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Did you know that teaching students with special needs, like ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, and speech and language disorders, is one of the fastest growing areas of education? It’s also one of the most rewarding. Special education teachers not only change lives every day, but they also earn some of the highest salaries in the profession! Rather than seeing this as a challenge or roadblock to your career aspirations as an educator, consider it an opportunity. Becoming a special education teacher can open the door to an exciting and challenging new world. The opportunities for growth and advancement are endless for those who have a passion for making a difference in kids’ lives. If you are interested in becoming a special education teacher or already are one and want to learn more about how to advance your career, check out our list of 10 tips below.
Know Your Students
If you are going to be successful in the classroom, you have to know your students. That may sound obvious, but it’s an important first step in making an impact. If you understand the challenges your students face every day and have a plan to help them overcome those challenges, you will have high-achieving students on your hands. You can start by learning about your students both inside and outside the classroom. Get to know their strengths and weaknesses. Learn about what challenges they face outside of the classroom, like home life struggles, health issues, and family situations. Understanding their situation will help you know how best to support them. Knowing your students will also help you better connect with them, which will lead to better communication and relationships.
Be a Master of Teaching Strategies
If you are going to be a successful special education teacher, you need to master the art of teaching strategies. These strategies will be your go-to methods of helping students learn. While you can use a wide variety of methods to support students, you will want to focus on a few that will give you the best results. This doesn’t mean that you should ignore other teaching methods, but it does mean that you should be confident in the ones you choose. For example, if you know that students learn best through visual or auditory means, you should focus on delivering content through those mediums. This can be done through visuals, like charts, graphs, and diagrams; by using relevant, everyday examples; by breaking down complex concepts into smaller, easier to understand pieces; and by using repetition to help reinforce key concepts.
Build Relationships With Parents and Students
Becoming a trusted and reliable source in your students’ lives doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort, but it is well worth it. Special education teachers have a lot of responsibility and are expected to be experts in many areas: from child development to behavior management, from dealing with difficult home situations to monitoring the health of your students. You can’t do it all. You need your students’ parents and your students to help. Building relationships with your students’ parents and getting them actively involved in their children’s education can make your job easier in many ways. Parents are a great source of information and insight into their children. They can be a wealth of knowledge if you take the time to talk with them and get them involved in their child’s education.
Be an Expert in the Writing Process
While you will likely be teaching students in all grade levels, the majority of your students will likely be in middle school or high school. For these students, the writing process will be your greatest challenge. Becoming an expert in the writing process will help you overcome many of the challenges associated with teaching writing. This means knowing all the different parts of the writing process, like the thesis statement, supporting sentences, and conclusion, and how to guide students through this process. It also means knowing when to intervene and when to let students work it out for themselves. This isn
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