Coaches

In her 21 years as a special educator in the Bronx, Kim has found that context, connection and culture are essential elements of math learning, especially for students with learning variations. She brings her love of math and joy in helping students reach “ah ha” moments to all of her work. Kim is a National Board Certified Teacher who holds an MS in Early Childhood Special Education from Bank Street College of Education and a BA in Music from Smith College.

Kim has been the special educator in first, third and fourth grade Integrated Co Teaching (ICT) classrooms, as well as a Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS) teacher. Most recently she has been providing targeted small-group instruction in math to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. 

Because students with learning variations particularly benefit from meaningful contexts, Kim has always incorporated project-based learning into her teaching. For four years she coached her fifth graders as they ran a school store twice a year, including interviewing local business owners, applying for jobs, conducting market research, figuring out markups as a percentage of cost-of-goods, gross and net profits, and deciding on a community organization to which to donate a percentage of profits. She has also run a multi-age science of cooking club, used music to teach fractions, and enlisted students to help her find the best deals on yarn for projects.

Kim has worked closely with classroom teachers, speech therapists, occupational and physical therapists, and English as a New Language (ENL) teachers, as well as with school counselors, to ensure that students’ needs are met. As a peer coach she has helped colleagues navigate all facets of their co-teaching relationships. She has partnered with the math coach to provide professional development for staff. Kim also works closely with families to ensure that they are part of their children’s education and to help them navigate the special education bureaucracy. 

After serving for several years as an adjunct instructor at Bank Street College of Education, where she has taught graduate-level courses in math instruction as well as in developmental variations, in the Fall of 2021 Kim transitioned into a full-time position at Bank Street where she serves as an advisor to students doing supervised field work as well as continuing to teach classes.