I'm a special educator. I have worked in both the self-contained and resource/co-teach settings. I love working with children. I think as special educators we are so lucky because we have the opportunity to help students who are the most vulnerable learners grow and learn. We may work with fewer students, but the impact that we can make is tremendous for our students. They need us to advocate for them and know that we believe in them. My students make me see the world through a different lens and I owe them the world for that.

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Teaching Philosophy

There is not one skill or attribute that makes you an outstanding provider in student support services, but rather a combination of several skills and attributes that are all necessary. As in any baking recipe, without one of the ingredients the whole recipe can go awry, even if you happen to be missing an ingredient that your recipe calls for the least amount of.

You need to develop nurturing relationships with your students. They need to know that they can count on you and that you support them. You need to be kind and loving and patient and positive with your students. You need to show empathy and compassion towards them. You need to have a desire to help them reach their inherent potential. You need to show them that you have a love of learning, so much of it that it is completely contagious to your students. You need to make it fun and engaging!

You also should develop healthy, working relationships with your colleagues. This demonstrates good examples of positive behavior to your students as well. Everyone needs to be on the same page as to the reason why they are in the profession of education: to help students grow and achieve their educational goals. Not being a team player is simply not an option!

You need to be flexible, yet maintain the necessary structure that your students need and thrive on. You need to be willing to teach in all different styles to suit the needs of your students, rather than a style that you may prefer to teach. Being organized and prepared is essential as well. It keeps you on top of giving your students what they need and allows you to inform your instruction based on their needs while at the same time making it manageable to monitor their progress toward their goals.

You need to be knowledgable of best practices in special education. You need to utilize different strategies with all of your different learners to meet their needs. You need to be well versed in many different kinds of reading and math interventions and understand how to monitor progress and change instruction when not enough of growth is demonstrated by your students.

Finally, you need to keep open communication not only with your colleagues and administration, but with the parents of your students as well. We are in this together with our students’ parents. We are all striving to have our students achieve and get the most out of their education, so it’s critical to stay in tune with our parents on the journey.