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So, You Want to Become a Special Education Teacher?
Special education teachers work with special needs students who must have their lessons tailored to them on account of physical or intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, or mental health issues. Some special needs educators have a classroom of their own, while others co-teach in an inclusive setting where special needs students are integrated with other students their own age.
If you’re interested in special needs education, you’ll need to develop a specific set of skills through education, and obtain state licensure. However, education and skills alone can’t make a great special education teacher. You’ll also need to possess a genuine love of children and a set of other crucial personality traits, including patience, creativity, optimism, a good sense of humor, and strong organization skills.
Education and Licensure Requirements for Special Ed Teachers
At a minimum, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree in order to teach special needs students. However, many states require special education teachers to have a master’s degree. You can earn your bachelor’s degree in an academic subject or elementary education, with a special education minor, or you can go ahead and major in special education. If you major in special education, you can use your master’s program as an opportunity to specialize in a specific field of special education, but otherwise, your master’s program should focus on the basics of special education so you can obtain licensure. You can even earn your MS in Special Education online while working as a teacher, allowing you to earn teaching experience at the same time.
Once you have your degree, you’ll need to obtain special education teaching licensure. The requirements for teaching certification and licensure vary from state to state. Look up the requirements in your state so you know what to expect.
Personality Traits You’ll Need to Succeed
On top of an advanced degree, in order to make it as a special education teacher, you’ll have to really, genuinely like children. Real children, especially those with special needs, may act out when they feel upset or overwhelmed. They may not always be as polite as you’d like, because they haven’t learned this skill yet. They may be messy, and may even struggle with hygiene issues. Special needs children especially require a non-judgmental teacher who can accept them as they are.
You’ll need to be very intelligent to make it as a special education teacher, since you’ll have to adapt your lessons to fit the needs of each individual student. That means you’ll need to closely observe your students and do a lot of thinking about their strengths and weaknesses, their learning style, and how you can make lessons most accessible to them.
Other strengths you’ll need include strong organizational skills, not only so you can provide the students with the structure they need, but also so you can stay on top of federal and state guidelines and meet any deadlines that may arise. An even temperament and a good sense of humor will help you make lessons fun for your students, who will enjoy class much more if they can sense that you’re enjoying their company.
Creativity will help you find novel ways to present information so that special needs students can understand it. Patients will help you weather those moments when special needs teaching inevitably becomes frustrating. Optimism can help you remain hopeful and encouraging when students struggle to master subjects or lessons, as they almost certainly will.
Job Outlook for Special Needs Teachers
While the need for talented special needs teachers is great, the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t predict as much growth for this field in the next 10 years as it does for some others. Special needs education is expected to grow by about six percent over the next decade. So, while there are special needs jobs out there, you’ll need to keep in mind that the field is very competitive. Do everything you can while in school to improve your chances of landing a job. Speak with career counselors, network as much as you can, practice interviewing techniques, make sure your social media presence is squeaky clean, and polish your resume until it shines.
Special needs teachers need a specialized education that can help them make lessons accessible to their students, and they need a specific set of personality traits in order to succeed in the field. If you think you have what it takes to be a great special education teacher, don’t hesitate to start on the path to special needs teaching today. The field needs more educators like you.
How to transition out of academia (and why) once you get your Ph.D.
Traditionally, the Ph.D. is intended to prepare students for a career in academia. Most Ph.D. students hope to obtain a prestigious post-doctoral fellowship, followed by a tenure-track professorship, upon graduation. But The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that 76 percent of the academic labor force consists of adjunct professors who can’t qualify for tenure and make about $2,700 per course.
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t earn a PhD. Earning a doctorate gives you critical thinking skills, teaches you how to collaborate, and bestows a level of expertise in your field that employers place a premium on. A Ph.D. can still lead to a lucrative career path, as long as you look for opportunities outside of academia upon graduation. You just have to learn how to market yourself, and you may want to seek advice from other Ph.D.-holders who have successfully navigated the transition out of academia.
