From Student-Teaching to Full-Time: Isabella Baker ’25 Was More Than Ready to Teach

By Judith Kelliher

When Isabella Baker ’25 was an undergraduate student in Elementary and Special Education at Springfield College, a running theme throughout her courses was how to create a positive learning experience for students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. That’s great news for her students at Northvail Elementary School in Parsippany, N.J., where she is a special education and co-teacher.

“The students at my job speak over 60 different languages and come from all around the world. I am very thankful to have taken the Sheltered English Instruction course at Springfield College,” she said. “The techniques I learned have been invaluable to supporting my students.”

When applying for teaching jobs, Baker’s experiences at Springfield College helped her stand out from other applicants. In particular, that Sheltered English Instruction course was a huge selling point.

“I was asked about my experience with multilingual learners at every interview, and I was always excited to share my experiences from Springfield College. All of the interviewers were impressed with this endorsement and said it set me apart from other candidates,” Baker said.

In addition, she found that interviewers were also intrigued by all of the field experiences she had listed on her resume, including student teaching from kindergarten through fifth grade and special education in first through third grade, all of which were at different schools (urban, suburban, charter, private, and public), dating back to her first year at the College.

Baker’s student-teaching opportunities during the undergraduate program prepared her for the variety of responsibilities she has at Northvail, noting that her current role as a full-time special education teacher is very similar.

“Many of the projects I had during my student teaching have translated to the professional responsibilities that I have now. For example, I have a student growth objective and a professional development plan for my job” Baker said. “We had to create similar plans during student teaching, so I felt confident to complete these assignments for my job.”

One of Baker’s favorite classes at Springfield College was Children’s Literature, through which she learned how to pick books to share with the class, and had the opportunity to read several different genres. Baker was able to intentionally choose stories that showed people from all different backgrounds, to ensure that all students could see themselves and see a new perspective.

At Northvail, Baker’s days are varied—and busy. Some days, she’s co-teaching second-grade math and English Language Arts, or working with small groups of students, or even one-on-one instruction. Other days, she’s modifying the grade level content for her students and provides accommodations to best support each individual’s needs. 

“Every day, I provide the modifications and accommodations for my students in kindergarten, second, and third grade. Co-teaching looks different every day, and looks different depending on the teacher I am working with,” she said. “Being a special education teacher means having a very flexible role depending on the lesson of the day and the student needs.” 

Where is the future of education heading? Baker believes technology is a huge topic in education right now. Many of the trainings she attends revolve around how to best integrate technology and artificial intelligence (AI) into the classroom. During her undergraduate classes, they discussed the benefits and drawbacks of AI. They also learned about different kinds of assistive technology that students can utilize as a part of their accommodations, such as the benefits of voice-to-text and read-aloud options. 

“Special education is also very data-driven. Through my courses at SC and my student teaching experience, I learned how to monitor progress and interpret data,” Baker said. “I really found it insightful to learn different assessment strategies and the bias that can exist. Thinking critically about data is very important, and SC definitely prepared me to be thoughtful about the data I collect.”