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Friday, September 03, 2010

Special Education Class…

I’ll admit it. When assignments for SED (Special Education Class) or SDC (Special Day Class) are offered, I tend to check what else might be available. My trepidation is that I’m never sure what I’m supposed to do or what to expect mentally or physically from the kids in the class.

Given the realities of this potentially lean year in subbing, I arrived at school last Thursday morning ready to survive the day. The teacher left a detailed lesson plan that involved several folders with assignments for each student. All the assignments were tailored for the abilities of each student.

She had left me a quick summary of the twelve, 8 to 10yr old kids I would shortly meet. In addition, there were two aides assigned to help with any issues that might come up. That was a big relief and they reassured me that this was an easy going group and should I experience any problems, they were there to take care of it for me.

If you are waiting for the horror story of the day, I’m happy to disappoint. The kids were curious, friendly and much better behaved than the three “normal” 1st grade assignments I had earlier that week. The few potential incidences that did come up were quickly and quietly handled by the classroom aides.

Will I sub “SpecialEd” in the future? Sure, why not!

8 comments:

Chris Osborne said...

I've started to think that Special Ed, and high school PE too for that matter, don't really mean anything. There are so many directions those classes can go. I've never had the same type of day twice with those.

Anonymous said...

Special Ed Classes are my favorite classes to sub for. With a few exceptions, these kids are a joy to work with. Maybe the fact that I have two grandchildren with disabilities makes it easier for me to identify with these great boys and girls. Nebraska Sub.

Anonymous said...

Special Ed Classes are my favorite classes to sub for. With a few exceptions, these kids are a joy to work with. Maybe the fact that I have two grandchildren with disabilities makes it easier for me to identify with these great boys and girls. Nebraska Sub.

Other Mother said...

Yay!!! We have special needs foster and adopted children, and I think you will find their classroom time well-planned, detailed, and the paras/aides are a wonderful resource. It would be difficult for a non-dedicated teacher to remain in a special ed classroom, and we've had many amazing teachers for our kids. And . . . if you sub regularly enough to get to know the kids, they are wonderful people with many special gifts, and many work very hard to please you. They may turn out to be your favorite sub jobs!

GT Goddess said...

Hooray for aides! And small class sizes.

Kat said...

A fellow substitute teacher advise me to definitely add special ed classes to my list when I first started. I never had a problem as you usually get aides in the room who know what they are doing. I enjoy elementary and middle school special ed.

Just to caution you to be careful with high school emotional behavior disability (EBD) special ed classes. I took on a high school class and one of the students threatened to break my arm when I tapped him on the shoulder. Turns out you shouldn't touch certain kids 'cause of issues they may have. That experience freaked me out because he was a football player (big and strong) and he looked quite angry. I took all EBD postings off my list.

On the other end of the spectrum, the grade school kids were all sweet, sweet, sweet.

Karen said...

I, too, was reluctant to sub Spec. Ed. when I first started subbing (about 12 years ago). My first Spec. Ed. class was at a high school and it was SO much fun. It was the first time, as a sub, I left feeling like I taught SOMETHING, instead of babysitting. Now I am a known as a Special Ed. sub and have since started a private practice working with kids on the autism spectrum!

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