Job Description and Insights

I am the classroom teacher in a second grade inclusion classroom, receiving

assistance from a special needs teacher daily to help with students with

educational plans. I am responsible for teaching all the state standards in all the

subjects for all my students, who are also som etimes assisted by other specialists

like reading teachers, occupational therapists, and the psychologist. A large part

of the job is social training of the children, as I am charged to teach the children to

become successful participating members of society, and much of this is in

character education.

My day runs from tying shoes all the way through assisting the children to deal

with the death of a grandparent or pet, and all the steps in between. I live with my

21 students for 9 months, and understand a great deal of what is important to

them. I must handle each individual and often each incident on a personal as well

as a group level. At various times of each day I must be the coach, the therapist,

the enforcer and one of the most important adults in their lives. I also handle their

academic lives on an individual basis, as each child may have a different learning

style, capacity, and motivation.