13 Reasons I am Thankful for my SPED Teaching Job

For the first time, I was running late. I was trying to juggle my teaching job and online gigs and I had to be up until 2:00 am yesterday. It seems everything was going wrong this day before the Thanksgiving break. Then, I found out that I had a free day yesterday. You see, all my homeroom students were out. Not unusual for the day before a holiday. I still had to teach other students though. But then, the related service providers did a combined class activity so I just have to be present. Afterwards, we had a Thanksgiving lunch prepared by the students. That meant I do not have to teach and but still get paid! That led me into thinking that I am truly blessed! Here are 13 reasons why I am thankful for my SPED teaching job:

1. Freebie Prep Day

Yesterday, I was able to finish all my lesson materials for next week. I also updated my online gradebook and got caught up with school email. That means I can enjoy the Thanksgiving break without thinking about what I will do with my students after the break. Something I am truly thankful for!

2. Generates TpT Ideas for me

As I mentioned in my other posts, I accepted this teaching job to understand the current needs of teacher and students. Oh my, and how I understand them! I just need to carve time to process them and publish them in my TpT store. Soon!

3. The Pay is Great

I am lucky enough to be in a school district that pays a lot. Actually, I thought I will not get my previous salary tier when I resigned. Why? I saw in their recruitment page that the largest salary is around $30k less than what I had before. Well, I was ready to accept the lesser pay when HR showed me what they are offering. It is the same as before I resigned plus a thousand more. I was thrilled!

4. My Principal is Kind and Open-Minded

Principals set the tone of the school culture. My principal is kind and open-minded. He accepted the fact that I am going back to teaching to understand more about my target niche. He often takes time to ask how I am and he is open to suggestions.

5. I Love our Rotating Self-Contained Set-Up

I teach an Autism classroom. Usually, if you have a self-contained classroom, you have them the whole day except for specials. You also need to teach all academic subjects and prepare a lot. Well, in our school, I only teach Math plus Character Development for my homeroom. How? Well, our HS has a big SPED population. My class teamed up with 3 more self-contained classes and we shared academic loads. I picked Math and we switch students and follow our schools A/B schedule. I love it!

6. Eighty minutes of planning period everyday

Do I have to say more? 80 minutes planning is amazing! I do have 80-minute periods but that is nothing compared to being with the same students the whole day. Sometimes, I just sit down and do nothing for the first 15 minutes to recharge myself but it helps.

7. Lots of Resources

For the first time, I have my own smart board. I also have a bunch of tablets, desktop computers and a large classroom. It is really big! My biggest class of 9 students can fit in half my room. My other classes are only 3 to 5 students. Yes, I only have a few. But remember, students with autism are a class by themselves with their issues. But let us focus on thankfulness and complete this list.

8. Special Olympics and Community-Based Instruction

One thing good about self-contained classrooms is you get to go out often and sometimes, weekly. We just finished the Fall Special Olympics season and we went out every Thursday morning. We also go to museums, disability fairs, groceries and other places where they can practice their daily living skills. We got a lot more planned like learning how to order food in a restaurant, shopping and how to ride the subway.

9. Design Inspiration

One of my gigs is designing Print-on-Demand shirts for Amazon. Some of my students are in tune with current fashion and they help me understand trends. They even told me that Facebook is out and they use Kik. I love interacting with them especially when we are outside for Special Olympics. And then I type on my iPhone the ideas I get from these teenagers. That's free research while getting a paycheck!

10. Opens Doors

A lot of organizations support teachers. I actually got a 2-year scholarship from one of the top universities because I was one. That was years ago. Today, I am looking at the list of sponsors like Fund for Teachers, Donors Choose and more and I am truly amazed at the vast opportunites for teachers.

11. Keeps me Moving

When I worked for myself, I was mostly at home with my computer. Last winter, I hated going out of my cozy bed so I just stayed there with my laptop. Not anymore. As a teacher, you have to move constantly in the classroom. When we go out, I have to move even more. I didn’t know I can run up the subway stairs that fast until I saw one of my students go up the stairs without permission. When I leave teaching, I plan to have a standing desk, preferably with a treadmill.

12. Helps me be More Productive

To balance my teaching and online ventures, I have to learn how to be more productive. It took me 3 months to systemize my teaching routines but now everything is coming together. I admit that at first, I was blaming myself for re-entering the classroom. But now, I am really thankful that it made me systemize the way I work.

13. Family Support

Last but definitely NOT the least, I was pleasantly surprised when my son woke up earlier for me. He also works from home and all of us wake up late because we work up to 2am most of the time. Now, he wakes up earlier to help me prepare breakfast. My husband, who works from home too, does what he can to help me with my teaching job.

That’s it. This is my list of 13 reasons why I am thankful for my teaching job. But do not get me wrong. I will still leave the classroom. There is just so much more I can do if I work for myself and not be limited by district policies. I have a lot more ideas I can share with more teachers, students and parents. I do not want to be limited by my classroom walls. More about this in my next posts. Happy Thanksgiving!

Your Virtual Co-Teacher,
@go2sheila