Episode 66: The Importance of Giving Back: Why You Should Mentor Other Special Educators

In the spirit of the holidays, today's episode is all about giving back.

If you are listening to this episode at the time of its release, then you know Christmas is just a few short days away and so I wanted to focus on something that I feel can bring the spirit of Christmas to our departments and our programs when we return to the classroom in January.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years (or in the case that your district doesn't struggle with this issue), it is most likely well known that the field of special education has always seen more than its fair share of struggles to find certified teachers to fill empty positions.

Because of this, many of those empty positions are being filled with non-certified individuals. These individuals are beautiful souls who are ready to take on this profession with gusto and who are ready to put in the hard work of being a special educator…and then this happens.

They have no freaking idea what they’re doing.

They have no background in disabilities…they have no training in how to work with children who have special needs, they don’t have a clue what the paperwork means and why it’s important that it is done correctly.

In fact…they don’t even know what they don’t know.

Given these many challenges, these new special education teachers need support and guidance from an experienced special education mentor to learn the ropes.

Now…when I say mentor, I am not speaking in any formal capacity. I’m talking about being a guiding light to another educator who is struggling. I’m talking about going above and beyond, and out of your way to help someone who needs help. I feel it is MY job, no I feel it is OUR job to provide them with all the support they need.

In today's episode, you'll learn why providing mentorship to new teachers who haven't been properly trained is SOOO important and I'll explain in detail the 3 steps to take when mentoring another teacher:

1. Provide emotional support
2. Provide ideas (when asked)
3. Help to reduce frustration

But before you get all sassy with me and say, "I don't have time to help anyone else, I'm barely surviving myself." Just know that I get it.

And it’s not my intention to add even more work to your already full plate. I just want you to remember what it was like being that first year teacher and how much you would have appreciated having someone who volunteered their time to help you learn and grow and when we can give back to others in that same boat…it feels remarkable. 

So in the spirit of giving, it is my hope that when we all go back to school in January that we can, at the very least, give a little of our time to help someone else out.


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