By Ed Pierce
It’s no secret that poor behavior in a classroom can result in lost learning time for children. Windham Primary School is fortunate to have someone on staff to tackle this quickly so that WPS is able to provide high quality teaching to all students.
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| Laura Record is Windham Primary School's Behavior Specialist and RTI Coordinator and has been serving in the role for three years. She formerly taught Kindergarten at the school from 2012 to 2022. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Among her duties at the school, Record works with the Student Support team at WPS comprised of social workers, assistant principal, and a behavior interventionist. She provides social-emotional-behavioral support and interventions to children in and out of the classroom; provides a calm place for students to regulate as needed; and provides in-the moment support for students with behavior needs.
She analyzes student behavioral data; teaches various whole class lessons as requested by teachers; provides teacher coaching; is part of the school’s attendance team; coordinates the WPS “Bus of the Month” program; is a 504 case manager; an IEP case manager; supervises and oversees the Noon Monitors for lunch and recess staff and assists with recess and lunch behaviors; is a Safety Care Trainer; and a member of the WPS Response team.
As RTI (Response to Intervention) Coordinator, Record schedules meetings, is a RTI team member, and manages RTI plans for students.
Record has worked at Windham Primary School since August 2012, serving first as a Kindergarten teacher from 2012 to 2022 when she switched positions to become the WPS Behavior Specialist.
According to Record, the best thing about her job is that no two days are the same.
“It’s great to see children making progress,” she said. “What may seem as a small step forward to us, usually takes a lot of work and effort from a child.”
That’s also the most challenging aspect of her work.
“Often my schedule goes out the window when a student is struggling and needs support,” Record said. “The biggest misconception people may have about my work is that I only deal with behaviors. I tell children that I’m the ‘problem solving’ teacher. If they have or had a problem, we can work together to figure out how to solve it or make it right.”
The one thing that the public may not know about her job is that she tries to be proactive as much as possible by putting interventions in place and teaching regulation strategies to children before it becomes a crisis, Record said.
Originally from Upstate New York and then Massachusetts, Record earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the State University of New York at Albany and then obtained a master’s degree in education and her teaching certification in Low Incidence Disabilities (Special Education) at Boston College. She also has earned an early childhood and regular education teaching certificate and an Assistant Principal certificate.
“My husband’s job brought him back to Maine as he was born and raised here,” Record said. “After a year of him commuting between Maine and Massachusetts, we moved to Maine. With two young children and a newborn, it was great to finally be all together again.”
Prior to living in Maine, Record taught Kindergarten in Massachusetts from 2003 to 2012 and was a developmental inclusion preschool teacher from 1998 to 2003.
Her family is supportive of her work at WPS and because of her they have a greater understanding of the educational system.
“I think they like seeing the other side of a school from a teacher's perspective, especially when they were younger,” Record said. “Teachers don’t actually live in school. They usually help me set up my room. In the past they’ve also helped out with different school events like Fall Fest and Popsicles with the Principal.”
For Record, her most memorable moment while working for Windham Primary School so far is establishing a new program that holds a great deal of promise for the future.
“I am very excited about our new Bus of the Month program that recently began,” she said. “It’s great to hear the children cheer when I announce it to their bus and see the Bus of the Month magnet on the outside of the bus.”
Of everything that she’s learned while working for Windham Primary School, one thing stands out above the rest.
“The teachers and staff are child-focused,” she said. “We are a team at WPS with a lot of collaboration and problem solving. We all support each other with the best interest of the children in mind.” <
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