On a recent Monday morning, Ilse Faz and one of her reading groups practiced sounding out words. They finger stretched each sound, speaking each letter of the word, with one catch: they did this activity while pretending to be monsters.
“That’s an awesome monster voice!” Faz exclaimed to her student, complimenting his technique.
Faz and her students play off each other’s excitement in this session, using techniques she learned studying at Orton Gillingham Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE). At the end of the 30-minute session, they had practiced their sounds with two different methods and heard a book, but her students were not ready to leave.
“Most of the time, they don’t want to leave,” Faz said. “When they come here, they are excited. We have fun. Learning should be fun. If it’s not fun, you’re not learning.”
It was one of seven small pullout groups Faz has for each day as a General Education Curriculum Special Education Teacher at Margil Elementary. She provides pull-out support for reading, writing, dyslexia, and in-class support with social and functional skills throughout the day.
“My day goes by really fast," she said. I’m like ‘oh wait, it’s the end of the day? I have 12,000 steps! Okay, cool!’”
The Laredo native got hired at Cooper Academy at Navarro right out of Texas A&M University and has spent all seven of her years in education with San Antonio ISD — the last four at Margil. She was drawn to the field of special education because her little brother has autism.
“I saw how much he progressed with his teachers, and I just fell in love with how much of an impact his teachers had on his life, and on our family, of course,” Faz said. “We saw his confidence boost, and how much he was able to accomplish.”
So she vowed to do the same for others, celebrating all their victories.
“Seeing their confidence boost up I just get really emotional and excited,” she said. “I’m usually the teacher that’s jumping up and down and doing crazy dances. And seeing their smile, like ‘I know that letter!’ or ‘I can read it!’ They get so excited; their excitement and their confidence are what makes it worth it.”
She has 17 students in her caseload and works with another 30 in reading intervention.
"They become your kids,” she said. “Those are your babies. You want them to meet their IEP goals and make sure their accommodations are met so you become like a parent to them, making sure everyone is taking care of them as you would want them to be taken care of.”
Dr. Kristen Williams, Executive Director for Disability Services, said Faz exemplifies everything that is great about special education in the district.
"Ms. Faz models her commitment to students every day," Williams said. "She has the ability to balance challenging her students to grow with the right amount of support and patience. We are so fortunate to have Ms. Faz, and other educators like her, as part of our SAISD Disability Services team."
Faz says she loves working in SAISD and she loves working with her special education students. She can’t imagine doing anything else.
“At the end of the day, you make a difference,” she said. “Even if you don’t see it at the beginning, you’re making a difference in their lives, and not just in their lives, in their family’s lives.”