Special Education for Beginners | Managing Paraprofessionals, Special Education Strategies, First Year Sped Teachers, Special Ed Overwhelm, Paperwork for Special Education Teachers

Keeping Perspective in Special Education: A Pep Talk for the New School Year

• Episode 225

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At the start of a new school year, everything can feel big. The stress, the expectations, the changes...they all seem to hit at once. If you’re in that season of overwhelm, this episode is your much-needed pep talk.

In Episode 225, I’m sharing the mindset shifts that have helped me stay grounded, protect my peace, and stop giving energy to things that don’t matter in the long run. Whether you’re already in the thick of it or gearing up to start the 2025–26 school year, this is the perfect time to take a deep breath and shift your perspective.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

  • Why it's normal to feel overwhelmed at the start of the year (you’re not alone!)
  • 3 key perspective shifts that can help you stay grounded and avoid burnout
  • How to tell the difference between a moment and a mountain
  • Why building strong connections with your team (especially your paras and gen ed colleagues) matters more than ever
  • What it means to zoom in, zoom out, and find the balance in between

Quick Recap of This Month’s Back-to-School Series:

If you missed any of those episodes, now’s a great time to go back and catch up!

Key Takeaways from Episode 225:

🔄 Perspective Shift #1: Will This Matter in 3 Days, 3 Weeks, or 3 Months?

Use the “Triple 3 Rule” to filter your stress and energy. Not everything is worth your mental real estate.

🤝 Perspective Shift #2: Stay in Your Lane—But Don’t Isolate

Focus on your students and your goals, but build strong connections with your support team and gen ed teachers. You’re not alone, and your people can help lighten the load.

🔍 Perspective Shift #3: Know When to Zoom In… and When to Zoom Out

Being detail-oriented is a superpower—but don’t forget to zoom out and look at the big picture. Your students are making progress. So are you.

Final Thoughts

You can’t do it all and you don’t have to. The job is big, but it should never come at the cost of your well-being. Protect your peace, give yourself grace, and remember: you’re doing better than you think.

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Speaker 1:

Well, hey there, welcome back to Special Education for Beginners. Can you believe we are almost done with August? We have covered a lot this month. We've talked about where to even start our back-to-school efforts by focusing on three priorities for special educators. We've tackled scheduling, with that Tetris-like puzzle of fitting everything in, and we walked through how to choose the right data collection system for your classroom. If you missed any of those, I encourage you to go back and have a listen system for your classroom. If you missed any of those, I encourage you to go back and have a listen Now.

Speaker 1:

I know that some of you still have yet to head back for the 25-26 school year and this might not apply to you yet, but others, like me, are already a couple of weeks in and probably feeling that beginning of the year exhaustion, the new routines, the new students, new paras, new schedules it literally feels like everything hits all at once. So today I want to finish out the back to school series by talking about perspective how to step outside your school bubble, keep the little problems from feeling like big ones and protect yourself from burnout before it starts. In this episode, I'm going to share some practical strategies to help you decide what is truly worth your energy. My hope is that you will walk away with a fresh perspective and a little more peace of mind as you head into the school year. Let's get to it. Hey, special educator, are you overwhelmed by the absurd amount of paperwork on your to-do list? Do you wish you had the skills to build a rock-solid team with your staff? Do you find yourself scouring the internet for how to meet the needs of each student on your caseload? Well, hey there. I'm Jennifer Hopperberg, an award-winning veteran special education teacher and current instructional coach, who has walked in your shoes through each of these challenges, and yes, I have the metaphorical blisters to prove it. I have cried your tears and felt your pain, and now I'm here to support you in the way I wish someone would have been there to support me. Listen in each week as my guests and I dish out practical wisdom to help you handle all the classroom curveballs that are thrown at you and learn how to laugh in spite of the chaos, to celebrate those small yet significant victories that only a special educator can understand. So are you ready? Wipe your tears and put on your superhero cape, because together we are going to learn how to survive and thrive in the ever crazy, completely overwhelming laugh, so you don't cry profession of being a special education teacher.

Speaker 1:

So if you've started the year out and you are feeling overwhelmed right now, if you are running around trying to do everything for everyone, if your to do list feels like it's just piling up faster than you can check things off, I want you to know it's not just you. You know the term misery loves company. Sometimes it's just nice to hear that you aren't the only one having struggles. I go to so many different buildings and talk to many teachers and I hear it from some of you on my email list this job is hard. This job is demanding, especially at the start of a year is hard. This job is demanding, especially at the start of a year. There's a lot coming at you all at once New students, new paras, new expectations, new routines. It's totally normal to feel like everything is urgent and that every little thing matters so much. But here's some truth that only comes with experience. I promise that most of the big problems you are dealing with right now won't feel so big later in the year.

