Social Skills
RMTC-DHH spotlights teachers of the deaf/hard of hearing (ToDHHs) Krista Phelps-Elliott and Brianna Balch in Seminole County for February 2023 as they model and discuss teaching social behaviors to their students who are DHH. The theme of this spotlight was based off of the ninth high-leverage practice (HLP) from the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR) Center and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)’s publication High-Leverage Practices in Special Education. HLP9 states, "Teach social behaviors.”
Krista Phelps-Elliot graduated from Flagler College with a bachelor's degree in Deaf Education and Intellectual Disabilities and is currently in her 38th year of teaching in Seminole County. Krista has been active in other areas around the state presenting at the Florida Educators of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (FEDHH) conferences, teaching the online component of Visual Phonics, providing Fingerspelling Our Way to Reading trainings, and participating in the writing and development of the most recent online module, Language-Reading Connections:DHH.
Brianna Balch earned her master's degree in Deaf Education from Lamar University and her Bachelor's degree in Deaf Education from University of North Florida (UNF) (SWOOP). This is Brianna's 4th year teaching. She has taught as an itinerant and is currently a PreK-2nd self-contained teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing (TODHH). Along with teaching, she works as a parent advisor with the DHH Parent Infant Program through Florida School for the Deaf and Blind (FSDB).