leading this class, you too will be learning more than you ever could in graduate school and it is all worth it.

Thanks so much to our Elementary School teacher, Paige Kane, for sharing her experiences with us this week. Be sure to check back here & on our social media pages all week for more great American Education Week content. See you next time!

Kindergarten & Elementary Teachers: The Front Lines in American Education

We're happy to welcome you back to the Enky Inc. blog for our celebration of American Education Week 2015! This special week is meant to honor all those teachers who have worked to help American children learn to the best of their abilities. This year, American Education Week's theme is "Great Public Schools: A Basic Right & Our Responsibility". Here at Enky, we fully support American public education, but we do not want to forget all of the teachers who work so hard in private & charter schools across the country. This week will be a celebration of all of the American teachers who spend so much time & energy making sure our children are learning as much & as well as they can. To tie our Profession of the Week series into the American Education Week theme, we will be focusing on Kindergarten & Elementary School teachers this week.

Kindergarten & Elementary School teachers are often the first professional educators children encounter in a school setting & thus have a grand impact on their educational futures. These teachers are entrusted with the early learning outcomes of America's children & have a very challenging job in not only educating children in subjects like math, reading, & history, but also in social skills such as communicating with others & following classroom rules. These educators often work in teams to ensure good learning outcomes for all children in the class, regardless of the child's learning speed or ability. Kindergarten & Elementary teachers generally must have a Bachelor's degree either in education or in a specific subject area they may teach. Teachers in public schools must be licensed or certified by the state they work in, which is usually accomplished via a series of exams & a period of student teaching within an actual classroom setting. Take a look at our infographic below to learn more about these amazingly selfless professionals & keep checking the Enky social media pages all week for lots more American Education Week content!!
The best thing ever.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

A Speech Pathologist Speaks: Part II

Here's Part II of our interview with Theresa Donohue, a licensed Speech Language Pathologist in the state of New York. As this week’s Profession of the Week is Speech Language Pathology, who better to talk to than a practicing professional? Be sure to check out Part I if you haven’t, as we learned about what she does in a typical day & the diverse types of work experiences she has had so far in her career. Today, we’ll delve into why she became a speech pathologist & how that choice has changed her life. I’ll let Theresa take it from here!

Why should someone consider becoming a speech pathologist?

Typically we are in demand, especially in schools. I did not have to search too long to find a job after I finished my Masters. I think one of the best parts about the field is that there is such a wide variety in types of settings and populations. My job is drastically different from that of an SLP working in an inpatient or acute rehab setting, but technically we are in the same field. I love working with kids, but there is also plenty of work for people who prefer working with adults. There are SLPs who work strictly with people who have voice disorders, or foreign speakers who want to modify their accent in English, or people who stutter. Also, if you do one thing for a while and want to try something else, you can. There are so many different subareas to the field that there is always something to learn.

What made you choose the profession of speech pathology?
 Great question since technically I got my BA in music, so it was a very drastic change for me. I also studied Spanish in college and through those classes I realized that my interest was really in language acquisition and development. I took a few classes in the school of education that centered on foreign language education, bilingualism, and ESL (English as a second language). I thought about going the ESL/TESOL route and then I found the SLP program at Teachers College, which has a bilingual focus. Luckily I got into the program! Also, I have always loved working with kids and knew I would definitely want to work in an educational setting down the road, which is what I do as a school-based SLP.

What is your proudest moment as a speech pathologist?
So hard to pick just one, but in general, it is always super rewarding to watch the little ones start to make significant progress, start to put more words together, be able to sit in their seats and pay attention for a longer amount of time. When kids gradually overcome serious behavior issues, that’s one of the most rewarding moments, even if it just means the kid stayed in his seat the entire time and took turns well. I would say one of my biggest successes was a little girl I worked with who was a selective mute, meaning she withheld language in certain situations due to anxiety and other psychological issues. I started with her at the beginning of the summer 2 years ago and after about 4 weeks of therapy, she started talking to me, mostly single words, but it was a huge breakthrough. Then I got to work with her at her preschool and I saw her make huge progress, which was partly me but also she had fantastic teachers, and a big part of it is just natural development. But by the end of the year she was consistently talking to her peers and familiar adults. She was still a little delayed in speech and language, but it was night and day from the year before.

