Her websites and YouTube videos provide a wealth of knowledge to parents, families, and students.
Get in Touch
email: mary {at} kennedyfamfive dot com
Instagram: @kennedyfamfive
My Work Story
I worked as a special education teacher for 15 years after college. My classes ranged all over the {educational} board.
- Resource rooms for primary level kids (Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade) and middle schoolers where I taught reading and math to kids who had learning disabilities such as dyslexia
- A self-contained classroom for students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities where we focused on work readiness and daily living skills
- Resource & co-teaching classrooms at the high school level where I taught math to students with behavior disorders, intellectual disabilities, and learning disabilities
And I was drowning.
I was in a sea of bureaucratic paperwork, and it was overtaking me.
I remember distinctly the day that my co-teacher, Susan, (the general ed half of our co-teaching partnership) noted some specific
characteristic about one of our students…and I had not picked up on it at all.
That was devastating to me.
I had been spending so much time on the federal paperwork required for each student on my caseload that I had no idea about the needs of the kids that I was actually teaching.
Both Susan and my husband kept telling me that I needed to move into general education….which scared me to death!
But it finally hit me one day that if I taught general ed, even though I would have many more students, I wouldn’t have a case load on top of that. No more IEP’s to write! I could still teach many of the same students as well!
I signed up for the teaching certification test for general education secondary math that spring. And I started studying.
{Thank God for Susan and other excellent teachers in my past.}
I passed the test, and my principal graciously moved me into a general education math position the following school year.
And so began my favorite years of teaching.
I taught Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 with a wonderfully supportive department. Collaboration with other math teachers was probably the single most effective part of my success in the classroom.
I have never once regretted leaving special education. I continued to teach many students receiving services in my “regular” classes over the years.
Let me be clear: All teachers work a tremendous number of hours.
As a special education teacher, I worked countless hours in addition to my “contract time”…always working on getting the paperwork just right… making corrections, deletions, and addendums ad nauseum.
As a general education teacher, I worked just as many hours. The difference, though, was that I knew that the work was, for the most part, directly connected to my students.
That was much, much more meaningful to me.
As terrific as all of that was, though, my physical health was not great. Several medical things were going on, and stress was making it worse.
I love systems. Organization is something I pride myself on, in my work life at least. But I could not figure out how to do my job in fewer hours. After eight years in general ed, if there were quicker ways to get it all done, I believe I would have found them.
Finally, my husband and I agreed that I needed to quit.
I finished out the school year and haven’t looked back.
In a remarkably short period of time, my health largely recovered, and I’m now in the best physical health situation that I’ve been in my adult life.
Kennedyfamfive.com was a blog I had started over a school holiday five years before leaving teaching. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing, but
I enjoyed the process of learning it. And I enjoyed writing.
Today I’m able to share my love for math through algebrastudent.com and on YouTube at Algebra Student. My goal is to help students who think they’re bad at math. Countless students have told me that they are, and I absolutely love helping them to see that it’s just not true.
I also share about faith, family, marriage, and parenting on the blog at kennedyfamfive.com. My goal there is to help families to build strong relationships with each other.
My Personal Story
I live in a small town in Western Georgia with my husband and three {pretty much grown up} children. I work from home, so wearing jeans feels all dressed up to me these days.
When I’m not writing blog posts or making AlgebraStudent videos, I’m hanging out with my family.
Two of the three kiddos are in school away from home, so any moments with all 5 of us under one roof are precious to me.
We love to make s’mores over the firepit in the back yard, watch Hallmark mysteries (yes, they’re super cheesy), and watch college
football games. Oh, wait, that last one is just me. But they indulge me when I watch, lol!
We love our small town. It’s also a slightly tourist town, so it has a greatly disproportionate number of restaurants and fun things to do for its size. It’s kind of the best of both worlds!
I met my husband, Derek, when I was 15. Within a few months, we knew we would get married one day. Four and a half years later, we did.
And six years after that, we had our first child. Two more kids followed in the next four
years.
sleep deprived! Thank the Lord for
photos and videos.
Keeping marriage fresh is not something that happens automatically…it takes work! Thankfully, I’m married to the most loving and understanding man
ever. He’s the reason we’re still so close.
I’ve made so many parenting mistakes! Somehow, though, the kids have thrived and are really awesome human beings in spite of their mama’s imperfections.
As they grew up, I tried to enjoy every stage they were in. I haven’t always succeeded, but it has been a constant reminder in my mind that other things (like a cleaner house) will be here later…the kids won’t be!
Personally, I love logic puzzles (math nerd, that’s me), a great cup of coffee, and alone time.
The beach is my favorite place to be. Nothing else even comes close.
Want to read more about…
Click on the links to take you to that category on the blog at kennedyfamfive.com.
If you’re interested in getting help in high school math, for you or a loved one, go to my YouTube Channel, here!
You’ve got this!