All about me ...

Me with Ginger

Hello – my name is Mary Valenta and always considered myself a reluctant social media person, at least for my personal life. As everyone seemed to be obsessed with it, I would try it and then completely lose track of time with nothing to show for it. And now I’m starting a blog!?

This blog is for one of my courses as a graduate student at Dominican University on my way to becoming a teacher. Ironically, the course is "Integrating Technology into the Curriculum." I'm changing careers from the business world.  My passion for teaching finally won out – somewhat stubbornly.

I’ve been surrounded by teachers all my life. First as a student myself. Then as a parent of two girls. My oldest was born with Chromosome 18q – Syndrome. That meant early intervention (and teachers) when she was only 14 months old. Yikes! Less than two months after that, my second daughter was born. Yikes again!! It was like having twins.

My daughters - personal photo

It’s been quite a ride, with all the highs, lows, and unexpected turns of a roller coaster. Now, the roller coaster is pretty much on auto pilot as hey are both mastering independence. Who knew? I could have never predicted this outcome.

I have five siblings. My two sisters are both in education – one started teaching art and the other special education. Guess who I leaned on the most? Yep, the “Special Ed” sister for many years. In fact, I wore out my welcome – she had to practice some tough love on me. She actually fired me! How does that happen? Well, it was one of the best things she ever did … I had to hear the words “you don’t need me for all this Mary, you have the answers yourself. At this point, you know this stuff better than I do.”

It turns out she was right. Now I see that I actually do know more than I ever gave myself credit for, at least in this one small niche of parenting and special ed that I’ve been living in.

I still have an interest in the world of sales and marketing that I worked in for so many years. I will always use my creative thinking and selling skills in one way or another. Believe it or not, it was those very skills that helped my parenting. After all, who is our toughest customer if not our own children?