Ruth Terrell has been a special education teacher at Berclair Elementary since 2016. When Terrell’s daughter was in the third grade in legacy MCS (Memphis City Schools) in 2001, she knew that she needed to further her education to help her daughter with her studies.
Terrell enrolled in Shelby State to begin her teaching career. “Ironically, I wanted to teach general education,” she says, “but I believed I was chosen to teach special education.”
As per the U.S. Dept. of Education, each public school child who receives special education and related services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP is designed to be a truly individualized instruction plan for each kid, and involves parents as well as school personnel as needed.
Terrell believes in hands-on learning techniques for her students and is driven to ensure that each kid reaches their full potential. She sets high standards for herself and her students. “I use accommodations and modifications according to their IEP, but I also group them in ways they can learn from their peers,” she says. “I incorporate many hands-on learning games. They interactively use the smartboard. Some students participate with their general education peers in school activities. We went into the community on trips for life skills and restaurant etiquette, and we created simple recipes in class before the pandemic.”
Teaching is a superpower, and Terrell has embraced and honed her superpower. “I pray for strength daily to help my students be successful,” she says. “Teaching is a calling, and I know that my purpose is helping others, no matter their disability, to see that they can do all things if they believe it and work hard to achieve it.
“To many people, I teach disabled students, but I am here to set the record straight,” Terrell continues. “I teach students with disabilities. They are children first and foremost. I instill in my students that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to do. We all are unique and different in our own way.”
Terrell’s classroom motto is “I Can … Achieve My Goals, Be Successful, Behave, and Learn.” “At the beginning of each school year, I tell my students that we both have a job in this classroom,” she says. “My job is to teach them, and their job is to learn. If we both stay positive and give our very best, then we will get positive results. My students are always on different academic levels due to the type of classroom that I teach in at school.”
Terrell finds her overall experience as a special education teacher to be rewarding, fun and exciting, scary at times, and most importantly, fulfilling. “I have seen children grow academically, socially, and improve in behavior in my classroom,” she says. “My students have helped me as I have helped them to gain more knowledge and appreciate each day of learning. I would say the best part of teaching is knowing that I have made a positive difference in the lives of the students I have taught in the past, and am making a positive difference currently for the students that I now teach."
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