Decide What You Have to Offer Non-Academic Employers
The smoothest career transitions out of academia belong to those who hold Ph.D.s in STEM fields — industry has long valued experts in science, mathematics, technology, and engineering. But you don’t have to hold a STEM Ph.D. in order to have a lot to offer a company. Ph.D.s in all fields impart some of the following qualities:
- Strong communication skills
- The ability to express complex ideas in a way that is easy to understand
- Creativity
- Problem-solving skills
- Self-direction
Translate the academic skills you learned while doing your Ph.D. into marketable job skills. You may have little industry experience, but if a company wants two or three years of experience, you can argue that work you did in the course of earning your doctorate required some or all of the skills needed for the job. Be specific about which of your skills meet the company’s job requirements. Customize your CV and cover letter to each position.
Allay Recruiters’ Fears About Candidates With Ph.D.s
Companies often fear that Ph.D.-holders will be too introverted, won’t be able to communicate with “regular” people, or will get bored with an industry job if they don’t feel intellectually stimulated. Let recruiters and interviewers know that you’re personable and down-to-earth, with great communication and people skills. An industry job can be just as intellectually stimulating as degree work or an academic position; make sure you can convey a genuine excitement about the job for which you’re applying. Point out that, in many Ph.D. fields, you need to be a team player in order to complete research or teach classes.
When you do a Ph.D., you’re essentially seeing a long and challenging project through to completion — play up that fact in interviews. Make clear that while you’re capable of working well with others, you’re also capable of working independently without a lot of supervision. Draw attention to your sense of accountability and remember, just because you have a Ph.D., you’re not inherently smarter than any of your future colleagues. Don’t act as if you’re owed a position.
Talk to Others Who Have Left Academia
You’ll have an easier time transitioning into an industry position if you complete a Ph.D. that prepares you for work in industry, especially one with strong, expected growth. But if you already have a Ph.D. in French, Russian literature, history, or some other field that appears to have a solely academic focus, don’t worry. You can translate any Ph.D. into a well-paid job.
Start by joining a professional organization for Ph.D.-holders who want to work outside of academia, such as Versatile Ph.D. Versatile Ph.D. sponsors nationwide networking events and more casual meet-ups for Ph.D.s who have, or want to, pursue careers outside of the Ivory Tower. You can discover more about your career options, find job listings on the group’s website, and get advice from other Ph.D.-holders about how to find jobs outside of academia. Registration is free, and members of one of the site’s many subscribing institutions can access premium content designed to help them find jobs.
Though the Ph.D. is traditionally meant to prepare students for a career in academia, the skills it teaches can be useful across a range of industries. Don’t feel that your Ph.D. limits you to teaching at the university level. In fact, it can open doors to lucrative, stimulating, and fulfilling careers in all kinds of industries, no matter what your field of study.
Best Tech Startups for Education in 2015
Edu-tech
According to custom USA essay writers, education technology has emerged to ease the pressure in the classrooms and well as to equip learners with the necessary skills for the good of the society. As a result, the education has devoted its resources in creating a suitable environment that suits the growth and development of learners. Budgetary team pays a keen eye on funding learning institutions in order to propel technological advancement as well as to meet the increasing demand for the students across the world. Based on the above agendas, how are the current trends in the tech start-up?
Online Studies
According to International Academia Research Group, e-learning is increasing at the rate of 13% annually. This proliferation means that business organizations and learning institutions will allocate more than $210 billion in the technology line by 2018. E-learning is flexible since potential students can pursue their degree of choice from the comfort of their homes. This learning model helps the learners to customize their devices and access most of the learning materials.
Skills Acquisition
Tech start-ups create a competitive learning model where the participants demonstrate their know-how towards working with different devices. If this knowledge utilized in an organization, numerous benefits will occur. Simulation, modeling and interchanges among students, are critical under start-ups since new ideas develop. Online educations will help students gain skills that match what a company requires.
Flip Learning
Tutors stream videos through particular links that students utilize in order to upload video whether at home or school. Then, lecturers consolidate the students in classrooms to brief them on the coverage of the video. This learning model helps in optimizing students’ interactivity. With the current trend, education will continue being enjoyable and beneficial to the society.
Monthly Mayhem: How PMS Affects Your Blood Sugar
Last month, you experienced some nasty side-effects from your period. This month, it’s time to change that, but how? PMS can negatively affect blood sugar levels and, while you may not be diabetic, there is a risk when you get pregnant. Here’s how to combat the effects and minimize your risk.
