.jpg)
Special Education for Beginners | Managing Paraprofessionals, Special Education Strategies, First Year Sped Teachers, Special Ed Overwhelm, Paperwork for Special Education Teachers
The Go-To Podcast for Special Educators who want to reduce their stress and begin to feel success.
Hey special educator…
Overwhelmed by the absurd amount of paperwork on your to-do list?
Wish you had the skills to build a rock-solid team with your paraprofessionals?
Do you find yourself scouring the internet for how to meet the diverse needs of each student on your caseload?
Hey there friend…I’m Jennifer Hofferber from Sped Prep Academy, 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've got the metaphorical blisters to prove it! I’ve cried your tears and felt your pain and now I’m here to support you 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 thrown your way, 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.
Next Steps:
Visit the Website: https://www.spedprepacademy.com
Join the Free Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpedPrepAcademy
Email Me: jennifer@spedprepacademy.com
Special Education for Beginners | Managing Paraprofessionals, Special Education Strategies, First Year Sped Teachers, Special Ed Overwhelm, Paperwork for Special Education Teachers
Episode 60: 5 Things I Wish I'd Been Taught in College
#60 5 Things I Wish I'd Been Taught in College
As a teacher leader and someone who provides support to other special educators both online and throughout my district as a department head and through providing professional development to teachers...I hear this All. The. Time.
I wasn’t taught that in college.
And the sad truth is that they are right. They weren’t taught a lot of things in college that they are having to deal with today and it’s very aggravating. Imagine if a doctor were to say..."Sorry I can’t treat that sore throat because I wasn’t taught that in school." Or if an electrician said, "Your house may or may not burn down because I wasn’t taught how to fix that in school." And just as 2 examples...both doctors and electricians are taught while actually working within their field. They have clinical experience and hands-on training that help prepare them for when the unexpected happens.
It’s frustrating to me because we need to know. We need to be told about all aspects of the job so that we can better prepare ourselves for what we will actually experience instead of having to figure it out on the fly and spend 5 years or more struggling. We need to experience a meltdown and see how an experienced teacher handles it. We need to see someone put together a schedule and plan instruction groups. We need to see how to progress monitor and organize data. It’s really no surprise that the burnout rate for special educators is so high We literally were not adequately prepared for this job.
So I thought I would begin to try to let you in on the biggest holes your college preparation classes left.
This episode discusses:
1) Dealing with behavior
2) Managing paperwork
2) How to work with a variety of students at one time
3) Supervising paraprofessionals
4) Scheduling
I truly believe our college preparation classes drop the ball in so many areas when it comes to preparing special educators for the real world. Hopefully this episode will help teachers who are struggling with these aspects of being a special educator.
Mentioned in the Show...
Episode 43 with Sasha from the Autism Helper
Episode 56 with Nicole from Adaptation Station
Paraprofessional Handbook
How to Write an Effective IEP Digital Notebook