High School Special Education Teachers

Teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.

Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.

Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.

Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement.

Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.

Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.

Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory.

Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.

Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine priorities for their children and their resource needs.

Modify the general education curriculum for special-needs students, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and technologies.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Adobe Systems Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop

Email software

Microsoft Outlook

Screen magnification software

Screen reader software

Microsoft Excel

Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat

Text to speech software

Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign

Video editing software

Hand held spell checkers

Eye controlled computer mouse equipment

Foot operated mouse equipment

Trackballs

Jellybean switches

Sound switches

Braille slates

Braille styluses

Interactive whiteboards

Wireless touch screen monitors

Head operated joysticks

Mouth operated joysticks

Page turners

Word prediction software

Video magnifiers

Emergency first aid kits

Bunsen burners

Get as much experience with working with students with special needs and how to plan for their future. It is always good to find a mentor.

I had to take out student loans to pay for my education.

I work with individual special education students  age 13 and up planning their post secondary goals. I also work with the student's case managers and help them write the student's transition plan.

Transition Specialist

Getting a Master's Degree in Special Education limits you to your future career choices.

Michelle Wright

Transition Specialist

Milestones

Education

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Education

Entrepreneurship

Teaching / Mentoring

Day to Day

Advice for Getting Started

Recommended Education

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Family:

Challenges I Overcame

Financial

Michelle Wright

Transition Specialist

Milestones

Education

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Education

Entrepreneurship

Teaching / Mentoring

Day to Day

Advice for Getting Started

Recommended Education

My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Family:

Challenges I Overcame

Related Leaders