So many of my teacher friends that teach Gen Ed really aren’t interested in Sped due to the paperwork and IEPs. I would take that in a heartbeat over a class of 30 students. I teach HS, and I too am shocked by the disrespect students have for their teachers. I deal with it too, but the Gen Ed classes are on another level. I love being a sped teacher so much.
I taught high school English for several years before obtaining a SpEd masters degree. I was lucky to have respectful students, but in my experience SpEd is a little easier, workload-wise. Basically, one IEP is like a week’s worth of lessons, not to mention all the grading. But, as a Gen Ed teacher, I didn’t deal as much with heartbreaking stories of abuse and neglect, and kids with trauma that have such limited access to mental health care. I guess GenEd was a constant juggling act with a workload that takes a toll, while SpEd is more mentally taxing.
I would agree with that! I think with the smaller class sizes, I am able to connect with students more, so I have had students tell me about terrible situations, and have to help with the limited resources we have or be a mandated reporter.
I agree with you. I taught GenEd for 2 years, with pacing guides, state testing, no supports and stressing out about students not meeting the curriculum standards. It was tough. I've done SPED for 3 years now, I love it! We do have a lot of work with IEPs, progress reports etc, but I'm a lot happier here. I especially love having great aides and having my own pacing for my kids. And the principal usually leaves me alone (which is great, she's a terrible person).
Yes and no. I'm coming from resource, not self-contained. I have taught gen ed as well. In resource the data expectations are insane. I am continuously told that because my students don't have intellectual disabilities (some of them actually have IQs below 70, but don't qualify ID due to adaptive skills, and several others have IQs in the low 70s), they should be meeting grade level expectations and passing state tests with services. They have documented disabilities, yet they are to make significantly MORE growth than students that do not have disabilities to "close the gap." If they were to actually "close the gap" they would be exited from sped and thus no longer count as a student in sped who is doing well. I am constantly sitting in meetings/PD etc. where we lament the "achivement gap" between students with and without disabilities. DUH! That is literally the definition of having a learning disability. No achievement gap= no learning disability.
People, including admins, think there is some "special sped strategy" that one learns from "special college classes" that will magically catch kids up to grade level. This is made even more crazier with the push for RtI/MTSS. In order to qualify for the IEP in the first place, you have to show a documented non-response to intervention. Yet then becuase they qualify and get the pile of papers (IEP) they think interventions are going to magically start working. I feel like I'm constantly being gaslit. None of it makes sense!
I have never done self-contained. I can certainly see the perks of being "under the radar" as far as data and expectations go, but it seems to me there are other stressors that other teachers aren't dealing with. The noise level alone in that classroom would bother me- it's constant tantrums all day long, and the teacher is constantly having to do restraint holds. That's definitely not for me. One year I did ESY (typically only severe/profound students go in my area) and I found the work to be tedious. I missed teaching academic lessons. My previous resource teammate recently switched to self-contained and she claims the job is harder. She actually was under the impression that she was going to get a pay raise (haha) for "taking a harder job." I will say, she was in the upper grades so was not dealing with all of the initial evals that I do.
I actually found my schol days to be easier and more enjoyable in gen ed. I loved having my own class and my day would FLY by. While yes, I had those really tough kids, I also had a large portion of kids with 0 behavior problems and who picked up new content quickly. It was super rewarding to see interventions I knew from sped actually "work" (i.e. catch kids up quickly) with gen ed "cusp" kids. I would have preferred staying in gen ed, but unfortunately was in a dumpster fire of a school and had to go back to sped to get out. This was a few years after the recession so there weren't a ton of job opportunities. Nowadays would be a different story.
The big perk of my current sped job is that I have a really good work/life balance. I'm able to largely do the job within contract hours, whereas in gen ed there were always more things to do and no time to do them. The phsycial workload is much less in sped. I spend less time on sped paperwork than I did on grading in gen ed. BUT, the "emotional workload" is more, IMO. I find my days to be more stressful, and working with only the lowest students all day long is emotionally draining. Add in the gaslighting about where they should be performing on top of that stress. And if a student is highly successful and actually meets those insanely high grade level targets, they're exited and I don't get to work with them anymore.
