About Me
Email address:
catherine.mcwilliams@mnps.org
How long have you been at Sylvan Park:
This is my 7th year
How long have you been teaching:
This is my 25th year teaching Deaf/Hard of Hearing kids
Education and/or experience:
I taught for two years at the Florida School for the Deaf, after I graduated from the University of Tennessee. We moved to Colorado so that my husband could go to school. I taught for six years in a public school setting Colorado. I got my Masters at the University of Northern Colorado while I was there. Then I stayed home with my child for five years. We moved to Tennessee because our folks were sick and needed help. This is my 17th year teaching in Metro Davidson Count Public Schools. My daughter just graduated for college. I have a great multilevel class this year, with children at every grade level K-4.
Family, pets, etc.:
My husband of almost 39 years, Harry (Rocky), is a gunsmith at Franklin Gunshop and is also the gunsmith for Outdoor Life Network’s Shooting USA. My daughter Christina is a Belmont graduate in business and is getting a Masters in education. She has found that she likes working with kids. We have two dogs.
Favorite thing about working at Sylvan Park:
I like the inclusive atmosphere in the classrooms that really helps my students feel comfortable with their hearing peers. The Paideia program also helps them learn to express their thoughts verbally.
About Our Classroom
What is your classroom schedule for day/week?:
We follow the regular class schedules for each grade level. I work out with each teacher when each child comes to Hearing Resource to work on the IEP goals.
Goals for classroom, semester, or school year:
I want every hard of hearing student to achieve at as close to grade level as is possible for them. I want them to be able to express themselves verbally and in writing and read anything that would catch their interest or that they might need to know. I’d like to encourage life long learning.
Our students are separated into multilevel classes for Deaf and then for Hard of Hearing. Mrs. Reed teaches the Deaf class and I teach the Hard of Hearing students. Hard of Hearing students communicate with speech and use hearing aids and auditory trainers with microphones. Deaf students sometimes use amplification, but they communicate primarily with American Sign Language. American Sign Language is a visual language with different rules than English. Deaf children learn English as a second language. I have held class discussions on sign language and hearing loss for a few classes at Sylvan Park and would enjoy doing that more often.
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