NAME:
Mrs. Kathy Michael
SCHOOL:
Scotlandville Magnet High School of Excellence
CLASS:
Room--Homeless so far
SCHOOL PHONE:
775-3715
Mrs. Michael is a 36 year veteran in the education field who has earned
30+ hours above a Master of Education degree. She has worked with students
ages 3 to 23. Mrs. Michael has teacher certifications in art for grades K to
twelve (she's also an artist), Visual Impairments-Blind and partially sighted
for grades K to twelve (she reads braille fluently) and teaching reading for
grades K to twelve. She currently acts as specialist and consultant for
students with visual impairments, a consultant for teachers of students with
multiple disabilities who have students with visual impairments in their
classrooms and a consultant for technology for students with visual
impairments/multiple disabilities.
She has experience in working with children with varied exceptionalities and
learning differences--which is her area of expertise, especially in the area
of reading and TEACHING THE WAY A CHILD LEARNS. She has
taught children with autism, dyslexia, orthopedic impairments, developmental
delays, special talents and other differences which may or may not accompany
visual impairments. She has taught in Tangipahoa Parish, the Louisiana School
for the Visually Impaired, Hillsborough County Schools in Florida and East
Baton Rouge Parish. She once had a class of deaf-blind children.
Mrs. Michael consults for about twenty-nine children in fourteen schools and
assists with technology for the students with visual impairments throughout
the parish. She procures large print and braille text and materials for
students based on their IEP and makes sure each student's teachers are
notified of any accommodations needed to "even the playing field" for children
with visual impairments as they learn in classrooms with their sighted peers.
Mrs. Michael is also certified in supervision of student teachers and child
search coordination. Because of her students with multiple disabilities, Mrs.
Michael is also familiar with a bit of sign language and sign language
modification.
Mrs. Michael's main web site URL: http://www.kathyskids.org and the
Mrs. Michael's message board URL http://mskathy.proboards30.com.
Mrs. Michael's blog URL http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com/.
Mrs. Michael is married to Mr. Michael for six years. She has one daughter
named Adrianne, two step daughters named Nicole and Angel and two grandsons--
Ezra and Isaac.
Outside of school, Mrs. Michael volunteers to work in children's ministry as
a Sunday school teacher for seven- and eight-year-olds, a Children's church
teacher for four- and five-year-olds and a Girl Scout Leader (life member)
for five- to eight-year-olds in a combination Daisy/Brownie Girl Scout Troop.
She also volunteers with Mr. Michael--which is how the couple met-- in the
Louisiana Chapter of the Kairos Prison Ministry International which serves the
Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. She is a mentor in the new Second
Chance mentoring program which helps East Baton Rouge Parish prison residents.
Each summer Mrs. Michael works with children with varied exceptionalities for
the Extended School Year program with a particular interest in learning
differences and autism.
Blindness, whether total or partial, is no excuse for not succeeding. Our
children with visual impairments will have to do things differently to
accomplish the same goals as sighted children but they WILL accomplish the
same goals. The class mission is to accomplish independence and productive
citizenship.