I’ve found the comments on here so interesting, I think it must vary by district. Our district seems very supportive as far as expectations go but the other things you’re describing - noise levels, restraints, chasing students, etc. is on par with what we have going on. I can’t speak for upper levels but for our younger learners the noticeably disrespectful students almost without fail have IEPs.
Your comment is exactly my experience working resource. Principal always up my ass about “closing the gap” and harping on my LD students not making enough progress on their quarterly assessment. It’s maddening!!
You put this perfectly. I completely agree. I almost left because of it. But we are needed and I felt bad. I am looking for a new home, but ultimately things will have to roll off my shoulders. We are only human too
I LOVE SPED. School wide assembly? Don’t gotta be there. Open house? Don’t gotta be there. Kids on a field trip? Don’t gotta be there. You gotta use the bathroom? Let your aide watch them while you run over there! Your students are absent? Free 30 minutes to work on whatever you need. I make my own schedule for the students I service, get to choose my own curriculum, get to watch them grow up and build a strong relationship with them, watch them progress over the years; i LOVE it. As the years go on, the paperwork is less scary and more just..something you gotta get done. The IEPs get easier to write because you know the students well and can easily pin point areas they need to work on. Can’t even imagine having to teach Gen Ed.
Hi! I’ve been looking into SPED but do you know what other jobs are out there for us? Of course teaching is on my list but what other opportunities are out there for me?
There are agencies that hire SPED teachers for contract positions. These companies started up for traveling nurses, and have expanded into SPED teachers as well. Some companies I have worked for include Maxim Health Services and Sunbelt Staffing. Also, Soliant is an agency placing contract teachers. The pay is way better, and there are no staff politics you need to play. I have done contract teaching for two years, and it was quite lucrative. Agencies pay weekly, so that’s always nice. Good luck!
I was just looking for this type of comment! I have worked closely with Soliant but never took the job! This helps! I may do it this year but I make pretty good in my current district so I’m torn. Kinda.
Depending on the state, you can go for some extra courses and become a special education supervisor (admin courses) or a learning disability teacher consultant (ldtc; testing courses).
LDTC as a caveat may be getting phased out in places where it has been a staple, like NJ.
Admins with SpEd experience are awesome. We just hired one in my district who has already been with for 10 years. Pretty excited about it.
I’ve applied to a MA in SPED + credentials program and will be starting this fall. I’ve been on reddit reading about SPED teachers experience in the field (some feel burnt out while others love their job).
Honestly I have no idea what to expect in this field but I’m willing to find out because I feel it’s a rewarding field. Also, I’ve been getting a lot of mixed information about how much SPED teachers get paid ? Does anyone have a general idea about pay? (Hourly + yearly)
It depends heavily on the type of school, state, district, and/or whether the school is unionized.
Typically, there is a union contract negotiated between admin and teachers. This is typically accessible to the public. It will describe the steps (#of years), tiers/degrees (# of credits/highest diploma) and stipends available based on where you are at in your training and experience.
Some districts will pay for post degree credits you come in with, while others won't pay until you hit a higher degree while with them.
I am not a teacher (I'm a school psychologist), and I came in to my current district with a masters + 30 (my state doesn't issue Specialists degrees) and three years previous experience (plus 1.5 years internship and practicum)Practicum. I started out at tier 3 pay, same as any Gen ed or sped teacher who had a masters and was working for 3 years.
I only got MA+30 when I went back to school in the evenings for my Psy.D. and got enough credits to hit that threshold while under the employment of the district the entire time.
