Teacher surprises students with special needs: 'I have the best job in the world'

As Americans celebrate educators around the world for Teacher Appreciation Week, "The View" is shining a spotlight on a special education teacher who visited his students with an extra special surprise.

Michael Tricarico, better known to his students as Mr. T, went above and beyond by hand delivering laptops to the children he's been virtually teaching amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"I'll tell anybody who's willing to listen: I have the best job in the world," Tricarico said to "The View" co-hosts Wednesday. "They are genuinely unique and I wouldn't trade them for the world."

"I don't teach typical kids because typical kids give you typical answers and typical experiences," he continued. "My students, you never know what kind of day you're gonna have. You never know what they're going to say, what they're gonna do or what kind of milestones they actually achieve."

Tricarico teaches special needs children real life skills, but virtual teaching has created "a really tricky environment" for him, he said.

"I find a struggle to connect with them," Tricarico said. "I really miss that one-on-one interaction. There's nothing like being physically with a student and working through a problem, letting them know that they're not going to be able to fail as long as you can help them, and I really miss that."

"If it wasn't for technology like this, I wouldn't be able to do any of that," he added.

Lenovo, a global technology sponsor of "The View," sent computers to Tricarico so he could hand-deliver them to those of his students who needed them while maintaining a social distance from his students and their families.

"I have been missing my class tremendously. I have a bunch of kids that are having a really hard time getting online, and now we can finally solve it," Tricarico said before setting off on his laptop delivery route. "Hopefully they are so happy they start doing my homework."

As a thank you to Tricarico for delivering laptops to his students, he also received a brand new laptop with a larger screen for a better teaching experience with his class.

"Congratulations to you and our thanks to you for everything you do for those kids -- everything you do," co-host Whoopi Goldberg said to Tricarico. "It's because of teachers like you who are amazing that give us the strength to keep going on."

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