Special Education Career Path

It may sound cliché, but I was born to teach students with disabilities. Growing up, I had the best example to follow. My mother actively taught special education for 31 years and seeing her interaction with students created a passion in me to do the same thing. Even at a young age, it was evident that I wanted to be a teacher: from forcing my younger brother to sit still and play “school” with me, to spending my free time volunteering in special needs classrooms during middle and high school.

My career goal is to obtain a master’s degree in elementary education by the end of Fall 2016 in order to start teaching by the beginning of Spring 2017. Upon completion of the dual certification track, I will receive elementary (K-6), special education (ESE K-6), and ESOL endorsements. Before entering graduate school, I always believed these certifications would prepare me for teaching more than if I had started teaching immediately after graduation. Today, I still hold this belief to be true, for I have opportunities now to closely practice, implement, and refine teaching skills, strategies, and qualities that I learned as an undergraduate in a real school setting. I am also able to work closely alongside teachers who have experience working with students with identified disabilities and experience the different behavioral responses that students with identified disabilities may exhibit. As a first year intern this semester, I even sat in on an EPT (Evaluation and Planning Team) meeting regarding whether or not a student in my first grade classroom should receive a 504 Plan that I did not get to

When I receive my bachelor’s degree in Special Education, I want to teach in elementary schools. I feel as though if you can start teaching the students in an inclusive classroom at a young age, everyone around will understand them more. I believe that if you can get the non-disabled kids to understand that the only thing that makes the disabled kids different from them is their disability, then they will start to associate with one another while their young. By them doing this, they are slowly becoming friends. Getting them to become friends at a young age is really important because it will limit the idea of the child that has a disability being bullied or teased by an individual that does not have a disability because he/she will understand them. While I

Time is passing and opportunities are opening for more students with special needs. Many students in college are getting more interested in Special Education as career that will allow more organization to have more workers with a big potential that will have an important impact on these kids with disabilities. However, this will require more training for the students that organizations around the country can give them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,“the career outlook for special education teachers should remain steady through 2024, with an increase of 6%, the national average for job growth in the United States. The median salary for this position is just over $55,000 annually,” (“Master in Special Education”) The approach the

People are thought as child to dream big and reach for their goals. Throughout grade school to high school there are often asked what inspires them. Some people dream to become police officers, dancers, lawyers, and doctors. There are some people who chooses to become an educator. As they journey through college, to pursue the knowledge needed for their career, their passion leads them to special education. These teachers fine this career to be job satisfying, have empathy for the children, and the vacancy of the position viability. Not all teacher feel the same however, over time their dissatisfied with their job and leave because their brunt out.

For me, the decision to become a teacher is more of a way of life than a career. I have always loved school, practicing at being school marm from a young age, and voraciously devouring every shred of education offered me in my career as a student. If it were possible, I would be a student for the rest of my life. And then I still would not have learned enough. As a teacher, I hope to instill this appetite for knowledge in secondary students. They are, after all, the future leaders of the world, and what better place to expand the minds of the generations to come than here in Appalachia where education programs, especially the sciences, which I plan to teach, are poorly funded and children’s dreams

When I was a little girl nothing was more gratifying than lining all my stuff animals and dolls up with paper and pencils. It gave me great pleasure to stand in front of them and share my intellectual knowledge. I played school for as long as I can remember and that is where the love for my career choice started. When I got older and started going to school I noticed that there were not only normal kids there were also other children who needed extra attention and who were is special classrooms. I started taking an interest in the special education students, so I decided that I not only wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to be a special education teacher. For as long as I can remember, college has always been in my future. After realizing that I wanted to be a special education teacher, I started searching for colleges that fit my career plan. I found that Illinois State University was interesting and has an outstanding Special Education Program. I will be attending Illinois State University in 2016 getting a B.A.Degree in Special Education focusing on Severe & Profound population.