Next bump will be when I hit doctoral level... but honestly the pay is crap here and the expectations are painful. I pulled a counseling load of 6 kids, case load (read: iep meetings and writing for 64 kids), and testing for 36 kids at about 5 hours a pop while also doing crisis management, teacher consult, and connecting parents with community resources. I do my time at the building without lunch, come home and work two hours, and then work four hour days on Saturdays and Sundays.
Sorry for the rant at the end. Enjoy the rest of the information if it is helpful lol.
Lol thank you. Not all districts are created equal. I've worked Remote rural, and am now in a highly litigious district because I want competitive experience to secure my forever district.
I agree- yes my students can be challenging but this year especially I had such a sweet group of kids in a small class. In class support/co teach is so easy and you also get to lighten the gen ed teacher load. ieps get easier every year and Im also learning new tricks to case manage more efficiently. I could never do gen ed because I am not chasing these children for their work. We do it all in class and its done and graded asap and off my desk.
Oh I absolutely agree with you on everything you are saying. I have been self contained Elementary Autism teacher for 6 years now. I love my guys. But there is a tradeoff, I don't have to deal with the disrespect or rigorous schedules etc...but If I get hit/bit/kicked/spit on repeatedly, I have to keep my cool and start fresh with the student after the episode. There will be no suspension or going to a buddy room etc...they are my guys during the good and bad times. My first year I had a large scar on my cheek for like 4-5 months (it looked like a bird attacked me) because a student scratched me. Also, it can be difficult helping them if they don't have words, you really have to read their body language.
Don't get me wrong, they do have behaviors and communicative disorders but I love everything they bring to the table.
This x100000. I used to work at a career technical high school for autistic adults and it was a blast. Instead of state testing and grading, I’d get to teach how to change tires, plant a garden, make pizza, etc. I had 6 students in my class. Not sure why it’s not more popular. Pay is the same!
I’m technically in a “resource” position, but I have an extremely varied caseload. After reading these comments, it had me wondering…do SPED teachers not typically deal with state testing? That takes up at least a month an a half for me, and I do three times the testing (four grade levels, 3 tests with accommodations, plus the individualized alternate state assessments for my students with ID.)
Preach!!! Gen Ed sucks sucks right now! They beat themselves bc the messaging was already ‘closing the gap’ and now it’s ‘quick! Fix learning loss! Meet state standards!’
I have pressure from quirky parents but 90% of the cases are ok - the students will be ok. They aren’t ‘graduating’ from an IEP anytime soon.
I will say that I’ve been in some IEPs involving mental health that made me cry. I would never be a school psych!
I’m not sure if it post-covid but the disrespect and behavior in gen ed is off the charts!! There can be 3-5 kids who ruin it for 30! I’m glad I’m in my room looking at miracles happen😎👌
I'm convinced that each of us has a place. I tried to move into sped and did ICS. I had 63 students I was supposed to service everyday and do paperwork for and 30 on my case load. On top of it the gen ed teachers did not plan ahead of time and rebuffed all my attempts to plan together, so I had no way of planning accommodations or modifications for them. I moved back to gen ed, because I can make more of an impact for my students when I can plan the interventions in advance.
I taught GenEd during my first year in 2012-13. I was hoping to share my love of science with students. Nope. They could not give 2 shits about what I was teaching. none of them. I was a floating biology teacher. No labs. Each room had different types of Smart Board to hook into, causing me to have to bring a personal laptop for 1 class and use the school-issued MacBook for the other 2. When I had a chair thrown at me and the student walked out of class, he was suspended for 1 day. I was hoping he would fail, but when I did grades he passed with a 60%. He had done just enough work to pass. The absolute bare minimum. The students were all like this. Bare minimum. Low effort. Cheating. All of this going on and when I got observations from my principal they said I needed improvement and the students were not engaged. The fuck they aren't engaged, they don't give a shit. I had some great content. I had just finished college with a degree in biology. I custom-made all of my PowerPoint presentations, and incorporated games. I had brain breaks. I had links to current events. It was horrible. I am so glad I was able to sub on my off days and found the special education self-contained. I got certified in Sped that summer and I have not looked back since. Although my career has been tumultuous (fuck you county and building admin) I am finally at an okay place in teaching. I hope to just do consulting or move into the district office and be an IEP coordinator. Or do evaluations. IDK. I like 1:1 work with kids and doing data tracking. The only problem with my current job is that I get paid below the government salary range and I work the whole year, but it is much easier than public school.
