Brylie Muhlestein

STRATEGIES FOR SELF-CARE:

WORKING IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A SPECIAL

EDUCATION CLASSROOM

• 8-12 students with severe disabilities

• 1 teacher with 2-3 aides

• Students have IQ lower than 70

Students may have:

Autism, Down syndrome, ADD, ADHD, Cerebral Palsy,

Physical disabilities, Feeding tubes, epilepsy, other genetic disorders,

as well as other disabilities.

They might be:

Non-verbal, wheelchair-bound, aggressive, defiant, medically fragile

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A SPECIAL

EDUCATION CLASSROOM

• Working in a special education classroom can be very demanding in several different ways.

• Physically demanding:

• Walking/running

• Constantly on your feet

• Lifting or helping move students

• Bending

• Changing diapers

• Help feeding students

• Students may hit/kick/bite

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A SPECIAL

EDUCATION CLASSROOM

Emotionally demanding:

Defiance on a regular basis

Students don’t progress/learn

You might struggle leaving work at work

Dealing with upset parents

Under-appreciated

Insane amounts of paperwork

Coordinate schedules for all your students

Coordinate schedules for meetings for yourself

Training paraprofessionals (aides)

Data collection

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A SPECIAL

EDUCATION CLASSROOM

PAYING ATTENTION TO THE

SELF

Knowing your job:

The burn-out rate is much higher for special education teachers than most other professions.

50% of special education teachers will leave their jobs within 5 years.

Another 25% will leave within 10 years.

That means that there is a 75% turnover rate in 10 years!

(Dage, 2006)

PAYING ATTENTION TO THE

SELF

Paying attention to yourself and knowing what your limit is as well as when

you are at your limit is very important.

Work can leave you physically and emotionally drained at the end of the day.

PAYING ATTENTION TO THE

SELF

“An occupational hazard that trips up too many of us is

failing to stop and pay attention when we become too

exhausted, too discouraged, too frustrated, too sad, too

angry, too disillusioned, or too cynical.” (Pope & Vasque, 2011)

1. Lack of Appreciation

-Most of the time, special education teachers do not receive

as much recognition as general education teachers.

2. Lack of Parent support

-Parents don’t keep up with how their child is doing in school or blame the teacher if something

goes wrong

3. Lack of Public Support

-People often think as a teacher of special education you are “basically

playing all day” plus you get the summers off. Your job can’t be that

hard!

4. Paperwork

-IEP’s for each student are at least 10 pages long and take careful

consideration. Not to mention the other paperwork required by the

district, state, and federal government.

TOP 10 CHALLENGES FOR

SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

H T T P : / / W W W . F R I E N D S H I P C I R C L E . O R G / B L O G / 2 0 1 2 / 0 2 / 0 1 / T H E - T O P - 1 0 -C H A L L E N G E S - O F - S P E C I A L - E D U C A T I O N - T E A C H E R S /

5. Scheduling

-Coordination the students’ class schedules in general education, APE,

OT, PT, speech, as well as their time in the Life Skills classroom.

6. Training and Supervising Paraprofessionals

-Each teacher has at least 2 aides in the classroom. They are there to supplement

what the teacher is doing. The teacher has to train the aides of how they would like their classroom run as well as how

often they can intervene with behaviors.

7. Collaborating with General education teachers

-In a special education classroom, the students still have to follow the core

standards, just accommodated to their needs. A special education teacher needs to collaborate with the general education

teachers to adapt the information for their students.

TOP 10 CHALLENGES FOR

SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

H T T P : / / W W W . F R I E N D S H I P C I R C L E . O R G / B L O G / 2 0 1 2 / 0 2 / 0 1 / T H E - T O P - 1 0 -C H A L L E N G E S - O F - S P E C I A L - E D U C A T I O N - T E A C H E R S /

9. Evidence of Student

Growth

-Making sure that student’s are

progressing is part of the job for

any teacher of any subject. The issue

comes down to when you have

worked for a year with a student for

learning numbers and they may only

be able to name numbers 1-5 80%

of the time.

10. Variability of students’

needs.

-Every student is different. Even if

they have the same diagnosis they

are going to act differently, learn

differently, and need different

learning techniques used. You never

know what you are really walking

into at the beginning of the year.

TOP 10 CHALLENGES FOR

SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

H T T P : / / W W W . F R I E N D S H I P C I R C L E . O R G / B L O G / 2 0 1 2 / 0 2 / 0 1 / T H E - T O P - 1 0 -C H A L L E N G E S - O F - S P E C I A L - E D U C A T I O N - T E A C H E R S /

You need to remember that you can’t help your students

or other people if you haven’t helped yourself first.

Look for red flags that show you that you need to take

better care of yourself.

