What is it like to be a special education teacher?

Question

I was invited to an interview to get my alternative teaching certification and I wanted to be a special education teacher since my background is in child development. Can anyone tell me what it is like and the pros and cons of it? I am not sure if I'm fit to be a teacher or not, but special ed may be different (I am not very aggressive or bossy, I see kids walking all over me).

Answer 1

In special education you encounter more behavioral difficulties than in regular education, the children often come from lower income families and parental involvement is not as high, and there is a TON of paperwork.  These are all generalities and not true of every case.  As with any teaching though, when you finally make that breakthrough, whether it's a behavioral breakthrough or an academic one, it all seems worth it.

-S (special ed. teacher)

Answer 2

its kind of like teaching a puppy tricks. You have to be patient. The kids teach you what is really important in life though, and you have a great feeling of helping others

Answer 3

you MUST be a certain crazy-loving individual to do it.

It will also be the most rewarding job you've ever had.

Answer 4

I've been in the business for 16 years and I'm about to retire.

Pros--

the kids are wonderful spirits

it's amazing to see them learn

Cons--

they rarely learn, they will most likely never become self sufficient and have a 8.6% chance of ever marrying.

they often drool on you if you have to feed them and downs syndrome kids have a barfing problem.

you have to stop them from doing things they enjoy to get them to learn something planned and they begin to hate you and you feel so bad inside when they look at you the way they do.

But all in all it's a rewarding job, and the pay is nice.

Answer 5

You have to have an edge about you to be a special Ed. Teacher. (or just Crazy!)

I have 7 years in and have found it to be the most rewarding career ever.

The pros-

1. Some kids do learn!

2. Relationships that have developed over the years. (Yes they still come back!)  

3. Decent pay after you've paid your dues. (In NJ after 13 years teacher makes about 93000)

Cons-

1. NCLB -just made it more difficult to teach in middle school or high school setting. ( Need to be Highly Qualified in the content area you teach regardless of Special Ed. certificates .)

2. The amount of paperwork involved. (IEPS, Progress reports, class lists for CST,  etc.)

3. Most administrators think of S.E. as an after thought.

4. Sometimes kids don't learn!

Tip- When beginning as a new teacher always start off hard or tough and then ease up! Never, I mean NEVER, start off like a pansy because then there is no way back! And you'll be in for a long year.

Answer 6

I am a para-educator in special ed.  I have learned an incredible amount in the past 7 years.  From the teachers I assist and the kids I work with - my life has been forever touched.  Special Ed teachers have to work with a lot of paperwork and red tape, lots of meetings and tracking down parents for signatures, doing lesson plans for kids that are all at different levels of study, dealing with a multitude of behaviors and dealing with teachers who don't want to have to make accommodations for special needs kids. I have learned to be tough, to be just aggressive enough that the kids don't walk all over me.  I have also been near tears when I hear a student read a passage with a clear voice and fluency.  Then I know I have helped open the world to that student through books.  It is a team effort and one that makes an incredible difference in the life of one kid. Victory is sweet!

(I am just a little crazy too!!)

Answer 7

Special education to me takes a very special type of person.  You must have endless patience with the kids and you will be more of a baby sitter sometimes rather then teaching. This job can be real frustrating sometimes because the improvements that these kids make on a day to day basis will seem to move at a snail's pace sometimes.   It all depends on what kind of mark you want to make.  Do you want to know that you helped a real smart person to go on and make big changes in the world or would you be happy to just know for yourself that you were able to make a difference in a life that may not have a greater effect on society?