@esleystanley
My wife, now retired, managed a caseload of 50 students across four schools, ranging from elementary to high school. She often had to complete paperwork late into the night. Unlike general education teachers, she didn’t have designated planning time and was frequently required to attend meetings outside of regular school hours. She was also often assigned additional duties like covering recess and lunch.
Absolutely. My mother was a special education teacher for many years. She found that transitioning to teaching middle school math later in her career required significantly less effort. As an English teacher myself, I’ve noticed that I have more free time than she did.
@zane
That’s very enlightening. I recently noticed a job posting for a special education position that pays only $5,000 more annually than a physical education position at the same school.
lucas said:
@zane
That’s very enlightening. I recently noticed a job posting for a special education position that pays only $5,000 more annually than a physical education position at the same school.
In most schools, the pay rate is the same across all certified teaching positions.
lucas said:
@zane
That’s very enlightening. I recently noticed a job posting for a special education position that pays only $5,000 more annually than a physical education position at the same school.
It’s typical for districts to pay all certified teachers the same, regardless of whether they’re in special ed, physical ed, or any other subject.
@Crystal
I receive an extra $22 every two weeks for working in special education, compared to when I was a mainstream teacher.
Bright said:
@Crystal
I receive an extra $22 every two weeks for working in special education, compared to when I was a mainstream teacher.
Really? You get an extra $11 per week for teaching in special ed?
@Crystal
Yes, in Australian dollars. It’s a special site allowance. At my previous school, I had a similar number of students with disabilities, but it wasn’t classified as a special site, so I didn’t receive the bonus.
@Crystal
Or even for teaching subjects like International Baccalaureate (IB) or Advanced Placement (AP) courses in physics, chemistry, or calculus.
chase said:
@Crystal
Or even for teaching subjects like International Baccalaureate (IB) or Advanced Placement (AP) courses in physics, chemistry, or calculus.
I think advanced classes are generally easier to teach than general courses because they attract more dedicated students.
@fionamathews
Those classes indeed have more motivated students. The challenging part is acquiring a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a math or science field.
@fionamathews
The content in those classes is extremely tough. As someone currently teaching advanced math, planning some of my lessons can take over an hour due to the complex material. It’s a huge time commitment to learn or relearn the content.
@Scofield
Is that not a normal amount of time to plan a lesson? How long does it usually take you for a non-AP class? I teach beginner and intermediate levels of a language, and it often takes me over an hour to plan each lesson, especially when I need to find or create materials and adapt them for students with IEPs, heritage speakers, and advanced learners. Am I doing something wrong? I’m fairly new to teaching and we don’t have a textbook, which might be part of the issue.
@fionamathews
I’m sorry to hear it takes you so long to plan. For my general education classes, it usually takes between 10 and 15 minutes per lesson, but this can vary depending on the lesson’s complexity. We have a curriculum to follow, which helps. With three different preparations to manage, spending three hours a day on lesson planning would leave no time for anything else. When I taught at schools without a curriculum, I used a comprehensive bundle from Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT), which included notes, homework, and answer keys. It saved a lot of time, even though I still had to tailor some materials for state exams. If you can, I’d recommend looking for a similar curriculum bundle for Spanish on TPT. It’s expensive but worth the investment.
@Scofield
There are indeed bundles for Spanish on TPT, but I’m not sure my school would approve the expense. We have a textbook that’s meant to be used with an online platform that has interactive elements for students, but the school board hasn’t approved the purchase of licenses due to the cost. Without access to the online resources, the textbook is almost useless. So I end up spending a lot of time creating materials, finding them online, or buying them from TPT. The quality of TPT resources varies; some are great, while others contain errors or confuse my students. Unfortunately, I don’t have a mentor, and I’m the only language teacher at my school.
@fionamathews
You might consider downloading a Spanish textbook PDF from Library Genesis and printing what you need for your students. I’ve done similar things to make do with limited resources.
Scofield said:
@fionamathews
You might consider downloading a Spanish textbook PDF from Library Genesis and printing what you need for your students. I’ve done similar things to make do with limited resources.
This comment is empty, admin should fix
lucas said:
@zane
That’s very enlightening. I recently noticed a job posting for a special education position that pays only $5,000 more annually than a physical education position at the same school.
Some districts offer stipends for special education due to the additional time, training, and sometimes the scarcity of qualified teachers. I’ve been in special ed for a long time, and things do vary by location. My husband is a PE teacher and often returns home very happy, while my job can be quite tough. If you prefer a more joyful role, go for PE; if you like tackling complex challenges, special education might be the right choice.
lucas said:
@zane
That’s very enlightening. I recently noticed a job posting for a special education position that pays only $5,000 more annually than a physical education position at the same school.
Some positions, like those requiring master’s degrees, might offer the same pay as other teaching jobs in most districts.
lucas said:
@zane
That’s very enlightening. I recently noticed a job posting for a special education position that pays only $5,000 more annually than a physical education position at the same school.
If I could choose again, I’d go for being a PE teacher.