As her kindergarteners quietly raised their hands to build their prediction skills and guess what might happen next during a group reading lesson, Ms. Genn had a prediction of her own — that she will soon become the special education teacher she once needed.
That was the scene in Genn’s Conte West Hills School kindergarten classroom on a recent Tuesday morning. She is one of three current New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) educators who are part of the inaugural 23-person cohort for the Yale Teaching Fellowship program.
Genn, a certified general education elementary teacher for the past four years, is en route to getting a cross-endorsement in special education after completing a four-semester Masters of Science degree. Her goal is to fill a full-time special education teaching position, which is one of NHPS’ shortage areas.
Applications for the next fellowship cohort are open until Jan. 1, 2026. There will again be five slots available for current NHPS teachers. The program is a partnership between NHPS, Southern Connecticut State University, Yale University, and New Haven Promise.
Inside Genn’s kindergarten classroom, Genn weaved newer unit lessons like recalling, predicting, sharing ideas comfortably, and spotting context clues into the typical reading lesson.
She did so alongside Roz Lobo, a paraprofessional of 54 years who helps throughout the day to offer support to students, particularly those in the classroom with special education needs.
After students got comfortable on the rug for the day’s reading, Genn made sure to keep specific students distraction-free by tying a few shoes.
Tools that Genn uses in her classroom to support students’ learning and communication needs.
Meanwhile, kindergartener Caleb worked on a personal goal to stay on the classroom rug with his peers during the reading lesson. He accomplished his goal Tuesday by sitting right at Genn’s feet. Over the course of the reading, Genn would occasionally tap his feet, showing she also cared to hear his non-verbal communication throughout Tuesday’s book discussions with the whole group.
Before diving into the day’s new book, the students recalled the plot of the last book the class read, called Bucket of Blessings. The students raised their hands one by one to recall with Genn the story about a protagonist jungle animal that figured out how to save a village from a drought.
On Tuesday, as her students gathered on the rug, Genn prepped them for a read-aloud of A Piece of Home at around 11:40 a.m.
Before opening the book, Genn asked the class, “Does anyone remember what ‘prediction’ means?”
Tuesday continued the class’s reading lesson centered on predictions to engage with readings more deeply and enhance students’ comprehension. The class fell silent briefly until Genn teased out the answer: “It’s when you make a gu-gu-guess!”
Genn next asked, “What are the words on front of book called?” Students immediately responded, “Title!”
Next, she read aloud the book’s author’s name, Jerri Watts, and asked, “What’s the job of the author?” The students explained an author writes a book’s words.
“And what’s the job of our illustrator?” Genn continued and got the answer from several students that “they draw the pictures.”
She next challenged the class with making a prediction of what will happen in the story based on the cover’s words and images. “When you have an idea in your head, raise a quiet hand,” Genn prompted.
Within no time several students raised their hands. Genn called on students one by one. Kindergartener A’mya said, “I think it’s about going home,” while her classmate London said she thought it was about playing with your mom and dad.
When kindergartener Isaiah predicted the book was about going to the park and picking flowers, Genn thanked him for using context clues from the book’s cover, which included white and pink flowers.
“You guys are going to have to listen to see what could happen and if your prediction will come true,” Genn said.
As Genn read on Tuesday, she checked for understanding by asking questions. She asked what a word like “wise” means. She asked how a character might feel based on the book’s description. She asked what surprise the young protagonist’s family might have in store.
Students chimed in with guesses: That “wise” meant “a wonderful teacher,” that a slouched posture and dull eyes signaled sadness, and that the family’s surprise might be going out for dinner or gifting the young character candy and ice cream.
Instead, the book revealed a much bigger change for protagonist Hee Jun: The family would move from Korea to West Virginia for the dad’s new job.
“What’s West Virginia?” one student asked, causing Genn to explain that it’s a state in United States. She promised to later in the day look at the map with the class to see how close West Virginia is to Connecticut and New Haven.
Before stopping halfway through the book to head to lunch and then recess, the group talked about the protagonist’s feelings about moving to a new home. “How would you feel if your family said we’re moving and all your stuff was in three boxes the next day?” Genn asked.
The students shared emotions like “sad” and “scared” while A’mya spoke more specifically about her recent moving experience. She described being in a new empty home as irritating and uncomfortable.
Students also predicted that when they came back from lunch and recess the remainder of the book would reveal that Hee Jun would feel sad at a new school with new people — an experience that would feel very different from being at his old school in Korea.
Students discussed that he might have a different hair style and name from the other students. Genn encouraged her students to recall the message they learned from another book they had read, I Like Me.
The class recalled learning that it’s OK to be different. A’mya went on to explain that “being different is more fun.”
“Her Journey Is Really Paying Off”
Genn, a New Haven native, went to Worthington Hooker, High School in the Community, and Cooperative Arts High School. She has been teaching at Conte School for the past five years.
She is one of six siblings and was raised by her mother, who ran a home daycare. Since her youth, Genn said, she has had a passion for working with kids.
She pursued the Yale Teaching Fellowship as a current general education teacher to next be certified as a special education teacher. She was already paying out of pocket to pursue the path until she learned about the fellowship.
She explained her goal since becoming a teacher has been to build her special education strategy tool box to support her students and develop techniques that could’ve supported her better when she was a young student struggling with dyslexia.
“I wanted to be like the teacher I had and didn’t have,” she said.
Genn’s week consists of being at school by 7:30 a.m., finishing around 3:45 p.m., then staying for after-school programming until 6 p.m. and attending classes at SCSU until 10:10 p.m.
An unexpected takeaway from the fellowship for Genn has been being able to support her colleagues at Conte by sharing with them the special education strategies she learns in classes to help all staff to build their educator tool kit. She emphasized that all classrooms would benefit from incorporating special education strategies into general education classrooms to be inclusive and supportive of all students’ different learning needs.
With every student and no matter the teaching experience, Genn said, “you can’t have a one track mind in education. What worked today might not work tomorrow; that’s why you need a toolbox.”
Genn has taught or reminded her colleagues of lessons like “all behavior is communication.” She’s also learned that it makes a huge difference in classroom culture to teach students the “why” for what they are leaning as well as expectations they are held to.
In her SCSU class, Genn recalled, she’s learned the importance of not just teaching her students phonics but also telling them the “why” for what makes phonics importance to learn. She gives explanations in her class like “learning our sounds and letters is so we can be good readers and writers.”
She continued by saying that, “if my kids know the ‘why’ of it, then they learn why it’s they can do something.”
She also often makes use of and decorates her classroom with visuals of what behaviors like “safe hands” look like to support her class of 14, including a mix of students with and without special education needs.
Rather than just asking students to walk quietly in the hallways, she said, she encourages her students to take ownership of their actions by asking them, “Why do we walk quietly in the hallways?”
Conte Principal Kenneasha Sloley told the Independent that Genn’s participation in the fellowship program has brought a dual system of support to Conte as she integrates on a daily basis what she learns from her classes. “It’s very evident her work translates to her instructional practices and that she’s adopting what she’s learning in real time,” Sloley said. “I appreciate her growth. It’s helping us all. Her journey is really paying off.”
Genn and teaching fellowship director Christine Gentry.