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As a first grade and later second grade teacher who has a Master's in Special Education and who also teachs Reading Recovery, it all depends on your interests. In the regular classroom you can see the fruit of your labors fairly quickly. For example in 1st/2nd grade you can see kids go from a very low level of academic and/or social progress and see them make progress very quickly. On the other hand working with kids who have special needs you may see slow or no progress. There is a LOT of paperwork for SPED teachers. The class sizes are generall smaller and/or you may be working with another teacher(s) in her/his classroom (meaning they call the shots). Honestly, if I had it to do over, I would have gotten my Master's in something like Guidance Counseling...I would stay out of the classroom...Today's society does not appreciate how hard we work and most parents are not that involved with their childs/childrens' education and they expect that you can teach 20-25 kids who are at numerous levels and they should have no responsibility for their child's education. I am blessed that I work in a community where I have a lot of support and I have been very successful...but it is hard work and pretty thankless...Trust me, I ONLY do it for the children because I love them so much! So think long and hard before you make your final decision!
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