High school special education teacher skills for your resume and career

Students should seek out experiences in educational settings as much as possible. This might be a K-12 school, preschool, or community center. Any opportunity where they can practice teaching and behavior management skills is ideal.

New faculty will have to demonstrate an increased ability to differentiate instruction and work with the general education faculty to meet students where they are and implement techniques to accelerate the learning of all students who may have experienced COVID-related gaps in knowledge. Specifically, these skills would be related to explicit instruction and Direct Instruction, as well as other evidence-based techniques. Applications of instructional technologies mediated through computers and tablets, peers, and teachers will need to be used. An example would be related to questioning, having students respond to teacher questions in various ways. The most basic of these responses would be a binary response, such as right false questions next to a provided set of choices for students to select. Then, the most difficult of reactions - a production response, would show students' in-depth understanding. All of the above would be driven by the new faculty's experience with assessment and assessment practices. The outcomes of assessment, both formal and informal, will drive instruction.

Another skill or activity to be undertaken will be an intimate knowledge of the standards students must meet and resource materials available in their respective schools to help meet those standards. The textbook is not the curriculum or the standards but a vehicle to achieve those standards. By familiarizing the curriculum, educators will better handle those prerequisite skills needed to perform at the highest levels.

Employers will be looking for students who are well versed or quick studies in Google Suite, Zoom, Google Meet and other online resources. Teachers cannot spend all of their time reading books and using videos during their lessons. Engagement will be critical both online and in person. Tools like Flipgrid, Padlet, Edpuzzle, Kahoot! and Mentimeter can help students feel engaged. It will also be important to consider how tools like Zoom are being used. Breakout rooms can be a great way to create smaller interactions but should be discussed in detail with children beforehand to outline the expectations for that space. This of course may or may not be an ideal learning space for younger children and will depend on how many teachers you have on your teaching team to support students in breakout rooms.

These skills would be many, but I tend to think the following are necessary for good special educators:
-a love for the act of teaching
-emotional and mental stability
-patience
-ability to be flexible
-good interpersonal and intrapersonal skills
-a good relationship builder
-confidence

The hard/technical skills that I believe are the most important for special educators are:
-ability to communicate effectively in both written and verbal form
-strong content knowledge base
-demonstrate effective methods of teaching and instruction
-strong knowledge of technology
-ability to be an advocate
-ability to work with a team