Hello! I am super excited to introduce myself, I am Fran Martin, and I am a Special Education Teacher Self-Contained Elementary in Waterbury for students with special needs. I am starting the new journey of beginning a blog about special education because I have a passion for this subject area. I have been married now for 14 years and my husband and I have one child together. Our son’s name is Jason and he is 9 years old and is in the second grade. He is the love of our lives. I am 45 years old and have been teaching altogether for over 20 years. My passion to become a teacher started very early on when I was in the first grade and knew that I wanted to be a teacher. Since that time long ago I worked very hard to pursue a degree in teaching. I attended Western Connecticut State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a minor in English, from there I attended CREC the Capitol Region Education Council in Hartford to receive my certificate in special education. I then attended the University of Saint Joseph to pursue a master’s in special education. Currently, I am attending the University of Saint Joseph to earn a Sixth Year Degree in Literacy. My wish is to earn a PhD in the future. I want to start a blog because I am also pursuing a second career that will be part time in Special Education Advocacy. I am attending the National Association of NASET Special Education Teachers to receive a certificate to practice advocacy in Connecticut through online courses. I hope to be completed by the summer of this current year. My passion for special education began when I worked with a group of special needs students in Waterbury, elementary level and they were most diagnosed with emotional disturbance. I can remember that I was instantly drawn to them and remember really wanting to work with them and help them to overcome their struggles. So, I worked really hard to pursue that dream and became a special education teacher and got hired teaching the same students that I had worked with in the previous year. I love to help, and I believe in the social emotional learning approach. SEL otherwise known as social emotional learning makes a difference. We know this from research, which demonstrates that an education that promotes SEL has a positive impact on a wide range of outcomes, including academic performance, healthy relationships, mental wellness and more. My goal is to earn a PhD in Social Emotional Learning in the future because I believe that strongly in it. I wanted to create a special education blog in the hopes that I would be able to help families who are having difficulties with finding someone to advocate for their child or children. In so many cases families can become stuck in the sense that they don’t know all of their rights and so when it comes time to go to a PPT they are forced to follow what the school recommends because they have no other options. Families tend to face different challenges with gaining support for their children and having a great partnership with their schools. Special Education advocates are able to seek these resources for families, ultimately helping them to receive the best transitions from secondary education to adulthood. I want to be that person that is there to help advocate and so my hope is that with the help of my blog entitled Skies of Blue that I will be able to reach families and help in supporting them and giving them information that they might not be able to find on their own otherwise. I am really excited to begin this new chapter and journey in my life with all of you. I hope that you will enjoy my pieces and that you can get something out of them. Please if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment down below and I will be more than happy to help you.

Bye for now!
Fran