Education is too important to take seriously.
Education is too important to take seriously.
You may wonder why a guy is going into special education; I know some of my classmates do. For those that are not that familiar with this field, it is extremely rare for a male to go into SPED. I am the only male special education major in my year and although it was very intimidating at first I have managed to work through it. I'm not trying to imply that other people in my major or professors have held any biases toward me because I'm a guy but still at times it can seem that your alone in the world. I mean, several times I've been called out as the only man in the class to speak my mind,
The main reason that I'm getting in to this field is the kids. Children with disabilities have a hard life; they're constantly told that they can't accomplish what they what to just because of their disabilities. When you hear this enough times, you start to believe it and give up whatever motivation you have. The public school system is geared towards only certain students and it is very easy for students in Special Education to fall threw the cracks. As a teacher, I want to show these students that it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks of you. If you're motivated enough and work hard you can do what ever you want to. How do I know this? When I was in 3rd grade I was diagnosed with a learning disability. This almost broke what little confidence I had in myself. For years I thought I was smart but continued to make bad grades, this started to wear on me after awhile. After being placed in a LD classroom I soon realized that my teacher was a horrible person. I clearly remeber the day when she told me that I was
My Student Teaching Autobiography
My Praxis Scores:
PPST READING 185
PPST WRITING 179
PPST MATHEMATICS 187
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"Gee, Erik. Your a guy, what do you think?" Now thats tough, sitting in a class full of women and being asked to represent the whole male gender. I manage though, mainly because most of the people in my major are so cool. I've been seen as a SPED person and not as a guy, thats a plus. I believe that Special Education attracts the cream of the crop when it comes to education majors. People tell me that because I'm a man and want to teach emotional/ behavior disorders I'll be able to pick the school I want to work at. This is almost unheard of in the teaching profession, since it is hard enough to find a job as it is being that the field is so over crowded. This hits me in two ways. Right off, "oh yeh, I'll have a job. Time for the happy dance." but then I feel bad because even though I believe I'll be a good teacher I still don't merit this preference over my fellow SPED majors just due to the fact that I'm a guy.
"stupid and would never be able to accomplish any thing."
At this age a comment like this has a major impact on the way you think about yourself. For me, however, it was a source of inspiration. From that point on I worked harder then I ever had before and this is what has motivated me to study special education and become a teacher. I never want a student to undergo what I had to go through.