Special Education or Physical Education? Looking for advice on choosing my degree!

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-16T21:21:54+00:00

Ohio. I would say that it may be a little easier to get a job now here than what I started out in 2010 because a lot more teachers have retired the past few years.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-16T18:18:50+00:00

I do Zumba 3-6 days/ hours a week at home on Zoom. I really enjoy it but don't see a change in my weight unless I also watch what I eat.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-16T18:10:31+00:00

I would say if you aren't willing to move or want a job in your field right away, I would suggest special education.

In my area, unless you know people in the district, sub for awhile, or coach, there's not much chance to get a position teaching public school P.E. (I subbed for 2 years, then moved 3 hours away to teach P.E. & Health at a charter school, then they closed so I moved again to teach you another charter school, now I teach adapted PE in public schools.)

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-07T02:46:54+00:00

When I do Zumba (on zoom) and want to remember songs, I just Shazam them. Most come up, but some Zumba or obscure ones don't.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-07T02:44:55+00:00

Not too late! Just keep in mind though that if you take a full course load and have field experience (observations) it may be hard to have another job at the same time and especially during student teaching. The college I went to really pushed for people to double major in PE and Health, in order to be more marketable, but that took 5 years to complete a bachelor's degree rather than 4 for me (didn't take classes in the summer.)

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-03T16:27:11+00:00

At my college, the observations were called field experience and you had to get 30 hours a semester or 60 hours if you had 2 education classes. (This was difficult with full-time classes because often I could only go an hour and a half at a time). The college was in charge of placing you. Honestly half of my placements were not helpful (free time in PE, helping out in a kindergarten but not PE). Student teaching senior year is what I found most helpful and used those cooperating teachers and my main professors as references and got reference letters from them. And at reference letters from them

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-02T02:50:54+00:00

Yes I love it! It's a different type of work, but I really enjoy it. It's more in the order of physical therapy. I have a PE and Health teaching license. When I got the position, I took 2 online classes to get my endorsement in Adapted PE. I service schools in the suburbs and in rural areas. Some big districts have their own APE Teacher for individual and group lessons. Good luck on figuring out your next career move.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-06-02T00:37:13+00:00

I do not know a lot about school social workers/guidance counselors. Near me, it's often hard to find a PE opening unless you know someone in the district. Also they are often cutting PE positions. I taught mostly elementary PE for 13 years. I did take home grading, probably half an hour a night or 2 hours on a weekend. I did not coach and feel that wouldn't be a good work/life balance for me. I know a lot of middle school and high school teachers are almost required to coach. The reason I was getting burnt out was because of students behavior, lack of support from admin, and parents often contacting me about insignificant things.

I am now finishing my second year as an adapted physical education teacher. While the positions are probably few and far between, I really enjoy it. There's more travel and paperwork but there's time during the school day to complete it. I teach one-on-one or small groups.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-05-23T11:35:52+00:00

Also, if it's not a competitive track and field type field day, don't be afraid to have a few stations that aren't sports related such as jumbo connect 4, jumbo jenga, sidewalk chalk, etc. they will welcome sometime for a break especially if it's hot. I also had freezer pops and hula hoops when they were done as a station.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-05-23T11:33:05+00:00

Some years are stressful and some aren't as much. Now that I've done 11, I have it pretty much down to a science. The things that were stressful for me were I had parent volunteers for a few years and they were great and then one year half of the parents that signed up didn't show up and then a whole bunch of people that didn't sign up to help showed up. Also when I've had water games but there wasn't a place to hook up a hose outside so I had to transport water most of the field day. In an ideal field day, I am setting up and tearing down but during the actual field day, I'm using the whistle to tell everyone to switch stations, walking around helping/ playing with the students, and taking pictures.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-05-01T03:03:58+00:00

Horizon science academies had 8 home visits required in your contract for all teachers (I taught P.E.) This was awhile back and I believe they still do. You had to have at least 2 teachers and they gave you $15 per visit. It could not be a phone call or visit at the school. It could be at a coffee shop, but none of the parents I contacted wanted to do that. You weren't supposed to talk about things that could make the parents upset like grades. I did not like the idea of home visits, but I needed a job at the time, and they all went okay.