What is the hardest part about your job?
When working with the little ones (preschool, kindergarten), for me one of the most challenging parts was behavior management. For a lot of kids who started at 3, they were not accustomed to having any sort of structure or needing to follow an adult’s directives. I had a few students who had really intense behavior issues and it could be physically and mentally draining. But when I made progress with these kids, it was one of the most rewarding experiences. Kids would run away, shut down, cry, hit me, because they weren’t used to having to wait or not immediately getting what they wanted. I had a really helpful workshop on behavior management at my old job and it changed the way I approached those types of kids.

How has becoming a speech pathologist changed your outlook on life/the world?

Well for one thing, I can’t listen to a kid speak in the same way – I find I’m always evaluating kids’ speech and language, even outside of work, which I guess is a good thing because it helps me to continue to fine-tune my clinical judgment. It has definitely changed the way I view people with disabilities and has made me more patient when I notice that someone has a hard time communicating something. It has also unfortunately opened my eyes to major problems that exist in the public school system, and big problems with over-referral of minority and diverse populations into Special Ed because there is not enough research and general awareness of the distinction between a cultural or linguistic difference and a developmental disorder or delay. It has definitely helped me to understand the way kids think; I feel like I really understand 3-5 year olds now, I am no longer afraid of dealing with a temper tantrum, and I do not judge any parent whose child is having a meltdown on the subway.

What advice would you give someone who is considering entering the field of speech pathology?

Keep an open mind, because there are so many different possibilities and directions within the field and sometimes people who think they know exactly what kind of population they want to work with end up finding something else they are passionate about, so don’t be afraid to try something new or a little scary,
especially as a student when you have someone there to help you. Maybe consider taking an intro to linguistics class before you start. Reach out to professors or current grad students, or practicing clinicians, maybe observe sessions if you can. I sat in on a couple of classes and talked to a few professors when I was deciding between programs. People are generally happy to share information. We’re all teachers, we like to talk about our work and to help.

That’s it for our interview with Theresa Donohue, but please check back here & on our social media pages for plenty more entertaining, informative, and useful content about our Profession of the Week, Speech Language Pathology!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

A Speech Pathologist Speaks: Part I

We have a special treat for you today to coincide with our Profession of the Week, Speech Language Pathology. We interviewed a current, practicing speech language pathologist (SLP) from the state of New York to ask her about the profession, her experiences, & what advice or tips she has for anyone currently considering pursuing speech pathology as a career. Our conversation was long & quite in-depth, so it has been split into 2 parts. Check back later this week for Part II. Now, without further ado, I’ll let our speech pathologist Theresa Donohue take it from here!

Could you describe speech pathology as a field in layman’s terms?

In general, we work with populations across the lifespan (birth through geriatrics) to improve people’s ability to communicate. With kids, we usually address developmental disorders/delays in speech and language, meaning the problem has existed since birth and they’re not developing at the same pace or as completely or “typically” as their peers. With adults, we typically treat speech and language disorders that have been acquired due to traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, neurological disorders, etcetera, but we also treat adults with developmental disabilities. Another aspect of the field is feeding and swallowing. We work with kids and adults who have developmental feeding issues (they can’t tolerate certain textures, they never learned to chew or swallow adequately) or swallowing issues that result from a neurological problem (stroke, TBI, etc.).

What is the process for becoming a licensed speech pathologist like?


Nowadays, a Masters is really considered the entry-level degree for the field. Typically Masters programs are full time and take 2-3 years depending on how many courses you’ve already taken, or if you have a bachelors in SLP. ASHA (the national organization for SLP) requires 400 hours of clinical work as part of the Masters. After you get your Masters, most people do a Clinical Fellowship, which is required for state licensure and your ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence. You also have to pass the Praxis exam, which is a national exam and required for license and certification. After you finish your CF (usually takes about 9 months to a year and you have to be supervised by a licensed and ASHA certified SLP), you can apply for your state license and ASHA Certifications. To work in a public school, you also need a teaching certificate, which you can apply for right after you finish the Masters. In NY it’s called a TSSLD (Teacher of Students with Speech and Language Disabilities). I also have a bilingual extension to my TSSLD, which means I am allowed to treat kids who have a mandate in their IEP (Individualized Education Program) for speech therapy in Spanish or bilingual Spanish/English. To get the teacher certificate you have to take 2 tests (plus a 3rd for the bilingual extension), get 50 hours of school-based clinical work during your Masters, and get your Masters from an approved program. Getting licensed is also a very expensive process, even after paying all that tuition.
What are some of the jobs or internships you personally have had in the speech pathology profession?

