James Leal

902 Barrington Ct
Louisville, KY 40207
502-713-7329
Email- jl8fe24e@westpost.net
Objective: To find an educational opportunity where I can contribute to making c
hange and significant impacts on the lives of students.

Experience:
06/10- Present Ha Learning Strategies Inc. /Louisville, KY
Director of Research & Development
Developing business strategies and creating marketing models for educational pro
ducts and services. This assignment involves conceptualizing and documenting the
companies product platforms, and implementing and controlling project managemen
t and administration functions.
08/09-06/10 Jefferson County Public Schools/Louisville, KY
Special Education Teacher (Self Contained EBD)
Frederick Law Olmsted Academy North (All Boys Public School)
Providing instruction in core content curriculum for 6th Grade Math, Science, La
nguage Arts, and Social Studies. This assignment involves extensive resource pl
anning and implementation of specially designed instruction and gender specific
teaching strategies to address the educational and behavioral needs of the 4 stu
dents that are assigned to my caseload for 4 blocks a day. These responsibilitie
s include:
Academic goal and behavioral goal monitoring, which includes FBA, BIP modificat
ions and applications as well as the creating of new targeted IEP goals as neede
d, designing and instructing daily CARE for Kids (School-wide Social Skill Devel
opment Program),
Extensive behavioral data collection and analysis done daily/weekly,
Designing and application of specific social skill lessons aimed at addressing
the variant of emotional behavior disorders amongst my students.
Additional responsibilities include facilitating and contributing to:
Weekly professional development in all 4 content areas Math, Science, Language
Arts, Social Studies,
Weekly team collaboration meetings,
Weekly Hydroplane club sponsorship
Weekly behavioral coaching sessions.
Additionally, I hosted a unique after-school Project Based Learning initiative t
hat focused on instructing students on designing, implementing and strengthening
core content skills thru the use of a Hydroplane boat. The project was constru
cted and tested for performance enhancement by using scientific reasoning and Ma
th skills. By journaling the process, students refined theyre writing and Langua
ge Arts abilities. The addition of hydroplane history in America enabled student
s to experience Social Studies referencing. The end result of this Project Based
Learning initiative was a competitive race against peers and other educational
institutions where students had the opportunity to hone their Social Skill Set t
hrough a practical application type curriculum.

09/08-06/09 Jefferson County Public Schools/Louisville, KY

Special Education Teacher (Collaboration/Resource)
Frederick Law Olmsted Academy North (All Boys Public School)
Instructing 6th Grade Connected Math for 4 class blocks. This assignment include
d being the teacher of record for one class block, which was a Resource Special
Education class. Additionally, had 5 male students and my duties consisted of pl
anning differentiated instruction and implementing and maintaining a learning en
vironment that allowed students to engage in reflective and self-assessment/acco
untable learning opportunities?
My other 3 blocks were in a collaborative setting where I:
Teamed with a Math core content teacher for 3 blocks,
Had 13 Special Education students mainstreamed into these 3 classes which range
d from 19 to 25 students in each class,
Was directly responsible for my caseload, which entailed developing BIP and IEP
goals and maintaining data collection on these students.
My collaboration duties entailed the designing and implementing of lesson modifi
cations and the application of individual student learning accommodations, as we
ll as incorporating other specially designed instructional needs for the other S
pecial Education students. Each class consisted of 8-10 students per class block
. These strategies were implemented thru working in a team teaching collaborativ
e design model.
06/07-08/08 Jefferson County Public Schools/Louisville, KY
Substitute Teacher/Full-time
ECE Long Termed from 11/07-3/08 at Western High School.
While working as an Assistant Manager at Walgreens in both Phoenix, Arizona and
Louisville, KY, I made time to substitute teach. I am a firm believer in respec
t and incorporate that into all my teaching methods and instructional approaches
. I engage and cater to students abilities but believe strongly in challenging t
hem constantly. I facilitate students with flexibility and creativity through le
sson planning and integration of technology and other available resources.
In addition, I was fortunate to have concluded a long term ECE resourced teacher
of record assignment, where I designed complete unit lesson plans geared toward
JCPS Core Contents Curriculum and the individual needs of 31 LD and BD students
. I updated students BIPs and IEP goals, and implemented my own BMP and CMP pla
ns with much success. Also attended and offered input in IEP meetings and regula
rly attended ECE meetings and PD days.
02/07-2/08 Walgreens, Louisville, KY Assistant Manager
02/04 to 02/07 Walgreens, Phoenix, AZ Assistant Manager
As an assistant store manager, I instructed and trained work staff to improve op
erational performance. These training assignments included:
Increasing sales,
Setting merchandise,
Providing exceptional customer service, and
Resolving financial inquiries.
My duties also encompassed the Pharmacy area where I focused on filling prescrip
tions, organizing customer informative materials, and maintaining correspondence
with healthcare providers to aide in the resolution of patient inquiries.
In 2007, I transferred from Walgreens in Phoenix to Walgreens in Louisville, and
began substitute teaching in Louisville.
09/05-02/06 Deer Valley Unified School District/Phoenix, AZ Substitute Teacher-P
art-time
Instructed strictly Middle school and High school levels, assignments and subjec
ts varied but were mostly in the Humanities and Sciences areas. Also, instructed
basic subjects at a charter school in the district that mainly served the local
Native American community.
11/03-08/05 Teachers on Call/Phoenix, AZ Substitute Teacher-Part-time
Instructed High School and Middle School levels, subjects were mainly Social Stu
dies and Sciences. Also completed numerous assignments for the Arizona Departmen
t of Juvenile Corrections, these jobs consisted of instruction of basic skills i
n Reading, Math, Science, and Writing to incarcerated youths.
05/97-11/03 Eastman Kodak/New York, NY Customer/Operations Representative
This position focused mainly on Operational Performance Enhancement, working clo
sely with the sales and marketing divisions, and the customer service team. We
concentrated on improving work-flow through specifically designed corporate stra
tegies. Also, I was responsible for tracking daily tasks, recording data and ana
lyzing outcomes. This required the use of several computer programs to accomplis
h and maintain accuracy. The primary software package was on SAP and its adaptat
ions. Additionally, we had weekly meetings and worked in cohesion with corporate
trainers to ensure the best ideas and practices were being met with all within
the division.
Strengths:
*Strong desire to influence the lives of special needs children through Special
Education
*Ability and willingness to customize my educational offerings to meet the uniqu
e needs of each student
*Practical work experience in corporate America brings real world examples to st
udent education
*Ability to work as a team with other teachers, staff, and administrators to cre
ate an exceptional learning experience for students.

Education:
Spalding University-Masters in Education/Special Education/Learning Behavior Dis
order. (2009)
New Horizons Computer Learning Center-Certificates in Windows O/S, Microsoft Wor
d, Excel, DOS, A+, C+, PC Assembly. (2003)
Queens College of the City University of New York-Bachelors of Arts/Communicatio
ns/Liberal Arts. (1997)

Certifications & Affiliations:

Learning Disabilities of America-Active Member and Volunteer
Council of Exceptional Children-Active Member and Volunteer
Children and Adults with Hyper Activity Deficit Disorder
Attention Deficit Disorder Association
Spalding University-Hydroplane Design and Planning Team
Christian Educators of America
Kentucky Educators of America
National Educators of America
Jefferson County Teachers Association
E-Mentor Online Writing Instructional Coach-Jefferson County Public Schools/Vir
tual School/Valley High School
Southeast Christian Church-Member and Volunteer
St. Matthews Baptist Church Member and Volunteer