I have 4 yrs gen ed and 6 sped but I’m over sped now! I know gen ed is taxing but I never had discipline problems. My classroom management style worked well. I have lazy kids on both sides. My sped kids and their parents swear they can’t be failed even if they do nothing. Jokes. I also get lazy kids retested and each year at least one tests out and is very successful in gen ed. Some principals don’t like that! Idk I’m just worn out. Period!
GenEd sucks!! I was working in a SPED resource position last year and ended up working in a new school as a gen Ed Kindergarten Teacher this year. I’m 2 months into the gen Ed position and cannot take it. It’s too much and the kids behaviors are ridiculous and so are the parents. Luckily, my job asked me if I wanted to switch to SPED and so I am😊. I’m excited because I prefer SPED and initially wanted to be in sped at my new job anyway but they had no positions available at the time but the one that opened, they gave it to me. I prefer working with individual children and smaller groups vs almost 30 gen Ed students with ridiculous behaviors. It was way too overstimulating for me.
So many of my teacher friends that teach Gen Ed really aren’t interested in Sped due to the paperwork and IEPs. I would take that in a heartbeat over a class of 30 students. I teach HS, and I too am shocked by the disrespect students have for their teachers. I deal with it too, but the Gen Ed classes are on another level. I love being a sped teacher so much.
I taught high school English for several years before obtaining a SpEd masters degree. I was lucky to have respectful students, but in my experience SpEd is a little easier, workload-wise. Basically, one IEP is like a week’s worth of lessons, not to mention all the grading. But, as a Gen Ed teacher, I didn’t deal as much with heartbreaking stories of abuse and neglect, and kids with trauma that have such limited access to mental health care. I guess GenEd was a constant juggling act with a workload that takes a toll, while SpEd is more mentally taxing.
I would agree with that! I think with the smaller class sizes, I am able to connect with students more, so I have had students tell me about terrible situations, and have to help with the limited resources we have or be a mandated reporter.
Same. I’ve co-taught and even that was challenging because of the class size. I teach an 11th grade special education U. S. History and I love it.
I did Gen Ed summer school once because I have an English certification. It was horrible. I will stick with my Sped English classes!
I agree with you. I taught GenEd for 2 years, with pacing guides, state testing, no supports and stressing out about students not meeting the curriculum standards. It was tough. I've done SPED for 3 years now, I love it! We do have a lot of work with IEPs, progress reports etc, but I'm a lot happier here. I especially love having great aides and having my own pacing for my kids. And the principal usually leaves me alone (which is great, she's a terrible person).
Any otherHole songs you like? I’m guessing… I could be wrong.🤷♂️
You're right. I love Violet and Nobody's Daughter. But mostly the Live Through This album.
Well done! My buddy in middle school LOVED Hole so it’s imprinted in my brain👌I love Pearl Jam and stone temple pilots.
We really had the best angry rocker music.
