Teaching - What do I Feel will be My Biggest Challenge?

I feel that the greatest challenge that I face as a teacher will be dealing with the individual diversities of my students and learning to see them individually. I plan to be a Special Education teacher and each child has particular problems. One may be an ADHD student, while another may have behavioral problems. Another may have a reading disability, but also come from a home of poverty and family problems. Each child has their own set of circumstances in life over which they have no control.

As a substitute teacher in many public schools I have experienced many situations and heard many “stories”. I know of one student who was forced to watch her father commit suicide while she was tied to a bathroom toilet. Another came to school with her hair in disarray. When mom was addressed with this issue, she said that rats were living in the child’s hair and the only way to get ...