Advocating for Success: Columbus Special Education Teacher Overcomes Obstacles, Works Collaboratively to Serve All Students

Amanda Gronewold

Every child can learn, regardless of the challenges they face.

This philosophy guides Kristin Johnson, a special education teacher who knows firsthand about powering through difficult circumstances in the classroom. The inclusion teacher at Columbus Municipal School District’s Sale Elementary School (SES) has dealt with chronic hearing loss since childhood.

“I got my first pair of hearing aids when I was in the fourth grade,” she said, “and it was just something that I learned to adapt to.”

Adapting as a teacher means Johnson positions herself so she can read the speaker’s lips. She also reminds people to speak more loudly as needed. The face masks necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic hindered lipreading, making communication in the classroom even more challenging. Johnson said it has been a struggle, but her students, colleagues and administration have been understanding.

“I've done it so many times my entire life that I don't even think [of it as] compensating or accommodating myself. It just becomes natural for me,” she said. “[During mandatory mask-wearing phases last academic year, there were] several times where I asked the kids just to go over to the other side of the room, pull down their mask so that I can read their lips and then had them pull it back up and come back.”

Despite the communication challenges, growing up with hearing loss helped Johnson develop advocacy skills advantageous to her teaching career and beyond.

“I know how to advocate for people with disabilities because I have one,” said Johnson. “It's been my lifelong goal to continue to learn how I can serve the students and adults, too, so I can be their voice.”

Johnson (standing) helps two second graders with addition and subtraction through regrouping exercises.

Johnson said the communication frustrations she has experienced helped hone her patience and relate with her students, who often feel frustrated when struggling to grasp concepts. She stresses to all her students it is OK to need help and ask for it.

“I'm hoping that teaching them at that young age to advocate for themselves will help them once they get older, when I may not be there to advocate for them anymore,” Johnson said.

Dr. Aaron Lee, the principal of SES, vouched for Johnson’s dedication, describing her as a hard-working professional who is genuinely concerned about students’ well-being.

One way Johnson stands out among her peers, Lee said, is with her ability to assume a collaborative role with lead teachers when working with students in an inclusion setting.

“One of the struggles we often find with inclusion teachers is that in special education, some inclusion teachers really only tend to focus on the students that are on their caseload,” a practice, Lee said, that can cause inclusion students to be stigmatized.

Lee encourages the school’s general population and inclusion teachers to employ a coteaching strategy when working together, and Johnson excels at putting this into action with her fellow instructors. Lee even encourages other SES teachers to observe her in the inclusion setting.

“She's not just helping the students that she's assigned on her caseload, but she's also interacting with the teacher in the lesson or paraphrasing or rephrasing things that the teacher says in the lesson so that all students can get a better understanding,” he said.

A second grader at Columbus Municipal School District's Sale Elementary School (SES) writes out a word in shaving cream.

Marilyn Chandler, a fellow SES teacher, also commended Johnson’s collaborative approach to inclusion teaching and her passion for students.

“That's her greatest strength,” said Chandler. “She'll just take over, read and let me go do something else. She doesn't mind working with the entire class.”

Johnson also goes the extra mile in her classroom by creating an atmosphere that, based on students’ needs, can provide either calming or stimulating reactions. She allots most of her supply budget to providing flexible seating options, including stools, blow-up chairs, exercise balls and even a pool float.

She also installed a calm-down corner this year for students to have an escape when feeling stressed or triggered. There, in a portion of the room separated from the rest of the classroom by sheer curtains and lit softly with string lights, students can play with items and toys designed to help them mentally unwind.

“It's just a safe place,” Johnson said.

Kristin Johnson, a special education teacher at SES, transformed part of her classroom into a calming corner where overwhelmed students can go to regain their composure.

The lighting quality in Johnson’s whole room is important to her. It came equipped with standard fluorescent lighting, which can cause problems for children with autism. To combat this, she installed overhead light filters. She also tries to rely on just natural light as much as possible.

During the outbreak of the coronavirus, some of Johnson’s students attended school virtually and did not have access to the helpful amenities of her physical classroom. These students struggled to focus, Johnson said. To hold her students’ attention, she added interactive elements to her virtual lessons.

“I made PowerPoints with silly sentences and funny pictures,” she said. “They tried to figure out what the sentences say through the pictures.”

Johnson said building relationships with her students is her favorite part of teaching. Working at a smaller school, she said, facilitated those bonds.

“I get to have several of the same kids for multiple years, so I'm able to see their growth,” Johnson said. “I enjoy developing those relationships, and that helps me to be able to help them grow in ways that other places may not have.”