Teaching in Special Education

by Shannon Stepp | More from this Blogger

02 Feb 2007 09:27 PM

First of all, let me express the fact that I love my job. I really do. Teaching is something that I wanted to do for quite some time. When I finally received my degree, I wasn't sure what grade level I wanted to teach. I was aiming for junior high or high school; however, I didn't know which one. In the end, I had several offers but one stood out more than the rest. It was an offer to teach special education at a high school about half an hour from my house. I had never thought about going into special education before but it sounded interesting. Needless to say, I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into!

Well, it is over half way through the school year and I am just now figuring out what my job entails. To be completely honest, I spend as much time helping my students overcome diversity than I spend teaching. What I am finding out is that many of these kids are completely lost. They have been pushed aside and disregarded for years. The administration doesn't want to deal with them. They often just see them as troublemakers and are quick to punish them before they even get to the bottom of a situation. In the past, their teachers would call on them and get mad when they didn't spit out the answer quickly and correctly. They saw it as rebellion. Did it ever occur to them that they couldn't read?

A new student was recently enrolled in my English class. He is a junior and it is his first year in special education. Looking at his transcripts, he was in all regular education classes last year. He received all passing grades - mostly C's. After spending time with him, it was painfully clear that he couldn't read - not even a little bit. He cannot write or spell even the simplest sight words either. How did this child get so far without anyone noticing? He was pushed aside and forgotten about.

As teachers, it is our job to stand up for these kids. We have to take our job seriously and make sure kids like this don't fall through the cracks. If we do, we are doing a complete disservice to our students. We have to make sure that no child gets left behind.

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Learn more about Shannon Stepp

My name is Shannon Stepp. I am a 34 year old high school teacher. I have been married for almost 14 years and have three children ages 12, 11, and 8.

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