We have a clinic at Teachers College, which was my first actual experience as a clinician. I had an adult with aphasia and 2 kids with developmental speech/language disorder. I did three different externships as part of my Masters program: one at a preschool in the Bronx for students with mild-moderate developmental disabilities; one at Jersey City Medical Center (inpatient: mostly adult bedside speech and swallow evaluations, plus NICU feeding; and outpatient: mostly pediatric developmental speech and language, some ASD, some outpatient post-stroke adults), and one at Bellevue Hospital (outpatient pediatric, developmental speech and language, plus some at-risk birth-3 which was mostly parent counseling). I also did some international work during grad school. I worked at a school for the deaf in Bolivia and worked as part of a cleft palate surgical mission in Colombia (Blog from the trip can be found here).
In terms of jobs, I did my Clinical Fellowship at Premium Therapy Speech Services, which is a private practice in Inwood. I saw almost exclusively preschool students (which I LOVED) through CPSE (Committee for Preschool Special Education), which is part of the Department of Education. So these kids were getting their DOE mandated special ed speech services, just at an outside practice or agency with a private contractor (me) since they weren’t in public school yet. I also worked at 2 Headstart programs in Washington Heights as a private contractor, through this same private practice. Now I work at PS. 132 in Washington Heights as a DOE employee. My school is K-5 and it is a community school, which means it serves general education students and special ed students with mild-moderate needs. I have about 30 students on my caseload right now that I see individually and in small groups.


Is helping others a big part of your job? Can you give some examples?

Yes it’s pretty much the most important part. Right now I work in a public school. The educational model of SLP is to help kids with speech and language impairments to access grade-level curriculum. Basically I identify their deficits in speech and language and try to give them strategies and practice to help overcome those deficits as they relate to what they are learning in school. Everything I do with my students is meant to help them achieve academic goals by addressing their individual academic needs and to “close the gap” as much as possible between them and their non-disabled peers and help them reach their full potential, basically the fundamental principle of all special education services.

What is your average day like?

I work in a public elementary school right now, so I teach 8 half-hour speech therapy sessions every day. Usually the sessions take place in a separate classroom but sometimes I work with the kids in the classroom, depending on how it is specified in their IEP. The time during the school day when I’m not seeing kids directly is my “prep” time, where I plan for future sessions, create materials, write up progress reports, etc. I also write notes for each child I see after every session. In the morning I usually check in with teachers, create or find activities for my students, review IEPs, and catch up on administrative things. I also spend a bit of time after school doing this, since I’m a new teacher and everything takes me a little longer to get done. The students are in school from 8:10-3:30; I usually get there around 7:30 and try to leave by 4:30.


Thanks for reading & be sure to check back here later this week for Part II of our insightful interview with Theresa to learn more about why she became a speech pathologist & how it has changed her outlook on the world!

Monday, October 5, 2015

Middle School Teachers: The Challenge of Adolescence

Hi everyone & welcome back to the Enky Inc. blog! Today I'll be making a brief post to introduce our newest weekly feature that will be coming to all of our social media pages & blog sites: the Profession of the Week. In this recurring weekly series, we'll be profiling one of the 50+ professions that Enky is serving & give some interesting & important information about that particular occupation.

This week is our first Profession of the Week posting, where we'll be profiling Middle School Teachers. As today is World Teacher's Day, what better day to launch coverage of such an important profession to society at large. Middle School Teachers have one of the most difficult jobs of any of the professions Enky.com is covering, as these hard-working professionals must help children learn & cope with the realities of puberty & the other mental & physical changes that occur during the pre-teen years. What follows below is our first Profession of the Week (PotW) Infographic detailing more facts & figures about the amazing Middle School Teaching occupation. Please feel free to share this post & infographic anywhere you would like. Hope you enjoy & be sure to check back often for more entertaining & educational content from Enky.com!