In the profession of a special education teacher, a person commits to helping children achieve their best and to help “students overcome their obstacles” while finding a way that the child can effectively learn (Hollingsworth). My mom’s career as special education teacher for twenty-two years, allows me insight and experience into the tougher aspects of this career, but also the rewards to the job. My mom helps me understand that a special education teacher guides a child to expand their strengths, develop strategies to overcome weakness, and to make best use of all available resources. Through helping her, and learning from her experiences, she taught me that a career in special education can not only challenge me, but may also become a

There have been many changes in education over the last twenty seven years, especially in the area of Special Education. There has been constant revisions of the laws both at the government level and at the state levels. With each revision comes new hope for students who have disabilities. Being part of these experiences have helped in leading others through this profession. Through shared visions and inclusive actions by parents, administrators, advocacy groups, and more, students with disabilities continue to gain more chances at opportunities to live very productive lives. These advancements are, in large part, due to people willing to sacrifice time and energy promoting student rights. Going through the different experiences in this field, how situations are handled, continues to change, and for the most part, they change for the better. This could be due to different advocacy agencies campaigning on how the needs of the students come first.

The field of education is dramatically changing at an unprecedented rate. For example, a greater percentage of students are identified with autism than in the past ten years. The general education teacher is becoming more and more aware of special needs students due to inclusionary practices and must adapt his/her curriculum to help all students achieve. This can be a roadblock for the general education teacher if the special education teacher is consistently relied on for help. The increase in the special education population is now requiring more educators to be dually certified in order to service all students in all situations.

Special Education is interesting because being a special needs teacher is not just rewarding for just one person, it is rewarding for both the teacher and students. According to the “Learn How to Become” article in order to be a Special Education teacher the teacher has to be able to adapt to each child’s learning

In the Special Education News article, it says that you need to help the “students in overcoming their disabilities” (“Special Education News”). The teacher needs to help them overcome their disability by not looking down on them. Teachers need to realize that some kids parents don’t care about their education (“Ferry”). Some parents think that the only way their kid will get through life, is if they are pretty enough. But that’s not true. When teachers are teaching the student, they need help to strengthen their learning (“Saint Joseph’s University”). By needing help to strengthen their learning, I mean they need to teach them to the best of their learning ability. What teachers need to understand is that a lot of kids protect themselves from pain (“Erstad”). When the kid protects themselves from pain, they are hurting themselves even more. If the teacher knows enough about the student, they will be a successful special needs teacher.

In the career of special education, teachers are trained to work with students who have either a disability, or requires of a unique instructor. However, in order to become a special teacher it has a variety of requirements. For example, some of the requirements that this career requires is of a long term education that includes: schooling , a bachelor and master degree, at least two years of

As a special education teacher, I have spent the last several years evaluating my teaching methods. In 2013, I returned to college to pursue a Master of Teaching, Learning and Leadership with an emphasis as an Elementary Mathematics Specialist. My primary purpose was to discover pedagogies and philosophies that would address the highly specialized needs of my students. In addition, I wanted to learn how to meet the mandated requirements dictated to all students, even those with severe disabilities, to be ready for life, to critically think, and to problem solve to become productive citizens that are college and career ready.

“Special education labels don’t define children; Children define themselves” (Dalien, 2015). I am interested in becoming a special education teacher because I have always loved being around children, and I have a soft spot for kids with autism and other disabilities. The first time that I ever thought about working with special needs children was when I was in the fifth grade. My mom worked at my school as a teacher assistant in a first grade classroom, so in the morning I would go to her classroom and wait for the bell to ring. A little boy named Alex who had Cerebral palsy and a spinal problem, came into class early as well. I immediately connected with him, and began going to my mom’s room every morning to play with him before class. It soon became the highlight of my day. Alex could not talk very well and could not walk, so we rolled cars around the floor, traced shapes on to the whiteboard, or sometimes crawled on the floor chasing each other as monsters. I loved seeing how me playing with him made him smile so big and become more outgoing. My dream is to give kids like Alex a reason to smile and help them reach their full potential. In this speech you will learn all about special education teachers, including, but not limited to: What they do, where they typically work, their environment, how much they get paid, benefits the job entails, the education and skills required to become a special education teacher, and information on the job outlook.