Special Education Teachers

[Eric the Red]

Also, one last bit of advice...if you are thinking about teaching...I would take down that FB post. I know many many many administrators that will go right to FB before they even interview you. Yes, they are crazy ones but there are a lot of crazy ones.

Agree 100%...in fact there are plenty that are not crazy and will look at this. Many employers in the private sector do this as well.

 

[Eric the Red]

My wife teaches kids that have learning disabilities and are troubled. She deals with a lot of sh#t on a daily basis from being cussed at and having chairs and desks thrown at her. There are days where she just comes home and unloads on me about how things are run at school and that it is sad that it will probably stay this way. I can tell you that she doesn't get paid what she should for having to deal with the crap that goes on.

Yep. Sounds exactly like our situation. She gets slapped in the face all the time by students, and scissors/pens/pencils are thrown, kids throw things off her desk, run out of the room and then my wife has to chase them down. Then gets ripped by the admin for not letting the plan work. How the hell is the plan suppose to work when a students actions are completely unpredictable. Kids scream all the time. I mean I'm all for having special needs students be in the same building and all that, to be around their peers but at what point do we say enough is enough and send them off? I mean you send off normal students who have behavior issues...why is it that special needs students don't get sent somewhere?

Maybe I'm just frustrated with all that has gone on, but my wife has the heart of an angel and it's dying. It's all about paperwork this and paperwork that, and no focus is ever even put on the kids. For God's sake they changed her schedule 4 times this year and it's not even Christmas break.

She made some picture planners for her kids so that they knew in what time frame they could look at the picture and see that's what they had to do. Spent all weekend making like 6-7 of these things for separate kids. Gets to school Monday and the sped director and principal tell her that they are changing her schedule again, so she has to REMAKE all those planners that they told her to make and never end up using the original.

I'm super bothered by everything special education at the moment, maybe its just the school, but good grief...

Here's something teachers will do....are the students old enough to create these items with your wife's assistance in school as projects? It gives them ownership, control and are more likely to follow through when using them.

When working with students with emotional disturbances, academics (Reading, Writing, Math, etc.) are not the priority. Sure your going to teach, but many things need to be in place before learning can take place. Search "Intervention Ziggurat" in google and view the images. While it was design for students with autism in mind the concepts work for all humans, literally, but obviously those students who have special needs can be quite sensitive to certian things. Thus, it's so unbelievable important to be sure all their needs are met climbing the pyramid before they are ready to learn and/or will have the highest chances of learning. Are there embedded breaks in their day? Are their frequent rewards and recognition withnessed in the classroom. When these and other things are consistent and prevalent in the behavior classroom, trust is more likely to be built. If a student in the classroom who has been in three foster homes in the plast 6 months, where they have been physically abused by another foster child in the house and then had issues with bug bites and had red marks on their face, and then constantly threatened they will be removed from the home by the "aunt" they were staying with ifthey don't behave well, the last thing they care about is learning 3 digit by 1 digit multiplication. They couldn't give two sh#ts about it unless you can develop a plan to help motivate them. Rewards can do that.

 

[teachercd]

Also, one last bit of advice...if you are thinking about teaching...I would take down that FB post. I know many many many administrators that will go right to FB before they even interview you. Yes, they are crazy ones but there are a lot of crazy ones.

Agree 100%...in fact there are plenty that are not crazy and will look at this. Many employers in the private sector do this as well.

Yep...just take it down. Get rid of it. It is not worth it. In the end no one cares about your SPED thoughts but you will apply for a job, they will search you on the old web...see that stupid post and toss your resume out. It is not worth it for them. It is not like they won't have 20 other teachers applying for that job.

 

[Eric the Red]

Behind The Shortage Of Special Ed Teachers: Long Hours, Crushing Paperwork
Revolving Door Of Teachers Costs Schools Billions Every Year