Knowing how to teach outside of the box can make all the difference to a young mind
By T. LoPresti
On Thursday morning, September 4th at 8:00 am, Jennifer Cacace ready with her magenta pen, greets her brand-new 4th grade students for science class. As each student walks in the classroom, she offers them a breakfast before they start their day.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” said Cacace. “This is especially true for children with learning disabilities.”
Each day brings a different opportunity for Cacace to teach the young, impressionable minds of some of New York City’s Special Education Students. She goes into work every day with her lesson prepared, but never knows what kind of teaching day she’ll be faced with. No matter what though, she makes sure that her students leave each day with an education.
Cacace works for a District 75 NYC Public School, which educates special needs students with both intellectual and behavioral disabilities. She teaches kindergarten through 5th grade Science.
Knowing that these students need more help than most, Cacace tries to make each lesson fun. She makes sure to incorporate lots of hands-on science experiments to keep the children engaged and interested in learning the curriculum.
“A lot of our students are intellectually challenged,” said Cacace. “Teaching them life skills along with academics is fundamental.”
Not only does she teach them science, she teaches them health. From the basics about germs and hygiene, to the more complex subjects like HIV and AIDS, Cacace teaches these students much more than academics. She helps prepare them to live fully functional adult lives.
Teaching these students things such as, how to wash their hands, or how to blow their noses, are just some of the ways Cacace is preparing her students for their future. Throughout her lessons, she makes sure to incorporate things such as, respect, manners, and honesty.
The students she teaches are not only academically challenged, but also have a great deal of behaviors that Cacace has to work through on a daily basis. Teaching them can be a challenge and she is often met with defiance and resistance. The students she teaches know they are struggling and often times want to give up.
Cacace is well prepared to teach special education students after receiving her Masters in Special Education from CSI in 2002. Her mother, Maria Cacace, also graduated with a Masters in Special Education from CSI. Equipped with the hands-on experience, M. Cacace was able to help her daughter achieve success in the special education field.
Seeing her mother’s gratification for the work she was doing every day to help her students succeed has inspired Cacace to embark on the same career path. Already instilled with the knowledge of what these students face in their lives, she knew she was ready and willing to help the future generation to succeed.
“I was very enthusiastic about teaching special education,” said M. Cacace. “Seeing me enjoy it so much is what inspired Jennifer to follow in my footsteps.”
Working every day with special education students can be very rewarding but it also comes with different kinds of lows. Teaching these students to succeed isn’t for the faint of heart. Cacace knows that even though she gives her all to teach these students every day, not every day will be a successful one. More often than not, Cacace’s students struggle. Not only academically, but emotionally and behaviorally.
Being able to help her students work through their behaviors and emotions to actually learn academic material is one of her greatest gifts.
“A sharpened pencil is a sharpened mind,” said Cacace. “Being able to teach these students differently is what makes me love coming to work every day.”
