Roxie Lanier was the SPED Director for the Fort Osage School District. She retired this summer after working in special education for thirty years, with seven of those years spent in Fort Osage School District. Unfortunately I was not present for her presentation so I did some research on Roxie to get a better understanding of her as a person and educator. I was happily surprised to see that she started her career working in the Belton School District as a SPED teacher. During my research, I stumbled upon an article that Roxie wrote in 2010 for the MO CASE Newsletter. Roxie wrote about how the right to leadership has to be earned and she gave readers seven guidelines to become a better leader. 1. Let go of your ego. 2. Become a good follower first. 3. Build positive relationships. 4. Work with excellence. 5. Rely on discipline, not emotion. 6. Make adding value to your goal. 7. Give your power away. I can tell that Roxie Lanier was an effective and passionate educator. …show more content…
Most people, when covered in cockleburs, would be annoyed, but George de Mestral, saw the situation in a different light. He was fascinated by the cockleburs ability to cling and aspired to know more. Instead of finding a way to prevent them, he searched for a purpose, and discovered Velcro. As educators it is our job to see our students unique purposes. Some maybe harder to see than others, but we must look beyond the surface. I ask myself, what are the cockleburs in my life and how can I see them in a more helpful way? As educators, do we view SPED students as cockleburs? Viewing their IEP’s, 504’s, accommodations, and modification as thorns burrowed in our classrooms or do we see them as opportunities to grow into better teachers. How can we see the Velcro in our