Speaker 1:

Having taught for so long, I experienced my own set of big problems A new student on day three of school with major behavior concerns, who needed a one-to-one para and I didn't have one. Students with extreme medical needs that I didn't know how to address or handle. An extreme shortage of staff and not being able to cover all of my students' inclusion minutes, or large groups of pull-out students with a huge range of abilities and needs that weren't being met. And yes, I've cried. I've cried out of frustration, I've cried out of exhaustion and sheer overwhelm. I've cried because I didn't feel like I was doing enough. I've cried because I was mad and felt mistreated by the system. I threatened to quit more times than I care to admit and I questioned whether I was cut out for this work, even though, deep down, I knew I was where I was meant to be.

Speaker 1:

And yet here I am still standing, still showing up to support teachers like you who are in the thick of it, because I love this field and I know you do too Because even on the hard days, I know we are making a difference and I want you to know that those overwhelming problems won't stay big forever. Once the routine settle, once relationships are built, once the chaos fades into a rhythm, you will get through it, you will find solutions and you will figure it out, just like I did Now. I can't promise that you will get all the support you need from the higher ups. I can't promise your class sizes will shrink or that a para will magically appear or that every gen ed teacher will be on board with inclusion. But I can promise that you will get stronger, you will become more confident and your perspective will shift and one day, like me, you will look back and not even remember the things that once felt like the end of the world. So if you are in that space right now where everything feels so heavy, remember you're not alone, you're not doing it wrong. You're just in the hard part and it will get easier. But while you're in it, or before you head back into the thick of it, I thought it would help to have a few tools to bring you back to center, because, even though we can't change our circumstances, we can shift our perspective, and that shift can make all the difference.

Speaker 1:

So, perspective shift number one that I want to share with you is the triple three rule. One of the best tools I picked up along the way during my career is the triple three rule when something stressful happens, stop and ask will this matter in three days? Will it matter in three weeks? Will it matter in three months? If it matter in three weeks, will it matter in three months? If the answer is no, let it go. That lesson plan that flopped, no one's going to remember in three days. The para who forgot their duty, no one's going to remember in three days. The student who had a meltdown in the hallway might be remembered after three days, but for sure not in three weeks. These are moments, not milestones. Don't give them more mental real estate than they deserve. Perspective shift.

Speaker 1:

Number two is to stay in your lane, but don't isolate. It is so easy to get pulled into everyone else's drama Another teacher complaining about admin, a parent email with a negative tone or a district-wide initiative. That feels like just one more thing on your plate. It helps to stay focused on your lane, your students, your team, your goals. I was talking to a teacher in my district the other day and she said I just want to stay in my special education bubble and not have to deal with everything else. And I kind of laughed at that because that was what I always said when I was in the classroom I just like to live in my special ed bubble.

Speaker 1:

But staying in your lane or staying in your bubble doesn't mean you should isolate. Find your people, find those who build you up, offer their perspective and remind you that you are doing enough. It might be a co-teacher another special education teacher down the hall enough. It might be a co-teacher, another special education teacher down the hall or in the district, or even an online community of educators who get it Heck. It might even be a voice on a podcast reminding you that you are doing enough, even when it feels like you're barely keeping your head above water. And then don't overlook the power of building strong connections with your general education colleagues too. I know it can feel like you are in different worlds, but those relationships can make all the difference. When you collaborate, communicate and support one another, you not only improve outcomes for students, you create a team that helps everyone stay afloat. And then perspective shift.

Speaker 1:

Number three is to know when to zoom in and when to zoom out. In special education, we are trained to notice the little things Tiny gains in behavior, a shift in an attention span, an absent seizure taking place, a student finally writing their name independently. That attention to detail is our superpower, but just like with any superpower, it can also be draining. When you are constantly zoomed in on every data point, every behavior plan, every missed service minute, it's easy to feel like you're carrying the weight of the world. That's why it's so important to also know when to zoom out, to step back and look at the big picture, to remind yourself that progress is happening, even if it's not on a perfect timeline, to see that your students are growing, even if today wasn't the breakthrough you hoped for. Zooming in helps us meet individual needs. Zooming out helps us stay grounded and emotionally healthy. So give your permission to step back sometimes and reconnect with the bigger purpose behind the work you're doing.

Speaker 1:

As you settle into this new school year, I really challenge you to carry this one truth with you you cannot do it all and you don't have to Focus on what matters most. Tackle the most pressing issues first. Let the little things go. Laugh with your paras, have fun with your students, give yourself grace and keep perspective. The job we do is big, but at the end of the day, it's just a J-O-B and it can't be more important than your well-being.

Speaker 1:

So protect your peace. Trust that the big things will become little before you know it, and remind yourself that you are doing better than you think you are. Thanks for letting me walk alongside you during this busy, messy, exciting start to a school year. I hope these episodes have given you not just strategies, but also perspective and maybe even a little bit of peace. Now it's time to look ahead. Next month, we are shifting our focus to behavior management in the classroom, which is a topic that touches all of us in special education. So make sure you hit subscribe so you don't miss any of those episodes, and I will see you in September.