PAYING ATTENTION TO THE

SELF

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

Red flags to watch for

• Are You Neglecting Paperwork?

• As a special education teacher, you’re required to do a lot of paperwork.

• Most of the paperwork is either to file to get government money or specific

to your students (IEPs, Behavior Plans, etc.)

• If you are starting to feel burned out, you might neglect paperwork that could get you,

your school, and your district in a lot of trouble.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

• Are you disrespecting students?

• When you start getting too overwhelmed at work, your work starts to slip. You

might then start disrespecting the students you work with.

• You might complain about them when you’re face-to-face with them as well as

when you are away from work. Either way it is inappropriate.

• You may think that the student will never learn and give up on trying to help

them.

• Even though the students have severe disabilities, that doesn’t mean they are stupid.

They still pick up that the people working with them don’t enjoy being with them and

would rather be somewhere else. This may cause them to act out because they know you

don’t want to be working with them.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

• Are you disrespecting your co-workers?

• Having paraprofessionals or aides in the classroom is a great resource to help you

when you are stressed out.

• You might start taking advantage of them by having them do things that really are your

responsibility. You lean on them to do too much without the higher pay that you are

experiencing.

• Make sure you have a good relationship with your aides so that you can count on them

to have good communication. They are there to help but not to do your job.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

• Are you physically at work but not really present in what you are doing?

• You might show up to work and be in the classroom, but instead of helping the

students, you make yourself busy with other things.

• You don’t notice what is going on around you. A student might throw something

across the room and you don’t even notice.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

• Are you finding yourself calling in sick or finding meetings

to go to frequently?

• If you are finding ways to avoid being in your classroom you should realize that

something might be going on.

• Leaving a classroom, even with the aides that know the students, is unfair to all

involved. The aides are not meant to be teachers. They are there to help but not take

your place.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

• Are you lacking energy?

• Working in special education is very physically and emotionally draining.

• Do you go home from work and either go right to bed or find that you aren’t getting

anything else done?

• Do you go home ready to cry every day from work?

• These can be signs that you are needing to take better care of yourself.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

• Are you losing interest in your job?

• When you neglect yourself you can lose interest in your job.

• You may have enjoyed your work and helping the students and but instead feel as

though you don’t make a difference and there is no point in trying.

• You no longer enjoy what you used to, not only in your career but also in every day

life.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF-

CARE IS NEGLECTED

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

Now that you have seen the red flags, you now need to do something to fix it.

You need to choose a strategy that fits in with your personality and life.

You may need to try several things before finding something that helps you

the most.

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

• Avoid Isolation:

Being in a classroom all day by yourself can keep you disconnected from your co-workers

and peers. You cannot leave your students alone so finding time to go talk with other

teachers/staff in the school is a lot harder to do.

Finding a way to keep connected to others is crucial so you don’t feel too isolated. Make

sure you make time to talk with or see other people besides just your students in the day.

When you go home, make sure you stay connected with your friends. You may be

exhausted from the day but make time to go out and have time for yourself.

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

Avoid Fatigue:

Most the time, you don’t really get a break from the students except maybe for your 30

minute lunch break. Make sure you use this time for yourself instead of using it to do

work related things. Without a break throughout the day, you may feel completely

exhausted and “done” by the end of the day.

If you can, work in short 10-15 minute breaks as well. This will all depend on your

students and aides, but if possible make sure you take some time to keep your cool.

(Along with this, allow your aides to do the same if needed. They’re dealing with the same

crazy classroom as you are!)

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

Avoid an Unsupported Life:

Administration: Talk with the principals and administration at the school and make sure

they know your needs. They can come in and check on the classroom and help out if

needed; they just need to know what they might be getting into when they come in.

Aides: Allow your aides/paras to help you in the classroom. There are certain

responsibilities that should be left up to the teacher, but allow the aides to do things that

can help relieve your stress (organizing, taking data, etc.)

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

• Avoid an Unsupported Life:

• School Psychologist: Make sure you and the school psychologist speak frequently

about problem behaviors you have. They are the ones that will help implement

behavior plans if needed and can offer suggestions of interventions.

• Teacher Mentor: There are mentors from the district that can help you with any

situation you come across. Don’t forget to ask! If they don’t have the answer they will

find it for you. They are there to support you!

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

• Keep your weekends for yourself !

• There will be times where you are tempted to use weekends to catch up on work. Its

highly likely though this will burn you out because you’re never getting a break for

work.

• Make sure to plan at least one day that has no work involved so that you can come

back the next week ready to start it over again.

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

• Physical Exercise

• Even though you might be getting all the work-outs you need at work,

try getting in other ways to exercise throughout your day.

• Many people find that exercising can help calm them down after stressful situations.

MAKING SURE THE STRATEGIES

FIT

Teaching Special Education video

SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER