Teaching Standards

     I will be using the Special Education standard as a target of focus this semester. I am studying to be a Special Education teacher, so focusing on this standard of teaching will benefit me by allowing me to focus on how I can use this new information I am learning to assist my future students in their own learning.

     I think that being a Special Education teacher means that I will have to be in tune to the different ways that my students learn (visual, auditory, etc.) even more than other teachers. When students have difficulties learning, teachers are responsible for accommodating them and modifying their work, not necessarily to make learning easy, but to make it more accessible. Many typical students have preferred ways of learning that they benefit from the most, but these preferred learning styles are not necessary for learning to take place. For students with disabilities, they may be limited in the ways that they take in information and process it into memory, and it is my responsibility to make these learning styles available to them.


     Assistive technology is great for Special Education teachers and students because it provides activities and resources for accommodating different learning styles. For example, iPads and SmartBoards allow for both visual and auditory learning because it presents information in both ways. Students can see what they are learning about, and audio is also available for reinforced learning. These examples are also a great way for students to interact with the lesson because both are very user friendly and easy to activate. Even students who are very low functioning can benefit from this type of technology.


     Overall, I believe that the teaching standards for Special Education teachers requires rather than allows for the accommodation of different learning styles, because our students may be limited to these ways of learning. Fortunately, there are many resources currently available to us that enable us to assist our students in the most beneficial ways possible.