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“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”― Phil Collins

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Tip #1: Find Mentors

I want to be a middle school special education teacher for students with mild to moderate disabilities. My ideal mentor is someone who is already a teacher in this field and that has a years of experience under their belt. I would like a mentor that has experience with teaching students with  mild to severe disabilities, so I obtain the knowledge and feedback I need to someday teach children from all ranges of disabilities. In the text it states, "Look around and seek out your role models - people who are working to make things happen in their lives" (D'Souza, 2011). During my time in my credential program and student teaching, I would like to gain a mentor who can help me get comfortable with teaching and show me a variety of leadership skills that I can use among my future learners.

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Tip #2: Bring Out The Best In Yourself

"In order to bring out the best in yourself, you have to first be able to recognize what your special gifts and talents are" (D'Souza, 2011). As a future educator, I need to asses my strengths and weaknesses to truly bring out my best abilities. Whether I am student teaching or when I become a teacher in my own classroom, I will recognize my "natural talents" and utilize them to the fullest in my career.

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Tip #3: Build Your Self-Esteem

In order to be successful in your career you must build confidence and self-esteem. Do not put yourself down when you are in the beginning of your career and tell yourself that challenges are a good thing and help you grow stronger. In my future career as a special education teacher, I need to overcome one of my weaknesses which is being confident. Over the years I have struggled with this and as I grew older, I have learned to slowly overcome this struggle of mine. I have looked at all my accomplishments over the years I spent in college and have overlooked at the obstacles that I eventually overcame.

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Tip #4: Chart Your life

Having a plan will help set you up for success. Regarding my plans to become a special education teacher, I have developed my own visions, values and goals that I find suitable and realistic to achieving my overall plan. Without this plan, I would be lost in a sense and have a hard time navigating through the steps of becoming an educator. Once I develop my plan, then it is up to me to follow through and take it one step at a time to get to the finish line.

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Tip #5: Create Your Own Opportunities

This tip is very vital when it comes to moving forward in your life and moving into that direction that will guide you to success and achievements. Over the last several years, I have personally created a set of my own opportunities. There have been several instances where I have had an opportunity of mine that fell through and fortunately I had plenty more ahead of me to strive towards. Instead of walking away and giving up when an opportunity did not work out as planned, I would reevaluate the whole situation and create goals that would eventually lead to new opportunities. Before I decided to go back to college and purse a career in education, I would of never thought it would be possible. By setting up those realistic goals, believing in myself, and being not afraid of failure, it has opened endless doors of opportunities for me.

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Tip #6: Invest In Planning

Planning is one of the best investments anyone can possible make. How can you achieve your dreams and goals without having any plan in mind? I have had several different plans throughout my life and some of them did not go as planned. This however did not discourage me and instead I invested in a new plan that could possibly make my dreams and goals come true. My current plan was enrolling in college while working full time and being a father as well. I am still investing in the same plan four years later and one step closer to achieving my goal to become a special education teacher. Sometimes plans come with some revisions, which is nothing to worry about and eventually you will end up back on track.

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Tip #7: Make a Change

The desire to make a change can be one of the most difficult choices to make in life. This one happens to be the most difficult one for me and it took years for me to turn away and open a new door in my life. The desire for change depends on three elements which are dissatisfaction with the status quo, vision for the future, and practical steps to enact change (D'Souza, 2011). When it was my time to change I did look upon these three elements and had to think hard if I want to go through with this. Going back to school again after years of not being in it did not sound like an ecstatic time for me, however I knew it was going to lead to new opportunities for me and my family. Making those changes in my life brought me to where I am today, which is one step closer to success and being an educator.

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Tip #8: Motivate Yourself Using Loss Aversion

Research has shown that we prefer avoiding loss about twice as much as winning gains (D'Souza, 2011). This has had impact on me growing up as an adult and I was scared to take risks in life because I did not want to face a loss. Taking risk has helped me the last several years and also has been a motivation for me to continue to pursue my goals. Loss aversion in my situation can refer back to me going back to school and losing all that extra time I had prior to going back. I have less time to do the things I love but at the end I will have a degree and the opportunity for me to become a teacher.

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Tip #9: Turn Work Into Play

Enjoying what you do for a living is very important because if you do not enjoy your a career, it can bring misery upon your life. I look at my future career as a special education teacher and see myself interacting with my students, playing fun learning games to get them further engaged in course material and enjoying what I do for living, which is enriching the minds of our youth.

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D'Souza, G. (2011). Eq from the Inside out: Breakthrough tools & ideas for living a fulfilling life. Six Seconds.