• 

  Education Advocate for All

  by Robin Duke

  January 3rd, 2026

Hello World!
I am excited to share with you my thoughts on education, advocating for all and leadership! I have been in education for 30+ years as a regular education teacher, special education teacher, instructional coach, process coordinator, principal and director of special services. I have always focused on student needs to drive my teaching and frame how I wanted to grow as a leader in a district level role. I have grown in many ways and am ready to start documenting my thoughts on what I have learned as I have maneuvered my own learning for the benefit of others. I will start with small blogs of just my learning, but might recommend articles and books to support what I have learned. If you have questions you would like addressed, I would love to receive emails to address in this blog platform. It’s a new year, so let’s combine our knowledge and empathy for others to strengthen our advocating skills for your child, your students or just yourself!

Let’s start at the very beginning…graduation from college. When I graduated, I had no thoughts of teaching special education. I was going to be a Kindergarten teacher for those sweet little babies that needed me to teach them how to read, write and do math. So, the job search began…although I had a stellar resume and experience level, I did not get offered a teaching position after graduation. In the early 90’s, getting a teaching position was pretty competitive…everyone was going into teaching. My first introduction into public education was as a paraprofessional in an Early Childhood Special Education classroom. Needless to say I was bummed, but let me tell you I learned so much that year. The different needs of each student was such a blessing to me and my understanding of how to educate children with extreme differences from their peers. At first, I was so intimidated that I did not have what it takes to support them and I even thought I might make a negative impact on their learning. I needed a support system, enter the teacher Stephanie…she was so amazing at teaching me how to differentiate for our students. Never once did I feel like a paraprofessional, we worked the classroom in workshop fashion and I was in charge of lesson planning language lessons for student’s with no language or hearing. It was a challenge but oh how did that learning help me move forward as a regular education teacher. I was ready to take on the differentiation world before it was even a thing in the regular classroom. Personal Tip – planning lessons for every child’s disability proactively addressing frustration and possible behaviors is worth the extra time.

Next Up – How ECSE changed my ideas about teaching?