Heather Probasco

Background

About Heather Probasco

Within my 21 years of teaching, I have made a conscience effort to make my classroom welcoming and inviting to any and all students. I have taught at intercity schools, small rural schools, schools with low SES, and schools that have "good kids". Whatever the setting, you still need to make those connections, which I pride myself for doing.Within the last five years, I have gone from being a regular classroom teacher to an intervention teacher. Not only did the Pandemic bring new challenges, so did this change in classroom dynamics. I have gone from middle school students that were not able to write their names, to students that were reading at Pre-K to Kindergarten levels, from five classes and an Advocacy a day to 12 classes, from 90-100 students to 230+. These have not always been the best behaved, the politest, or the students that want to learn, but they get a new chance every day. The most rewarding part of the change is seeing their smiles, their parents' smiles, and to see how proud they are when they raise their reading scores, or they get praised/rewarded instead of constant stockpile of discipline referrals.Even though I have been nominated for Teacher of the Year, Master Teacher, have been awarded the Good Apple Award, seeing the lightbulb come on, the "Ah-ha" moments, and just knowing I was able to be a part of their education is the best award I could earn.