When you are a first year special education teacher, lots of unexpected situations occur that may not have been explained in college text books while earning a credential. Each year the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) offers a two-day New Special Education Teachers Institute to help ease the fears and provide some solutions. Sept. 11 was day one and featured about a dozen Kern County teachers and one who traveled from San Miguel Joint Union School District in San Luis Obispo County to get some answers at the KCSOS office in Bakersfield. Presenting the class were four veteran special education teachers — Vickie Shufton, Karlyn Jo Farber, Marilyn Hurst and Barbara Williams. As KCSOS program specialists, it is their job now to help train the new teachers. Relying on their classroom experiences and knowledge of California special education curriculum standards, they know how to navigate the first year educational hurdles. More