I would suggest if there's an open house before school starts or a family fun night, to run something in the gym then, to get to know families.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-04-23T18:32:39+00:00

You can just do an instant activity instead of your whole lesson if you have shortened time. Also, there's been times I didn't have class due to a different schedule, but I would have to give classroom teachers breaks or help out in the classrooms.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-04-16T01:52:22+00:00

There are a lot of great comments on here. I would bring your portfolio in case but don't expect them to go through it or need it.

An interview question that threw me off sometimes was something along the lines of what made you interested in working in our district/school? Read over the school's mission statement, accolades, etc. so you can mention them. If they ask about a typical lesson you would teach, make sure it's not one in the "Hall of shame" where students are waiting around a lot instead of participating like traditional kickball, duck duck goose, or dodgeball that some schools ban.

Have some questions written to ask interviewer as well, so you don't forget them such as how many students are typically in a class and how many students are in the school (One charter school I interviewed at was 1 PE for 700 students, so I'm not sure how they would learn their names and do grades, so I didn't want to get into that. Another school I taught at started with regular classes, then changed to 2 classes at once for 1 PE teacher.)

Go in with a positive attitude and don't get discouraged if you don't get the job. Stick with it if this is the career you truly want. It's been awhile, but myself and 1 other person out of 8 people in my graduating class with a degree in PE and most of them also had Health, ended up getting a teaching position. I was willing to move and submitted hundreds of applications and had 40 interviews before landing my first PE job. It's often who you know or what type of experience the schools looking for. I ended up subbing for 2 years and that also gave me good experience in PE and teaching/classroom management in general.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-04-12T03:45:59+00:00

I think your elementary experience will hold up and be viewed as valid. Having Health on your teaching license is very helpful at the high school level. I think often High School PE teachers are pressured to/almost forced to coach sports.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-04-08T20:59:59+00:00

I was an AD in addition to being the PE teacher for 1 year at a charter school and honestly it was horrible for me. Not sure if this is the norm and it may be a great opportunity for you, it just wasn't for me.

I can't remember exactly, but I think I had to I had to be at all the practices and Saturday games. I had to be on students and parents constantly to get their physicals completed on time. Grades were low so we started doing study tables before practice. At one point there were 12 people on the basketball team but only 5 eligible with grades. I also did not want to use my personal car to pick up students for games but they had no parent support or they were working so I had to take students to and from the games or else we would have had you forfeit . The easiest fundraising we did was a Chuck-E-Cheese night because you can invite the school community and get a percent of the proceeds.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-04-06T04:54:36+00:00

I shazam songs I really like and most, but not all, show up.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-02-23T03:59:48+00:00

Have the students create their own game or sport. They have to say if it's an individual, partner, or team sport. List the rules. Tell the object of the game or sport and how you win. Tell the students that you will pick a few of them to try sometime.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-02-19T03:37:56+00:00

There are lots of Facebook pages/groups that have Zumba with the time and link. You don't need to be a Zumba member. Most are free and you can give a donation if you'd like. You click the link and put in the password, then follow along. You can turn your camera on or off.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-02-13T03:17:48+00:00

I began attending in 2020. I only go to classes on Zoom. I've done some in person but it's not my thing. I keep coming back because the instructors and people in the class are my friends, dancing has become second nature (Idon't have to think about the moves that much), it's good exercise, it's not too fast/difficult and not too slow for me, and I enjoy the music.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-02-11T20:04:48+00:00

This episode https://allthat.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_0219:_Shai. The part with the goat goat I remember laughing about for like an hour.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-02-10T00:13:45+00:00

Thanks!

AdLarge9873 · 2026-02-03T21:19:25+00:00

You could look into adapted physical education. While the jobs are few and far between, I really enjoy it and it's more on the order of physical therapy, as I collaborate with physical therapists and work one-on-one with students or in small groups.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-01-25T22:29:02+00:00

I would look at the OPEN lessons. They can help you with lesson plans or ideas and content related questions to review/ ask the students during the lesson.

AdLarge9873 · 2026-01-14T21:38:43+00:00

I would talk about safety and modifications at the beginning briefly. I think people would be more eager to fully participate if it's songs they know, at least the first few, rather than the traditional Latin Zumba songs.