Dr. Ashlea Rineer-Hershey

What courses are you currently teaching and what are you most proud of about those courses?

I currently teach SPED 432: Interventions in the Content Areas. This course is in the Professional Semester during the semester before student teaching. I love teaching this course because it is full of hands-on and practical research-based strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners in a classroom. This is the perfect class for students to take the semester before student teaching.
I also teach a course called SPED 625: Instructional Strategies for Students with Mild & Behavioral Needs. This course is taught online at the graduate level. It gives students who are already teachers or are working towards becoming a teacher a great background in instructional approaches to reaching the students in the classroom who may be struggling. Topics like differentiated instruction and co-teaching are covered.

What scholarly/service projects are you working on and what are you most proud about those projects?

Right now, I am serving as the Coordinator for the CPAD program. CPAD stands for Community Programs for Americans with Disabilities. The students who enroll in this program are interested in working with individuals with disabilities but do not want to teach in the PK-12 classroom. I am working in conjunction with other faculty in making improvements to this program and increasing enrollment. This would be the project that I most excited about right now. I really feel that there is a need in our communities for individuals who are skilled and knowledgeable in working with individuals with disabilities outside of the school setting. I believe that special education does not end when I child leaves the public school system.

What student success stories can you share?
I think my greatest success stories have been when I was supervising my students in the Fall while they were out in their field placements at the end of the semester. I get so excited when I see my students out in the classroom implementing what I have taught them. It is great to see them excited and the kids learning and having fun.

What do you do for fun during time off/school break?
I enjoy spending time outdoors and traveling with my family. My husband and I have a young son and daughter and they love learning and exploring new places with us. I really enjoy skiing in the winter as well.

What do you like best or appreciate most about Slippery Rock?
I love the students and the faculty that I work with at SRU. The special education faculty has been very welcoming and supportive since I joined the department in the fall 2013. The students are fantastic as well. They are eager to work hard and learn the skills to make them the best educators out there. I feel very confident sending out students out into classrooms because they are so driven and hard working.

Dr. Robert Snyder

What courses are you currently teaching and what are you most proud of about those courses?
I currently teach the Pk-4 Science methods course (Instructional Strategies for Science and Technology) along with science courses in the online Math and Science Master's Degree program. I am most proud and excited about the resources available for the students in the methods classes. The new science room has two Smart Boards, a 30 unit iPad station, along with every major resource science kit available. Our students truly get to excel in teaching science content and developing competency with the latest technology. With regards to the graduate courses, technology has also allowed for online courses that have a "classroom feel". Both myself and the students in the courses are able to post secure videos of science demonstrations and activities for the class to collaborate and respond to with feedback and comments. The enrollment is growing and we now have senior level students enrolling in the courses, so that when they graduate with their Bachelor's Degree, they already have anywhere from 6-12 credits of the graduate program completed as well.


What scholarly/service projects are you working on and what are you most proud about those projects?
Currently, I am working with Dr. Gordon and Dr. Katsafanas to develop an International Track for education majors. This will become a choice for students to help expand their global education and will prepare them for a more rich experience when selecting a student teaching experience in Ireland or Mexico. I am also working with a great team of colleagues across the College of Education to develop a new Master's Degree program in Technology for Online Educational Instruction. This program will help teachers become better prepared to teach in cyber and online classroom environments. Personally, I am developing new applications of technology to aid teachers with differentiating instruction in their classrooms. I am also developing new STEM science based activities for early childhood teachers to use in their classrooms. I have presented on both of these topics at education conferences this past semester in Charlotte, North Carolina and Wakiki, Hawaii.


What student success stories can you share?
I have been so proud of all of the students who have become members of the National Science Teachers Association Student Chapter on campus, which I have assisted as faculty advisor. I have watched our students excel in professionalism for each of the last 7 years, while they have annually helped Girl Scouts earn science badges, assistEd the Carnegie Science Center with programs, and developed novel science activity ideas and presented them to in-service teachers at the state science teachers conference each year.


What do you do for fun during time off/school break?
I love to exercise and be active. I have completed the P90x, P90x3, Insanity, and Focus T25 programs and am currently one month into P90x3. I also look forward to playing church league softball along with my wife for St. Peter's Parish. My wife and I also love to golf as often as we can.


What do you like best or appreciate most about Slippery Rock?
Slippery Rock is a very close knit community with so many caring people! I have been on this campus first as an undergraduate student taking courses from 1986-1992, as a graduate students from 1994-1997, and now as a faculty member from 2000 to the present. There is no better place to be a student or a faculty member! I will highlight one example. When I was activated by the US Army to deploy to Baghdad, Iraq in 2003-2004, the students in my courses created a hard cover book, where each student filled out a page. Each wrote a personalized message of encouragement. When I received it, I was absolutely amazed by the caring of this SRU community!

Rebecca Badgett

What courses are you currently teaching and what are you most proud of about those courses?

It's always a pleasure to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses, and each is accompanied by a sense of pride. Currently, I am teaching two undergraduate sections of Developmental Disorders and two on-line graduate courses: Graduate Practicum and Developmental Disabilities.

The undergraduate course Developmental Disorders is conducive to the incorporation of assistive technology, along with the opportunity for teaching a multiplicity of hands-on skills. Years of teaching this course have enhanced my delivery methodologies; and the changing arrays of students have supported my excitement for teaching.

Ideally, on-line classes maintain their compression of geographical distance while simultaneously providing the warmth of interpersonal relations that typify traditional classrooms. In an attempt to achieve this synthesis, assigned videos and their ensuing reflections, along with the reading and critical analyses of related novels, are integral components of my on-line classes, as is the frequent and uninhibited flow of student comments.

What scholarly/service projects are you working on and what are you most proud about those projects? 

In collaboration with Dr. Rob Bost, I am continuing a document-based chronology of SRU's Department of Special Education ranging from 1978 - Present. As departmental archivist, I welcomed and thoroughly enjoy the compilation of this documentary. Additionally, I am assisting in the design of a new course for our proposed on-line doctoral program.

What student success stories can you share?

Having served almost 36 years as an SRU faculty member, I am privileged to have been associated with a broad diversity of students. Unsurprisingly, virtually every time I visit a surrounding school district or intermediate unit, I experience the pleasure of a renewed relationship with a former student. Moreover, many of these professionals have moved into administrator roles. Regardless, however, of their respective positions, these educators demonstrate a high level of professionalism that reflects pride on our department and university.

What do you do for fun during time off/school break?

When apart from teaching, I'm as enthusiastically engaged in organized leisure or home life as I am in my profession. Yet, whether it's traveling (Especially to Disney: I am a zealot), outdoor and/or interior decorating, reading and discussion, dining in or out, each is preceded and followed by detailed organization. I don't believe that my family or friends consider me rigid; because if we're organized, we get more done and have more fun, this time and the next.

What do you like best or appreciate most about Slippery Rock?

Between my time as an undergraduate student and as a faculty member, I have been involved in SRU for about 2/3 of my life. My tenure here has been a progression of mostly high professional and social plateaus; and I am blessed by my affiliation with wonderful people who made and continue to make SRU a great place for study and work.