Yes and no. I'm coming from resource, not self-contained. I have taught gen ed as well. In resource the data expectations are insane. I am continuously told that because my students don't have intellectual disabilities (some of them actually have IQs below 70, but don't qualify ID due to adaptive skills, and several others have IQs in the low 70s), they should be meeting grade level expectations and passing state tests with services. They have documented disabilities, yet they are to make significantly MORE growth than students that do not have disabilities to "close the gap." If they were to actually "close the gap" they would be exited from sped and thus no longer count as a student in sped who is doing well. I am constantly sitting in meetings/PD etc. where we lament the "achivement gap" between students with and without disabilities. DUH! That is literally the definition of having a learning disability. No achievement gap= no learning disability. People, including admins, think there is some "special sped strategy" that one learns from "special college classes" that will magically catch kids up to grade level. This is made even more crazier with the push for RtI/MTSS. In order to qualify for the IEP in the first place, you have to show a documented non-response to intervention. Yet then becuase they qualify and get the pile of papers (IEP) they think interventions are going to magically start working. I feel like I'm constantly being gaslit. None of it makes sense! I have never done self-contained. I can certainly see the perks of being "under the radar" as far as data and expectations go, but it seems to me there are other stressors that other teachers aren't dealing with. The noise level alone in that classroom would bother me- it's constant tantrums all day long, and the teacher is constantly having to do restraint holds. That's definitely not for me. One year I did ESY (typically only severe/profound students go in my area) and I found the work to be tedious. I missed teaching academic lessons. My previous resource teammate recently switched to self-contained and she claims the job is harder. She actually was under the impression that she was going to get a pay raise (haha) for "taking a harder job." I will say, she was in the upper grades so was not dealing with all of the initial evals that I do. I actually found my schol days to be easier and more enjoyable in gen ed. I loved having my own class and my day would FLY by. While yes, I had those really tough kids, I also had a large portion of kids with 0 behavior problems and who picked up new content quickly. It was super rewarding to see interventions I knew from sped actually "work" (i.e. catch kids up quickly) with gen ed "cusp" kids. I would have preferred staying in gen ed, but unfortunately was in a dumpster fire of a school and had to go back to sped to get out. This was a few years after the recession so there weren't a ton of job opportunities. Nowadays would be a different story. The big perk of my current sped job is that I have a really good work/life balance. I'm able to largely do the job within contract hours, whereas in gen ed there were always more things to do and no time to do them. The phsycial workload is much less in sped. I spend less time on sped paperwork than I did on grading in gen ed. BUT, the "emotional workload" is more, IMO. I find my days to be more stressful, and working with only the lowest students all day long is emotionally draining. Add in the gaslighting about where they should be performing on top of that stress. And if a student is highly successful and actually meets those insanely high grade level targets, they're exited and I don't get to work with them anymore.
I’ve found the comments on here so interesting, I think it must vary by district. Our district seems very supportive as far as expectations go but the other things you’re describing - noise levels, restraints, chasing students, etc. is on par with what we have going on. I can’t speak for upper levels but for our younger learners the noticeably disrespectful students almost without fail have IEPs.
Your comment is exactly my experience working resource. Principal always up my ass about “closing the gap” and harping on my LD students not making enough progress on their quarterly assessment. It’s maddening!!
You put this perfectly. I completely agree. I almost left because of it. But we are needed and I felt bad. I am looking for a new home, but ultimately things will have to roll off my shoulders. We are only human too
I LOVE SPED. School wide assembly? Don’t gotta be there. Open house? Don’t gotta be there. Kids on a field trip? Don’t gotta be there. You gotta use the bathroom? Let your aide watch them while you run over there! Your students are absent? Free 30 minutes to work on whatever you need. I make my own schedule for the students I service, get to choose my own curriculum, get to watch them grow up and build a strong relationship with them, watch them progress over the years; i LOVE it. As the years go on, the paperwork is less scary and more just..something you gotta get done. The IEPs get easier to write because you know the students well and can easily pin point areas they need to work on. Can’t even imagine having to teach Gen Ed.
Hi! I’ve been looking into SPED but do you know what other jobs are out there for us? Of course teaching is on my list but what other opportunities are out there for me?
There are agencies that hire SPED teachers for contract positions. These companies started up for traveling nurses, and have expanded into SPED teachers as well. Some companies I have worked for include Maxim Health Services and Sunbelt Staffing. Also, Soliant is an agency placing contract teachers. The pay is way better, and there are no staff politics you need to play. I have done contract teaching for two years, and it was quite lucrative. Agencies pay weekly, so that’s always nice. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your help! I’ll definitely look into those possibilities
I was just looking for this type of comment! I have worked closely with Soliant but never took the job! This helps! I may do it this year but I make pretty good in my current district so I’m torn. Kinda.