How PMS Affects Your Blood Sugar
PMS affects your blood sugar in ways that science cannot yet fully explain. Unfortunately, there aren’t many studies addressing this issue. But there is one study by Villanova University College of Nursing that showed decreased insulin sensitivity during menstruation.
This would explain why some women don’t do well on high-carb diets or diets with excessive amounts of sugar in them. The decreased insulin sensitivity means that insulin produced by your body (the pancreas) isn’t sufficient to lower blood sugar resulting from sugars in the diet.
This caused hyperglycemia in test subjects. In other words, you’re more likely to have high blood sugar during menstruation than during other times of the month.
Symptoms can include feeling highly charged and capricious during your period, going through rages, irritability, or spits of anger, you may also become bloated and cranky or develop headaches.
How To Test For Low Blood Sugar
Fortunately, this isn’t something you should have to battle with your entire life. You will probably have to make some modifications to your current diet or lifestyle, but it’s manageable. All you need are simple OneTouch Products like a glucometer. The glucometer is a device that measures your blood sugar.
You prick your finger and collect a blood sample. Then, you insert the sample into the device and it measures your blood sugar.
The results can tell you whether you’re susceptible to hyperglycemia during your period. If you are, there’s a very simple remedy for this.
Eating a Low-Carb Diet
Ultimately, the solution to all your menstruation problems is adopting a low-carb diet during your period. Macronutrient cycling isn’t exactly new, but it’s something most people (who aren’t in the bodybuilding world) aren’t familiar with.
Basically, you’ll be reducing your carbohydrate intake while adjusting the other two macronutrients in your diet (fats and proteins) upwards. So, if you reduce your carbohydrate intake to 50 grams per day, you would need to increase either fat, protein, or both.
It takes some getting used to, but you’ll notice your mood improve, your blood sugar will normalize, and you won’t have those feelings of being tired, anxious, cramps, bloating, or other nasty side effects.
You’ll also notice a dramatic improvement in your overall mood – which others will thank you for.
Finally, by lowering your carbohydrate intake, you may notice a reduction in temporary weight gain normally experienced during this time period. That’s because high fat and protein diets are “water-shedding” diets, which will keep you from becoming overly bloated. You may also start losing unwanted body fat.
Watching you sugar intake is definitely a challenge if you’re not used to it. A lot of foods contain sugar – ones you wouldn’t normally suspect. But, if feeling and looking better is important to you, then it’s going to be all of the trouble and then some.
Linda McNabb has worked in the healthcare field for some time now. A passionate writer, she likes to research and share health information in order to help others live better. Look for her illuminating posts on many of today’s top websites.
College Fashion | 3 Ways to Smarten Up Your Attire
The art of college fashion comes in so many forms; your personal style is everything and your wardrobe is an important way of expressing yourself. But when it comes to more formal occasions such as a job interview or a formal dance, it’s important to smarten up your act. Here are 4 formal occasions and some super quick transformations to help you tidy up your wardrobe.
The Job Interview
Job interviews (whether they are for a weekend job at a local fast food outlet or for your first role after graduation) all require a certain level of smartness in your attire. It doesn’t matter what the line of work you are going into, the first impression really does count. A good tip for office interviews is to match the interviewer; dress how you might dress if you were already working for that company. For more relaxed job roles, both male and female interviewees can quickly smarten up a casual outfit with a tailored blazer.
The Formal Dance
Formal dances are extremely exciting and they are a great way for you to mingle with other students. It’s tradition to take a date so dressing appropriately is important if you’re looking to impress. However, many students choose to attend formal dances with their friends so taking a date isn’t essential. Whatever you choose to do, it’s still important to look the part. If you don’t want to overspend, you can easily find a suit with a cravat on Shein or style up a simple black dress with some clever accessorizing – a clutch bag and heels create instant glam.
The First Date
Dates can be either casual or formal so it really depends on the venue. But if you happen to find yourself frequenting an upscale restaurant with a first date, it’s important to understand the dress code. For women, a dress and heels can be ideal for both casual/smart venues as well as formal venues. But for men, decoding the restaurant dress code can be a little more complicated. A few wardrobe staples for men should be a pair of smart shoes, a basic suit, some smart shirts and a selection of ties, bow ties or cravats. For the ultimate dining versatility, be sure to invest in a smart dinner jacket; one which can be dressed down with jeans and a shirt or dressed up with a shirt and tie.
