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Michelle Sanchez

Professor V. Rieger

Edu 203-3001

Artifact 4

Personal Philosophy of Special Education

Profession:

I chose this profession to make a positive impact in a childs life. My nine year old

nephew, Jason, who has autism and Type 1 diabetes and my six year old nephew, Ethan, who has

emotional development delays inspired my choice in pursuing education as my profession,

Safekey solidified my choice. Safekey has given me many tools, such as annual trainings and the

opportunity to work with a large group of school-aged children with diverse backgrounds,

personalities, abilities, and behaviors. The extensive trainings and hands-on experience Ive had

in my three years as a Safekey Site Lead will greatly serve me in the classroom. My

understanding of the school system is that it varies school to school and administration to

administration and district to district, but as an educator I must stay true to my teaching style and

do what is best for my students.

Teaching Philosophy:

I would say my teaching philosophy is a combination between two philosophical

orientations, existentialism and progressivinism. Meaning I would work for my students needs

and interests to be met, as to enable them to assign meaning to their lives through education. My

knowledge of Special Educations historical events helped me come to the understanding that
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there will be new discoveries and progress made to better serve exceptional children within the

school systems.

Instruction:

The strategies that will be implemented in my classroom will be in the areas of class

management, such as classroom rules, attention getters, behavior chart and reinforcements, along

with time management, which will include transitions. All of these strategies will allow for my

students to know what is expected of them and what they should expect from me. I will also

utilize sensory modalities, accommodate to the students abilities and learn their learning styles

so that I may better serve them.

Future:

In my opinion, in this profession an educator needs five things, the love of children,

patience, passion, honesty, and flexibility. To become an educator, you must like kids, have

patience because it will be tested, be passionate about education, be honest with yourself and

your students, and be flexible because things will not ever go as planned. To reach this

profession, the educator needs an education (that is never-ending) and a job and/or volunteering

with school-aged children to get the hands-on experience to see if this is your future.