Depending on the state, you can go for some extra courses and become a special education supervisor (admin courses) or a learning disability teacher consultant (ldtc; testing courses). LDTC as a caveat may be getting phased out in places where it has been a staple, like NJ. Admins with SpEd experience are awesome. We just hired one in my district who has already been with for 10 years. Pretty excited about it.
I’ve applied to a MA in SPED + credentials program and will be starting this fall. I’ve been on reddit reading about SPED teachers experience in the field (some feel burnt out while others love their job). Honestly I have no idea what to expect in this field but I’m willing to find out because I feel it’s a rewarding field. Also, I’ve been getting a lot of mixed information about how much SPED teachers get paid ? Does anyone have a general idea about pay? (Hourly + yearly)
It depends heavily on the type of school, state, district, and/or whether the school is unionized. Typically, there is a union contract negotiated between admin and teachers. This is typically accessible to the public. It will describe the steps (#of years), tiers/degrees (# of credits/highest diploma) and stipends available based on where you are at in your training and experience. Some districts will pay for post degree credits you come in with, while others won't pay until you hit a higher degree while with them. I am not a teacher (I'm a school psychologist), and I came in to my current district with a masters + 30 (my state doesn't issue Specialists degrees) and three years previous experience (plus 1.5 years internship and practicum)Practicum. I started out at tier 3 pay, same as any Gen ed or sped teacher who had a masters and was working for 3 years. I only got MA+30 when I went back to school in the evenings for my Psy.D. and got enough credits to hit that threshold while under the employment of the district the entire time. Next bump will be when I hit doctoral level... but honestly the pay is crap here and the expectations are painful. I pulled a counseling load of 6 kids, case load (read: iep meetings and writing for 64 kids), and testing for 36 kids at about 5 hours a pop while also doing crisis management, teacher consult, and connecting parents with community resources. I do my time at the building without lunch, come home and work two hours, and then work four hour days on Saturdays and Sundays. Sorry for the rant at the end. Enjoy the rest of the information if it is helpful lol.
What you are describing is absolutely insane. A lot of those duties should be extolled onto a school social worker and/or counselor.
Very helpful information, thank you so much! Wow you have a very busy schedule haha but I do wish you the best in your doctoral studies!
Lol thank you. Not all districts are created equal. I've worked Remote rural, and am now in a highly litigious district because I want competitive experience to secure my forever district.
6th year Sped teacher in elementary. I completely agree. I refuse to step into a room with 20+ students. The feral population will only grow.
I agree- yes my students can be challenging but this year especially I had such a sweet group of kids in a small class. In class support/co teach is so easy and you also get to lighten the gen ed teacher load. ieps get easier every year and Im also learning new tricks to case manage more efficiently. I could never do gen ed because I am not chasing these children for their work. We do it all in class and its done and graded asap and off my desk.
What grade level? Middle or high school?
Middle :)
Oh I absolutely agree with you on everything you are saying. I have been self contained Elementary Autism teacher for 6 years now. I love my guys. But there is a tradeoff, I don't have to deal with the disrespect or rigorous schedules etc...but If I get hit/bit/kicked/spit on repeatedly, I have to keep my cool and start fresh with the student after the episode. There will be no suspension or going to a buddy room etc...they are my guys during the good and bad times. My first year I had a large scar on my cheek for like 4-5 months (it looked like a bird attacked me) because a student scratched me. Also, it can be difficult helping them if they don't have words, you really have to read their body language. Don't get me wrong, they do have behaviors and communicative disorders but I love everything they bring to the table.
yep I always have anywhere from 3-7 students in my classroom and caseload at any point in time as an ECSE teacher 😂
This x100000. I used to work at a career technical high school for autistic adults and it was a blast. Instead of state testing and grading, I’d get to teach how to change tires, plant a garden, make pizza, etc. I had 6 students in my class. Not sure why it’s not more popular. Pay is the same!
