Valerie LaFountain

To seek and maintain a full-time position that offers professional challenges utilizing interpersonal skills, excellent time management, and problem-solving skills. Versatile Special Education Teacher with a focus on individual student needs across academia and emotional development. Empathetic and accommodating in designing and implementing hands-on lessons, catering to diverse learning abilities. Proficient in constant communication, patience, and positive reinforcement in team efforts to deliver exceptional educational tools, fostering academic achievement.

Leadership/ Operations Management:

• Advised and collaborated with public school administration on best practices to warrant more successful student achievement with implementation of social-emotional learning.
• Collected and analyzed assessment data to curate personalized curriculums per student.
• Curated powerful, impactful presentations and dissected dense texts for special education students and educational staff.

Human Resources

• Effective Communication Skills
• Decision Making Skills
• Conflict Resolution
• Delegation Skills
• Employee Relations
• Recruitment
• Organizational Skills
• Data Entry

Research

• Completed dissertation on An analysis of the effects of teaching social-emotional learning skills in a K, 1st, and 2nd grade special day class (SDC) on executive functioning and cognitive skills in low socio-economic status students in California.
• Used Microsoft Excel to develop data tracking spreadsheets.
• Curriculum Development - Tailored educational curriculum to students with range of learning styles, disabilities, strengths and weaknesses. Developed innovative semester lesson plans and practical application exercises for special education classroom, increasing academic scores.
• Targeted Development - Met with parents and guardians to discuss children's progress and to determine priorities and resource needs.
• Curriculum Implementation - Taught reading, language arts, social studies, mathematics, science, art and physical education to pupils utilizing course of study adopted by the Board of Education.
• Employed social-emotional learning, executive functioning and applied behavioral; analysis techniques to encourage student cognitive functioning and build community within the classroom.
• Student Progress Conferences - Conducted conferences with parents, administrators, testing specialists and social workers to discuss educational plans designed to promote students' educational/social development.
• Data Organization - Organized academic files and assessment scores of caseload to implement IEP goals and strengthen areas of needs for potential inclusion into the general education setting.
• Student Motivation - Developed motivational factors with a tiered reward system that increased student engagement and academic outcomes.