Going back to school for Special Education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a school psychologist and would caution you to really think about it. I think it is an impossible task to be really good at all the paperwork that is required and be really good at teaching. There just aren't enough hours in a day. I have met many special education teachers who are amazing at paperwork and presenting at IEP meetings yet are really weak teachers when I see them in the classroom or they are great teachers but their paperwork often doesn't reflect that (because they are so busy teaching). I wish my district could pair up these teachers. Some teachers are mediocre at both and some wonderful teachers can somehow manage to be fantastic at both. These teachers are rare and as a reward are often give the most challenging students and /or students with difficult parents. It really is luck of the draw sometimes what students you will have. Some years things are calm then the next year there are several cases where parents have advocates and/or attorneys (some cases I really feel the parents are justified; other cases not so much). Sometimes you want to do the right thing but you are told from a supervisor that it must be a certain way. At some schools IEP's are after school so you need to stay after school and can't leave.

This. And also, districts are starting to move to later start times for high schoolers (see FFX County). I would not count on being able to pick your kids up from elementary school. FWIW, I am a regular ed teacher in a middle school and I usually pick my kids up from day care/ after care around 5 PM every day. Yes, most days I can jet out right after school if I absolutely need to (appointment, etc) but if I did that on a regular basis I would never be able to keep up. Plus, there are staff meetings after school.

Very good point. Count on 1-2 meetings afterschool each week (minimum) and probably some before school.
Ask yourself if your main motivation is all of the perceived time you'll have with your kids. If it is, which I do understand, don't do it. There are other positions that can give you a bit more flexibility.
The most flexible schedule I have ever had was doing some mid-level clerical type stuff for a non-profit. It gave me 4 weeks off, a portion of winter break and a 35 hour work week. I think it would be ideal now that I'm a parent.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for these last few posts. It's helpful to hear the reality of the schedule. I actually have a very flexible job now and work 32 hours/week so it's not a perceived easy schedule I'm looking for. I have that. I'm looking for a new career that I could be passionate about and where I would feel challenged. But I'm not sure I want to give up my current flexibility. I thought the summer and getting home earlier would make the inflexibility worth it. But it seems like I was mistaken that I could be home for my kids in the afternoons.

[Anonymous]

I'm an ESOL teacher and I would never choose to be a Special Ed teacher. The burnout rate is high. We just started back to school this week and we have 2 new Special Ed teachers. My first year of teaching was 4 years ago and we had a new one back then too. Teaching by itself is exhausting and every year it gets worse. More and more is expected of us with no more time to actually get more done. It really takes a special person to do the job well and I would think that life at home would suffer. I pay for before and after care due to my school's starting and ending times.

[Anonymous]

Have you considered Speech Pathology?

[Anonymous]

I met a lot of mothers with children who were in special education, and they wanted to go into the field to work through their own issues or to be very involved and close to their child in the same school system.