This is a helpful video. I've taught special ed in high school for six years, but I moved to a new state recently and have thought about trying elementary school for a change. Everything you said about high school is true for me, too. You get to form relationships with older kids that don't happen at a younger age, and I love that I can be more blunt with high schoolers. I'm still considering elementary, though!
I totally get it! Do what is best for you. Elementary students are wonderful too! Sometimes change is best! Good luck with the upcoming school year and make sure to reach out if you need anything!
I wish special education was like this when I went to school. When I went to school in the '80s and early '90s they taught us all at the same level. Same thing year in year out till I graduated good educational video
I am so excited about your videos and the knowledge that you are sharing. I am a first year high school sped teacher at a charter school. Thank you, thank you, thank you so very much❤️
I was a Para and I hope to get into it again soon. But I’ve also heard about Gen Ed teachers being very prejudice and not receptive to the sped students. I’ve also heard about cases where the parents were made to have their child placed into special education and also parents who fight to keep their kids out of it or a situation where the parents sign forms unknowingly consenting to have their child evaluated and when the parents are told their kids qualify they’ll deny any service.
A very informative and useful video. I only have one objection. As a SERT you are equally responsible for IEPs for advanced (often bpred) students or children with unusual learning styles. Oh, actually one other important role. As a SERT you are an important source of PD for the regular classroom teacher. This role makes you a critical factor in the overall function and culture of the school and the community.
Great video!!! The information shared was helpful and useful. I'm currently a career changer working to get my SpEd degree and working as a para to get experience. Everything you said about high school sounds perfect for me other than the paperwork. Successfully managing a caseload of students with their IEPs has me concerned about working a ton of hours and consuming my time for family and extracurricular activities. How many hours a week do you truly work to be effective (or even better, highly effective) as a high school SpEd teacher? I'll be watching your other videos for more tips. Thanks!
Great question! My first job was as a high school special education teacher and I easily worked 60+ hours a week… however once I had kids I forced myself to only work my contract hours. You can easily work endless hours and still feel like you have more to do, so I think it is important to set those boundaries. There will be a big learning curve your very first year so you might have to work extra hours, however I think it is doable and important to try to only work your contract hours after that. Feel free to send me a message if you would like me to go more in depth! Good luck with your first job!
Hello, just came across your channel and very excited! It’s so hard to come across special education channels. I have been a self-contained teacher for the last 6 years and have spent most of my teaching in elementary special Ed. I am moving back to middle school self-contained working on life skills and vocational prep along with academics. I would love to see some functional classroom set-up for 7th and 8th graders going into high school
Hello! I am so glad that you found my channel. Unfortunately I have never taught middle school, but would love the opportunity to try it out someday! I plan on doing classroom set up videos and scheduling videos in the future! Thank you so much for following along. Please let me know if there’s anything else that I can do for you!
I spent this past school year in a Pre-K sped class and it was my absolute worst year in education. I’m moving to a new district and have offers for both elementary and high school TA positions. I have been on the fence between the two, but I’m really leaning towards the high school. It will be a huge change for me, but if it doesn’t work out, I can always go back to elementary next year.
From my own personal experience I totally recommend trying out high school! I will never go back to elementary after experiencing the difference between the two!
There is a world of difference between how kids are functioning in early childhood compared to elementary. Early childhood is very preacademic whereas most kids with exceptional needs do make significant jumps in their ability to function and engage academically even if they are still behind their grade level. Even with those with more severe disabilities...the work that has been put in between early childhood and elementary could be thought as having the same significance as transitioning from elementary to highschool in the progress of a given particular student.
Early childhood sped is a path unto itself apart from elementary, middle, and high school so I would not necessarily count yourself as unsuitable for elementary based upon the experiences with early childhood sped. And then going through things with a finer tooth comb, Middle School can be the best of both elementary and high school while still presenting its own challenges....especially with the getting further behind academically as the academic content becomes more specialized/departmentalized.
Thank you for your video! I may have the chance to choose between teaching elementary and high school special education - I'm leaning towards the high school one because i care a lot about the future of the youth, but i am afraid of handling them when they are bigger and indeed have more emotions / hormones. I'm not sure whether it would be possible for me to start from Elementary, and go up to High school education from there once I am more comfortable but it would take more years of teaching to reach there. Still thinking about it!
That is such a hard decision! As you know, I definitely prefer high school but every teacher is different! Good luck with deciding your future career and thanks so much for watching!
Hello! I absolutely love high school! The type of resources you will need will depend on if you will be teaching self-contained or resource. If you are teaching self-contained I have a whole math curriculum and I lot of career/work readiness resources in my TPT shop. Good luck with your decision and thank you so much for watching! :)
I'm a sped paraprofessional while going to school full time. My degree is in special education. However, the classrooms I am in have students that are not disabled and more so have ADHD or a hard time focusing. (I love all students and always help them) but I thought I would be helping more hands on with life skills and other information you mentioned. My question to you is: Is it just my school district that's like this? Or do I need to teach at an alternative school? Or is there so other / new acronym that life skills goes by now. In conclusion, I love helping people. I just thought I'd be doing what you do and what I see on other people's channels that talk about sped, but I am not and I am confused. Any feed back would be great! Thank you! And awesome video!
Hello! It sounds like you might be in more of resource setting with students with learning disabilities. Typically life skills classroom are considered self-contained and usually you work with students with more severe disabilities like intellectual disabilities.
@@coltonmonroe9824 if you are wanting to work on more life skills with students you could ask for a position with students with intellectual disabilities. Or just ask if they have any life skills classes you could help with!
@@ActiviTeach Awesome I will do that. At my school district they do not use the term "life skills" they looked at me like they were confused. I believe the terminology has changed where I am at. In addition, thank you again so much! Instant Sub!
I have not unfortunately. I would love to try it though if I ever got the opportunity! My only experience at the middle school level was my level 3 teaching experience in college and I really loved the students!
Hi..I am from India and working as a special educator.. Thanks for your videos..in India we usually follows study skills as well as life skills goals in high school level..i would like learn more about special education classes for high school in US..kindly guide..
Was thinking the same thing as I currently work as special edu para with autistic middle schooler and am finding that while it can be challenging at time it can also be rewarding at same time .
Having taught SDC high school another con or challenge is a high caseload of IEP's, meeting Benchmark Goals, and in a single school year, one could have up to 4 or 5 Triennials. For elementary, the amount of IEP's to manage are lower.
This can definitely be true! Surprisingly where I taught I had a lower caseload at the high school level, but the school was much more supportive of special education services than the elementary school I taught in (at a different district and state).
It depends on the school, but in general they will teach all of the core subjects on top of life skills. Some other classes that might be taught are employelity skills and transition. I was fortunate enough to teach at a large school district where I only taught special education math and life skills.
what are exactly do teachers consider special needs. In my way, if i was a special needs teacher, I would let the kids figure it out for themselves what they want and what they need. I will not and never ever let other people decide for them. They can help. But that is it, that is where I will draw the line. I will help you, but they got to decide that by themselves. I hate the excuse that just because some kids are "special' that means they need this or need that and they cant figure it out themselves. BS.
