What is it like teaching special ed?

Congratz! You are considering a very challenging and rewarding specialty. The bureaucracy is horrible, the hours are long, the headaches are many. And I won’t even begin to tell you about the paperwork! But the rewards are powerful.

As a male teacher (which I assume you are) you will probably be in demand in an ED (emotionally disturbed) or BD (behavior disordered) classroom. You will need to be well versed in psych disorders. Depending on your district, you may be required to physically restrain students, with special training and under strict guidelines, and with other adults present.

Keep in mind that many of these students have had little to no exposure to male authority figures. Most have been abused. Others have organic dysfunctions, such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, behavior disorders from autism, or pre-natal drug exposures. Your goal is to help these students learning coping skills to allow them to live their lives to the up most. And if you can help just one student, then it will be most rewarding. Good luck!

I am a teacher’s aide in an emotionally disturbed classroom and work with an autistic child. First, before starting your degree go into a classroom and get some experience. This is a field you need to experience first hand, some people just can’t handle it and there is a high turnover rate.

Besides that I love what I do. The most amazing part of my job is when the kids make big advancements. The child I am working with now is actually mainstreaming 4 hours a day into a regular classroom!

I’ll explain how our E.D. class works. First the kids need to work for “preferred activity time” which is three times a day. The teacher has to be strict or the kids will walk all over you. There is less work in a regular classroom and usually the teacher is more concerned about behavior than anything else.

The classroom is emotionally draining. It is sad to see young kids getting in fist fights everyday, throwing desks, and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Well that’s an ED class for you!

You say “another speciality”, does that mean you are already a teacher?

If so, you are way ahead of most.

First, learn about the different types and branches of special ed. Learn about how much co-teaching/inclusion/mainstreaming (depending where you are it is called different things) interests you. Do you have interest in learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, autism, behavior disorders, or a combination? Observing is a good idea to get a feel for which area interests you the most.

I have been teaching both resource (pull-out classes of 8-12) and collaborative (sped teacher and gened teacher in gened classroom) for 8 years and I love it! It is a constant challenge and a lot of thinking on your feet. The kids are great, but the paperwork can wear you down (especially as you’re learning about it). I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Go into it, but go in educated!

I was given a class of 12 last year for the whole year. I was moved by their honesty and directness to living, to school, to the people around them and for their humility and just basic “on ya!” of trying hard.

The students still high five me around the school grounds when they see me and approach me with any personal questions or problems they may have.

“Frustratingly fantastic” would describe the BS that seems to follow them, that being mostly bureaucracy. The students are the best you will teach for personal highs and lows. Do it…

First, one has to appreciate that “specific guidance ” is a extensive continuum of centers. There are scholars who’ve basically gentle discovering disabilities and basically prefer slightly extra help and re-coaching to succeeed in college. Then, on the different severe, there are scholars who’re rather in contact with significant wellness subject concerns, communique disroders, and habit issues. So, the 1st element to do is to attempt an get some adventure staring at in as many specific guidance school rooms as you are able to. See an autistic classification, see an aphasia classification, see a source classification, see a special occasion software classification for specific discovering incapacity youngsters, see an emotionally distrurbed classification etc. this provide you a concept approximately what you think of you are able to shield. What others have pronounced above is authentic approximately endurance and coaching being complicated paintings. besides the undeniable fact that, there heavily isn’t that lots distinction between specific guidance and prevalent guidance with regrad to pateince and attempt. coaching is unquestionably complicated no remember what age or grade or capacity. the final element i prefer to point approximately coaching specific guidance are the financial incentives. there is this sort of shortage of specific eduation instructors national, that many states pays to your credential, have Intern courses etc. different states pay you an illustration up bonus. Many banks will forgive your pupil loans in case you teach specific guidance for a sequence sort of years. coaching specific guidance is a super job, i think of. mothers and fathers LOVE YOU as you’re prepared to coach their scholars, human beings interior the community see you as a hero, different instructors may be in awe which you will “handle” specific guidance scholars. that’s complicated to coach. permit no person permit you be responsive to in any different case. you would be exhausted on a daily basis on the commencing up. besides the undeniable fact that it gets extra constructive and so do your scholars!!!!

It is very hard.The only reason these student are in my class room is because they sometimes day dream or tend to fall asleep.Sometimes they don’t belive in them selves and just give.You havr to reach out to them and be their friends.Some just have serios mental problems but Ilike them the most because they try hard.You still have to be their friends.But what I like about about my job is because it is surpizing.

well it is very fun. i should say. you have to know how many teaching techniques work and to teach them. if you have the ability to be able to work with multiple kids at once then hey what have you got to lose.