I spent one year as an instructional assistant in a life skills classroom. Our classroom had 9 students. There were many differences in our small group. The age range was between 1st and 4th graders. The needs ranged from physical to developmental. Although I have many years of experience in the field of education and […]
Search results
Want to Keep Special Education Teachers? Try Mentorship
“[O]ne of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building communities of resistance, places where we know we are not alone.” -bell hooks Isolation island seems to be the name of the game when you enter into the special education profession. It’s often a sink or swim mentality which results in teacher retention […]
Being a Black Woman in Special Education is Traumatic. But We Can Change That
Education: To work in special education is never an easy feat. However, “educating within special education as a Black Woman is downright traumatic.” I thought this recently as I stood in the classroom, recalling countless conversations I’d had with my special education colleagues. Black students are referred and assigned to special education restrictive programming at a […]
Special Education and Social Distancing- The Struggle All Around
Erin Popper has been a Special Education Teacher in Florida for seven years. She has taught a wide range of disabilities in various classroom settings. She earned her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, FL. Erin’s extracurricular activities include, but are not limited to, coaching high school swimming, […]
Staying Within Law: Special Education Teachers and IDEA
Although it’s been a rough start to the 20-2021 school year for most school districts in the United States, school districts are still required to meet the service needs of their special education students. Under IDEA, the Bible for Special Services, also known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act, denotes in detail what our special […]
Taking the Anxiety Out of Student Placement in Special Education
If you are like me you get very invested in your students in special education. So invested that it is difficult to release them to the next special education teacher. I teach kindergarten through third grade mild/moderate special education in a resource room, so some of my kids loop up with me the next year […]
Making Special Education Work For Everyone
I teach in a mild/moderate special education classroom, meaning that all of my kids are on IEPs and have been placed in my room because they meet disability criteria that my school district recognizes. They are able to attend a regular education classroom for all other subjects besides reading, language arts, math and adaptive behavior. […]
Making Sense of Special Education Paperwork: 3 Systems That Save Me Each and Every Time
I took a new position this year, one where the teaching I’ve been doing is the same, but the paperwork is not, I am a special education teacher in a resource room for kindergarten through third grade. For those of you are new to the special education area (like me) and are literally wallowing in […]