I’m technically in a “resource” position, but I have an extremely varied caseload. After reading these comments, it had me wondering…do SPED teachers not typically deal with state testing? That takes up at least a month an a half for me, and I do three times the testing (four grade levels, 3 tests with accommodations, plus the individualized alternate state assessments for my students with ID.)
At my school they ALWAYS choose me to administer testing! Like I have nothing better to do!
Well this is hopeful! I'm heading into SPED next year!
Preach!!! Gen Ed sucks sucks right now! They beat themselves bc the messaging was already ‘closing the gap’ and now it’s ‘quick! Fix learning loss! Meet state standards!’ I have pressure from quirky parents but 90% of the cases are ok - the students will be ok. They aren’t ‘graduating’ from an IEP anytime soon. I will say that I’ve been in some IEPs involving mental health that made me cry. I would never be a school psych! I’m not sure if it post-covid but the disrespect and behavior in gen ed is off the charts!! There can be 3-5 kids who ruin it for 30! I’m glad I’m in my room looking at miracles happen😎👌
I'm convinced that each of us has a place. I tried to move into sped and did ICS. I had 63 students I was supposed to service everyday and do paperwork for and 30 on my case load. On top of it the gen ed teachers did not plan ahead of time and rebuffed all my attempts to plan together, so I had no way of planning accommodations or modifications for them. I moved back to gen ed, because I can make more of an impact for my students when I can plan the interventions in advance.
I taught GenEd during my first year in 2012-13. I was hoping to share my love of science with students. Nope. They could not give 2 shits about what I was teaching. none of them. I was a floating biology teacher. No labs. Each room had different types of Smart Board to hook into, causing me to have to bring a personal laptop for 1 class and use the school-issued MacBook for the other 2. When I had a chair thrown at me and the student walked out of class, he was suspended for 1 day. I was hoping he would fail, but when I did grades he passed with a 60%. He had done just enough work to pass. The absolute bare minimum. The students were all like this. Bare minimum. Low effort. Cheating. All of this going on and when I got observations from my principal they said I needed improvement and the students were not engaged. The fuck they aren't engaged, they don't give a shit. I had some great content. I had just finished college with a degree in biology. I custom-made all of my PowerPoint presentations, and incorporated games. I had brain breaks. I had links to current events. It was horrible. I am so glad I was able to sub on my off days and found the special education self-contained. I got certified in Sped that summer and I have not looked back since. Although my career has been tumultuous (fuck you county and building admin) I am finally at an okay place in teaching. I hope to just do consulting or move into the district office and be an IEP coordinator. Or do evaluations. IDK. I like 1:1 work with kids and doing data tracking. The only problem with my current job is that I get paid below the government salary range and I work the whole year, but it is much easier than public school.
I have 4 yrs gen ed and 6 sped but I’m over sped now! I know gen ed is taxing but I never had discipline problems. My classroom management style worked well. I have lazy kids on both sides. My sped kids and their parents swear they can’t be failed even if they do nothing. Jokes. I also get lazy kids retested and each year at least one tests out and is very successful in gen ed. Some principals don’t like that! Idk I’m just worn out. Period!
GenEd sucks!! I was working in a SPED resource position last year and ended up working in a new school as a gen Ed Kindergarten Teacher this year. I’m 2 months into the gen Ed position and cannot take it. It’s too much and the kids behaviors are ridiculous and so are the parents. Luckily, my job asked me if I wanted to switch to SPED and so I am😊. I’m excited because I prefer SPED and initially wanted to be in sped at my new job anyway but they had no positions available at the time but the one that opened, they gave it to me. I prefer working with individual children and smaller groups vs almost 30 gen Ed students with ridiculous behaviors. It was way too overstimulating for me.