A New Position

This year I have started teaching in a totally different setting.  My entire teaching career so far has been teaching middle school inclusion.  While I loved my students and coworkers, inclusion was not the route I originally intended to go with my teaching career.  I first fell in love with special education when I worked in a home with a young boy with cerebral palsy.  I knew then that I wanted to work with students with more severe disabilities.  After a few years teaching inclusion, I wanted to get back to my roots and what I originally wanted to do.  So this year, I made the leap and accepted a position teaching medically fragile students with multiple disabilities at a special education school locally.

And I am so glad I made the switch!  This year has challenged me in ways I have never imagined.  I absolutely feel like this is where I am meant to be!  One of the challenges I have encountered so far this school year is that when searching online for resources or tips, there is simply not much out there for working with this population of students.  

*Enter this blog*


So naturally, I decided to start a blog.  This blog will be a culmination of resources and tips I have found and created through my own teaching and research.  This will not only be something I can refer back to for myself over the years, but also something that I hope will help other educators entering this very specific field within education.  Happy reading, and happy teaching!

Hugs, Smiles, and Giggles

So as it turns out...teaching is not all hugs, smiles, and giggles.  Teaching is hard.  There are so many things that they don't tell you in college and you learn when you begin your teaching career.  Lesson plans, standards, and state testing...oh joy.  I hear the words "teacher shortage" frequently and to be honest I understand why!  There are many times I have questioned if this is right for me.  The late nights, the extra duties, the poorly behaved kids (and their poorly behaved parents), the PAPERWORK!  Oh, the paperwork ya'll.  It's insane. 

But the thing is....teaching is worth it.  Despite all those crazy days where you just have to make it through the day, teaching is worth it.  When that one challenging student says "you are my favorite teacher" or that student you've worked with for years jumps up out of excitement and says "I've never read anything that fast!"  Teaching is worth it.  Despite "those days," teachers are making a difference.  If you reach one child, or one family in your teaching career, you have made a difference. 

There are days where there are hugs, smiles, and giggles.  There are also days where there are crying and tears.  The important thing to remember is that you are more than a teacher.  You are a person, an individual, and in order to take care of your students, you need to take care of yourself.  That is something I am slowly learning.  At times it is hard to take a step back and remember on those stressful days to take care of myself.  Those days will happen...but at the end of the day, teaching is worth it.