T 3

Contributed by Sandra Noojin

Hello, my name is Sandra Noojin, and it is very nice to meet you! I am a wife; a mother; an avid researcher of early childhood education and development; a passionate educator; and a lover of love and happy things. After earning a Masters Degree and certification in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from Columbia University in 2014, I spent the next four years, first, teaching preschool in Brooklyn, New York and, later, working as a Special Education Service Provider around the boroughs of New York City. As a preschool teacher, I taught students a high quality equal and equitable education; designed a curriculum that was culturally relevant; valued teaching a critical pedagogy; created individualized education plans and behavioral intervention plans; led inquiry based lessons; created differentiated lesson plans; taught using differentiated instruction; and designed subsequent lessons that were based on data from assessments and notes from observations. As a Special Education Service Provider, I created individualized academic and behavioral programs and worked with students one on one to foster their learning experiences in a home or inclusive classroom setting. I am the founder of and contributor to Happiness in Education.