Tray Robinson
Stipe Elementary School
San Jose, CA USA
"If there is one person in this life that you have to love, it is you. And you have to be unashamed and unafraid to stand up and scream, ‘I love me!’"
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Tray's work combines: Education, Technology, and Teaching / Mentoring
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Look at your work this way: you only need to save one student. You only need to change one life. If you do that one time, you have been successful in your entire career. If you try to take on everything and everyone all at once, you'll burn out.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Psychology, General
California State University, Stanislaus
Graduate Degree
Curriculum and Instruction
Concordia University, Portland
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
My mom was a teacher, so I grew up visiting her classroom and watching her teach.
2.
I originally wanted to become a psychologist because of the discrimination and negativity I faced as a member of the LGBTQ community.
3.
After a referral from an acquaintance, I started my teaching career as an intern teacher, teaching a counseling-enriched special day class.
4.
While teaching full time, I earned my master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with a focus on inclusion.
5.
After some experience, I figured out a way to utilize technology to better help my special education students learn and stay engaged.
6.
I transitioned when I was 27 years old—it was actually teaching that helped bring me to the conclusion that transitioning was something I wanted to do.
7.
A student nominated me for GLSEN’s 2020 Educator of the Year award and I won!
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
You teach special education, so you don't know what you're talking about when you say we shouldn't focus on assessment.
How I responded:
I believe that we should focus less on assessments and data and more on character and ethics development as educators. Some think that because I teach special education, I don't have a clear idea about the value of assessments across education. That's simply not true. In fact, assessments are our bread and butter in special education. I know what I'm talking about. It's my goal to have an impact on education training so that we can reform this kind of thinking.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I was a starting athlete on my high school soccer team at a private Christian school. Someone else outed me as gay, which was a huge problem for the school. I wasn't allowed to play after that. It was the most miserable time of my life.
After a freak accident, I ruptured and herniated a disc in my back. I had to have emergency surgery. Shortly after, I was hospitalized again for leaking spinal fluid. It all caused major stress and misery. My students got me through the hard times.