Special Education Personal Statement

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

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

After reading chapters one and two of the book “Exceptional lives”, I could more easily understand special education. As a teacher, I will mostly likely have many students with disabilities in my class throughout my career. With

I have distinctly applied for Special Needs Education because special education has always been what’s near and dear to me in the field of education. Being a special education teacher would be an inevitably rewarding job, in which I get to watch my students grow, as I celebrate their small breakthroughs and victories with them. These small breakthroughs and victories will improve over time and turn into giant leaps, which will leave a lasting impact and ultimately change the child’s life. Beyond just educating children with special needs, I aspire to educate the public about children with special needs and special education. By doing so, I hope to remove any uncertainty and fear the public has on this group of children. Not only do I want to impart knowledge on these special children, I also want to advocate for them, which is something that goes

The time is now to become a Special Education Teacher. I believe the best fit for my academic and vocational goals is the UWM Exceptional Education Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification Program.

I have been a preschool teacher, teaching mixed age children from 18 months to 5 years, for over 10 years. I started as a work study employee, while attending the Community College of Philadelphia in 2006, to a part-time teaching assistant while attending Temple University in 2010. This led me to a lead-teacher position after graduation and then to a program coordinator. I have developed effective working relationships with children in the past years. This position has helped me improve my teamwork and interpersonal skills by cooperating with other teachers in planning teaching materials according to the Reggio Emilia approach and by sharing teaching resources. I decided that working with children, understanding and assisting in their education,

Tuesday was my first day in my general education classroom. When I arrived, there was a substitute in my classroom for the first half hour of the day, because Ms. Keane was in an IEP meeting. The substitute and the paraprofessional showed me around the classroom and told me about some of the students. There are 20 students in the classroom, and two of them are English language learners.

My personal philosophy of special education drives not from teaching in the field, but from, observations, and personal experience, and the workshops I attended. I have had the opportunity to work with individuals with special needs in many different settings, all this help cultivate my knowledge in handling the needs of the special needed student. Special needs students have the ability to learn, to function, to grow, and most importantly to succeed. The difference comes into how they learn or how they need to be taught. There are as many beliefs about the "hows" as there are teachers and each of us forms our own philosophy through our experiences and research. As a student in a special education teachers’ program, learners with

In 1991 the Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was replaced by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This law was passed to provide free and appropriate public education to every child with a disability. It requires that each child with a disability “have access to the program best suited to that child’s special needs which is as close as possible to a normal child’s educational program” (Martin, 1978). The Individualized education program (IEP) was developed to help provide a written record of students’ needs and procedures for each child that receives special education services. The IEP will list all the services to be provided, the student's performance level, academic performance, and

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.

One of the most essential aspects of the educational process is to know how to motivate students for learning. A challenging part of being a teacher is to know and learn how to motivate students. First of all, a good definition for motivation is as Byrnes quote “Motivation is construct

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

When I was asked to reflect on my experiences in EDSE 316 and the fieldwork, I had to think long and hard on how I would sum up four months of classes and fieldwork into four pages. I have learned so much about the various disabilities and how it has change the world of special education. I think a better term would be the “endless possibilities of education”. It wasn’t too long ago when children with disabilities would be stuck in a room in the back of school only to be seen in the beginning and end of the school day. They were the ones who rode the other buses and no one really talked about. This class has allowed me to speak of my own family and how special education impacted my life. I have a brother whose whole life was spent in the special education class, and my own sons with speech and learning disabilities who are now receiving special education services. It also allowed me to reflect on my own participation in the special education program in my early elementary years when I was struggling with my own speech disability. This class gave me the chance to see the timeline of special education, from its earliest beginnings to what it is now.

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that in my future I wanted to become a teacher. I always looked up to my teachers, especially the ones I had in elementary school. I even played 'school' with my friends and pretended I had my own classroom. I loved being in charge. During a summer, I was given the opportunity to work as an Energy Express mentor and work with a group of eight children. This was one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever been through. I was a mentor to help guide the children, and by the end of the summer I felt as if I had really accomplished something. I am planning to pursue a career in elementary education. I love children, and just knowing that as a

The school district I received the majority of my special education services School District 308, states, “The term "special education" means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability” (2016). My disability is what makes me unique and has happened in with my own philosophy of education. I am intrinsically and extrinsically motivated in school to be the best IEP student with the highest grade, high GPA, and try to be exempt from the Special Education Department. Not only do I feel and act this way in the classroom, I was feel and act this way with personal relationships and work. In the scheme of things, I have been influenced by intrinsic goals and reward by others. Just by these simple characteristic traits, this helps me forms my philosophical beliefs of education and how students learn.