Working with special needs students is both challenging and rewarding. While a master’s degree in special education can prepare you for the policies, psychology and structure involved in teaching special education courses, sometimes it takes a little boost from peers to get that creative and inspirational spark going. The following list is filled with 40 inspiring blogs that every special education teacher should read, as they focus on special needs kids as well as on creative ways to teach those students. Special education teachers, organizations and professionals provide the blogs below — all you need to do is let your own imagination spark as you read them!

Special Needs Teachers Share

1. Bilingual Special Ed: Get splenty of tips and insights on teaching bilingual special education.
2. Education on the Plate: Deven Black became a special education/social studies teacher at the age of 50. He writes that, “teaching is the most difficult, lowest paying and most rewarding [job].” Great inspiration.
3. Learning Disabilities Blog: Ann Logsdon is a school psychologist specializing in helping parents and teachers support students with a range of educational and developmental disabilities.
4. Making Special Education Actually Work: This blog is meant to enlighten and empower all responsible adults to ensure that all children, regardless of disability, receive a free and appropriate public education.
5. Simple is Working: Harold Shaw is a special education teacher who returned to teaching after 15 months at a government job. This is his personal blog site “as I move towards a slower and more thoughtful way of living.”
6. Special 2 Me: Follow the adventures of a special ed teacher in L.A. and pick up some inspirational ideas on how to become a better teacher.
7. Special Education and Learning Differences: By focusing on students’ strengths and not just their weaknesses, you enable your students to achieve greater goals, improve social skills, and increase self-confidence.
8. Special Education Strategies And More…A place for teachers and parents of children with special needs to find positive strategies that promote academic, social and emotional growth.
9. Successful Teaching: Nationally Board Certified as an Exceptional Needs Specialist, this teacher offers tips and advice for teaching exceptional needs kids.
10. Teach Effectively! Gain inspiration from evidence-based teaching methods for helping students who are at risk for school failure or who have disabilities.
11. Teachers at Risk: Elona Hartjes, a special education teacher, candidly shares her experiences and provides helpful and encouraging advice along with practical classroom strategies.
12. Teaching Children with Special Needs: The trials and triumphs of working with special needs populations.
13. Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs: Excellent resources and ideas for teachers of learners with severe, profound, intensive, significant, complex or multiple special needs.
14. Teaching Students with Learning Difficulties: This blog is for teachers, lecturers and support staff working with students with learning difficulties 16+.
15. The Life That Chose Me: Get ideas and inspiration for teaching special education classes from this high school teacher who has two children with special needs.

Inspirational Resources

16. All Together We Can: This blog is primarily authored by Samuel Sennott, who is a PhD Candidate at The Pennsylvania State University, focused on augmentative and alternative communication, universal design for learning, and assistive technologies.
17. Children With Special Needs: Terri Mauro has two children with special needs: a 21-year-old with language-based learning disabilities and a 18-year-old with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, both adopted from Russia in 1994.
18. Daniela’s Journey to Independence: This blog follows a young woman’s journey to overcome my disabilities and become an independent adult.
19. Education Week on Special Education: Education Week reporter Nirvi Shah tracks news and trends of interest to the special education community, including administrators, teachers, and parents.
20. LeadCast Blog: NIUSI-LeadScape, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, is developing a professional community of school principals of inclusive schools.
21. NCPAD Blog: This site is committed to being an open forum where all things relating to disability and/or physical activity can be discussed honestly among readers.
22. Reality 101: Reality 101 is a blog written for new special education teachers, by new special education teachers. It is maintained by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the premier association for special education professionals.
23. Special Needs Resource Magazine: This online resource provides information and resources to parents and teachers to assist children with special needs.
24. SpeEdChange: The future of education for all the different students in democratic societies.
25. Teacher Sol: This teacher is board certified, special needs and an activist to boot. Pure inspiration and a fire that burns for teacher excellence.
26. Teaching All Students: A blog about special education, technology and learning for all students.
27. Teaching Blog Addict: This is an international community of teachers, home educators, parents, mentors, and tutors who love teaching and who want children to love learning.
28. The Family Center on Technology and Disability: FCTD is a resource designed to support organizations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities.
29. The Shut-Down Learner: There are common themes with most shut-down learners, even if personality variables result in different styles. Learn more about this type of learner here.
30. Try Therapy: Breaking down the barrier between mental and physical health, social media marketing, social gaming and food.

Creative and Inspirational Teaching Blogs

31. Art Education 2.0: Use this community blog and resource to connect with art educators.
32. Creative Teaching: Useful tips and suggestions from Fascinate-Educate.
33. Gentle Teaching: Gentle teaching is a way of supporting people with special vulnerabilities, in which developing companionship is the central focus.
34. ICS Education 2.0 Blog: This blog is intended for teachers, learners, instructional designers and developers as a place to share practical ideas about the application of Web 2.0 tools, websites and other resources.
35. Inspiring Teachers: You are invited to join with other teacher leaders and dedicated educators as a part of this growing professional association.
36. Leading and Learning: This blog a great opportunity to share ideas about ways to transform schooling to help all students realize their talents passions and dreams.
37. Portable Radio: Since May 2006, students from A. Lorne Cassidy E.S., South March Public School and Berrigan Elementary have been involved in a portable radio podcast — get some ideas and lesson tips from this group.
38. The Carrot Revolution: This blog is an art education resource for art educators, art students, and artists in the digital age.
39. The PE Geek: If you want to learn how to incorporate physical activity and technology, let Mr. Robbo show you how.
40. The Teaching Palette: The Teaching Palette is a blog dedicated to the teachers who constantly work on perfecting the art of education.

Did you just love this post?