Hello Friends! I am Ramona Diaz, M.Ed, M.A., a former Special Education Teacher and the author of Vortex 2 learning.  My elementary childhood education combined with my social/organizational psychology background gives me a unique perspective on what motivates an individual/child/student to learn and what types of educational materials will enhance their learning experience to bring about the best outcome for that child. I worked in the NYC public school system in a self-contained classroom with students on the autism spectrum and other disabilities for more than a decade. I am licensed and New York State certified to teach elementary special education and childhood education (Grades 1-6).

Having said that, I know first hand how challenging it is for the SPED teacher to meet the individual needs of each student’s academic, behavioral and social/emotional development and growth; the commitment and time required to develop and monitor each child’s annual Individualized Education Plan (IEP) all the while, keeping up with all the other extraneous and extra curriculars demanded by the profession.

My mission is to help lighten the load of all educators who work with students with special needs and those instructors who teach students who can benefit from extra support in their regular education classrooms.

Vortex2learning was born out of a desire to create the instructional materials that are still very much lacking in the special education classrooms.  The instructional resources and activities here are aligned to the Common Core State Standards are evidence-based and follow best practices. They are modified to meet the needs of the students and differentiated to meet the varying cognition levels and learning styles of each individual.

The resources, lessons and activities are created for interactivity, multiple uses and longevity because most of our students with special needs are very tactile, thus hard on the materials.  Additionally, they learn best when they can physically engage with the learning tools. This also holds true with our typical young preschoolers and kindergartners.

I invite you to visit our educational store for exciting, student friendly standards based activities at the Teachers Pay Teachers marketplace. As a classroom teacher this was my go to place for inspiration, ideas, lessons and activities for my vibrant students. I also loved supporting the hard working teacher-authors on this platform who delivered for me when I needed “rescue” in my classroom experience.

The educational resources in the TPT platform comes in both printable and digital formats in order to bring more flexibility to the teaching situation and to promote multiple pathways to learning for the students.  You are able to assign work to your students and give timely feedback on the platform as well.  You will also have the ability to modify the materials further and individualize it to meet the needs of your students.  Your students are able to login from any device to access their assignments.  Lastly, you will find many self-checking and self-correcting activities to help your students practice and master their skills.

Presently, I am excited to be able to create and deliver materials that I was not able to create while in the classroom, due to time constraints and many other factors that only we as teachers know. My hope is that you will find some much needed content to help you and your students thrive in your classrooms.

Vortex2learning is still in its’ infancy and I would greatly love to grow it with you by bringing you subject matter content that will enhance and support your efforts and hard work as you bring joy and learning to your students.

I will be most grateful if you shared any articles that you may find interesting and useful with your colleagues and friends.  The parents that you serve may also benefit and be interested in the content on this site.

Amazon was my other go to for quick purchases for my classroom needs and there you may find some of my activity books and workbooks published through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).  

Lastly, I invite you to join my vortex2learning club and get instant access to my library of amazing freebies.  It is a growing library of much needed resources that you will definitely want to have in your classrooms!