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Post Philosophy Statement

After rereading my pre-personal philosophy, it was hard for me to find things that

changed my beliefs. I still think it is very important for teachers to have the correct approach on

the students and the appropriate consequences. I am very passionate about being fair to every

student and having a positive attitude towards them. Teachers cannot lose hope in a child’s

capability of their intelligence. Every student is capable of achieving milestones of their own.

Just because they have a learning disability does not mean they can’t have goals of their own.

My sister is still my inspiration on how I picture every special education teacher should treat

their students. She is very passionate and strongly believes that every child can succeed. Every

teacher needs to always have this mentality.

The role of a special education teacher is to determine what skills their students have

and plan the appropriate lesson plans. It is also important for teachers to develop their IEP’s. It

is important that special education teachers know how to communicate properly with children

with special needs. These students require more individualized attention. I believe students

with special needs learn best by them receiving a reinforcement that motivates them to try to

do a task. In my job I work with children with autism and I help with their learning disabilities

and behavior issues. I have a case where my child would not sit during a structured activity for

not even a minute. Now, over two months of working with her she will grab my work bag and

she will sit down on her without me giving her instructions to do so. Her reinforcer is the

goldfish snacks. Once she completes an activity, I praise her for her great work and reward her

with the snack. Children with special needs need motivation to understand why they are given

a specific assignment.
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Post Philosophy Statement
My goals for students I will have in my future classroom setting is for them to be able to

have eye contact with whoever is speaking to them, know how to hold a pencil/pen correctly,

and most importantly attempt to finish some assignments without being violent. Some

important qualities I believe a special education teacher should have is patience and the

motivation to help others. Another quality I think is important to have is to be compassionate.

Before I started working as a behavior therapist, I did not think it was possible to be able to

help every child learn. Once I got the proper training and figured ways to get the child to trust

me, completely changed my outlook on this question. I believe all children are capable of

learning new things. It may not be mastered completely but definitely they are able to learn

new things. For example, a non-verbal child can be taught the basics of sign language in order

to communicate with others. Teachers owe their students with special education needs more

credibility. Through the year’s teachers will not only teach many students, but teachers will also

learn many different things over the years from past students.