Episode 55: How to Make the Move from Gen Ed to Sped

Today’s guest is Bristol Bale. Bristol is a colleague and friend of mine from the district where we teach. Bristol was the 2019 Teacher of the year for her school, has also served as grade level chair and worked to create science and math curriculum for the district. She serves as head of the science fair for the district, and is the girl’s wrestling coach for Liberal High School.

Bristol began her teaching career as an elementary teacher and we worked together for several  years where she was always one of our go-to homeroom teachers for our resource students. And the reason we always wanted to place our students in her classroom is because she truly has a heart for students who struggle more than others. She developed strong relationships with our students and we could always depend on her to follow the accommodations and modifications that were put into the IEP but she also went above and beyond...figuring out ways the child learned best in her classroom, implementing flexible seating for them before it was very popular and basically just being a great support to the special education staff.

Now Bristol serves our district as a special education teacher, having completed her endorsement this past year. We get to work together on a whole different level and although we don’t teach within the same school, I have no doubt that Bristol will see success within her new role.

So I wanted to have her on the show today to talk about making the transition from being a general education teacher to being a special education teacher and have her walk us through how she made the decision to change, the process she had to go through and the ups and downs of her decision.

Bristol shares with us...

• What made her decide to make the transition to special education
• The process she had to go through to get your special education credentials
• The biggest challenges with the move
• Her biggest wins and how it has totally been worth it
• Recommendations for someone who is considering making the move from gen ed to sped

Mentioned in the Show...

Ultimate Guide to Training Paraprofessionals

Sped Prep Academy. com

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