WELCOME!
Hello Everyone!
My name is Susan Oelkers and this is my third year working as a Resource Teacher at McKinley School. I have been working for the North Bergen School District for the past 33 years, working in every school from the PreK to the North Bergen High School.
I love children of all ages and have a great rapport with them. However, my true passion is teaching the little ones how to read, via the structure of systematic phonics instruction and phonemic awareness. Additionally, it is my pleasure to instruct students on all grade levels who find reading to be an arduous task, and who may need extra support with phonics, phonemic awareness, automaticity and reading fluency. I am able to accomplish this via the Sonday System Approach, which is one of the many branches of phonetic constructs under the Orton-Gillingham Method (the grandfather of teaching children with dyslexia, as well as other reading disabilities, how to read and manipulate written language).
This year it is my honor and privilege to be working with both the second grade and third grade resource students. My second graders receive Pull-out Replacement (POR) services with me in the area of Language Arts Literacy (LAL). This incorporates grammar, reading skills, and writing. For the students who really struggle with reading fluency, phonics, and phonemic awareness, I take them for additional, individualized instruction, utilizing the Sonday System. My third grade students receive in-class support for both Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy. I work diligently trying to make learning fun, inspiring curiosity and enthusiasm, as well as offering encouragement and helping to build my students´ self-esteem.
I love teaching and experience great joy when learning. I have often been referred to as a “Life-long Learner,” which I must agree is a fairly accurate description. Being a person with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder myself, I am able to empathize and relate to the frustration experienced by my students. Nonetheless, I feel I am living proof of not allowing a disability to determine what one wishes to accomplish. Hence, I have consummated various degrees, as well as several certifications from the following Universities:
William Patterson University
- BA in Elementary Education (Certification K-8) 1991
- BA in Psychology (Certification 5-9) 1991
Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Orton-Gillingham - 2 Year Program (Certification K-12) 2005
- IMSLEC Certification - 2 Year Program (International Multi Sensory Language Education Council) 2005
- Teacher of the Handicapped (Certification K-12) 2007
- MA in Students with Disabilities (Certification K-12) 2009
- Orton-Gillingham Teacher (Certification K-12) 2017
- Certified Dyslexia Practitioner 2017
- Certified Dyslexia Therapist 2017
Montclair State University
- Supervisor (Certification K-12) 2012
