Misfit Minute 24: 5 Things I Wish I Knew as a New Special Education Teacher

In this Misfit Minute, Audra shares five career lessons she wishes she’d learned earlier as an educator: don’t overplan—use one strong activity with built-in extensions instead of many activities that won’t work; don’t skip data collection because “I’ll remember later” leads to missing or skewed data—quick tallies beat perfect data never recorded; don’t try to do everything alone—treat paras, therapists, and gen ed teachers as true collaborators; protect breaks and boundaries early to prevent burnout by leaning on staff and requesting admin support when needed; and prioritize connection over compliance, since connection creates longer-lasting engagement and makes behavior strategies more effective. She encourages newer professionals to give themselves grace, set parameters, and develop step by step to stay in the field long-term.00:00 Welcome and Setup00:19 Tip 1 Stop Overplanning00:55 Tip 2 Track Data Now01:14 Tip 3 Collaborate More01:37 Tip 4 Protect Boundaries02:23 Tip 5 Connection Over Compliance03:18 Closing Encouragement🙌 Join Us & Share• Join us on FB for freebies, sharing, and more! → https://abainschool.com/misfits• Subscribe for weekly behavior insights + full-length episodes• Send this episode to a teammate who needs a little "pump" this week!Join the Facebook group for collaboration and freebies: The Misfit Behaviorists😍 More, you say? We’re here for you! Apple podcast | The Misfit BehavioristsYouTube | @‌themisfitbehaviorists👋 Find us!Audra | ABA in School  Caitlin | Beltran’s Behavior Basics🖱️ Rate, Review, Like & Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Showing this love helps us get out to more educators out there!