Is it common for school districts to make people sign papers that state you will not unionize or else you get fired? They told us we wouldn't be able to work until we signed them and they had each of us go to HR, individually, to sign them.
On a side note, they also only pay us for 6.45 hours a day MAX because they don't want to consider us full time workers to avoid giving us any benefits. Do employers usually do that as well?
EDIT: Someone from the union here is helping me out now. Thank you so much to everyone that gave me information and reached out, like I said, I can't quit because I have a loan to pay but will hang in there best I can, or else I would have already quit and gone back to school.
From day one my para has shown hostile behavior towards me. She would give me a rough time and point out all my faults in front of the students in a manner of scolding me. She would yell at me saying things like "I thought that we agreed that it would be done this way. I care about these kids and if I have to talk to the principal then I will." while the kids were there.She would also try to order me around as if she ran the classroom such as "You need to give Jane Doe assistance".
She makes blatantly hostile or sarcastic comments constantly like, "Of course I'll help you with that because something this simple is too hard for you!" when other adults are not around. When other adults are around (whether it was another para, a teacher, principle, etc.) she would try to turn the person against me by making a point of finding ways to make me look bad in front of them or sabotaging me so that things go bad for me in front of them. For example when I was being observed by my principal she said, "Oh wow! Those are NEW pictures/self-monitoring charts!" (in other words she's indirectly saying to the principal that "she's just doing all this to look good in front of you, she's not this put together normally) or "Johnny, I know that you are USED to being allowed to talk out of turn" (implying that I enabled bad behavior when I didn't). She would also befriend and ingratiate herself with the other adult. She would say things like, "I have [insert other adults name] as my witness" whenever I would call her out on something.
She also would try to turn the children against me. For example, I had to deescalate a student I'll call Jonny and I had to move fast. I moved "Jonny's" iPad off his desk onto the next desk over (nobody was sitting at this desk because this student, who I will call "Paul", was at inclusion time) in order to set up some kenetic sand to calm Jonny down. I wasn't gonna walk all the way to the other side of the classroom because I had to work fast to deescalate Johnny. Then my para came back with the students who were in inclusion time. Paul, whose desk I put the iPad down on, sat down. Paul didn't seem to even care either way. Then my para walked over to the other students desk and said to Paul, "Paul, I am so sorry that Jonnys iPad was placed on your desk when it doesn't even belong to you. That is not fair to you". Then I looked at my para and said, "it's not a big deal, let's just move it" then I took the iPad and put it back. Then she went of
... keep reading on reddit ➡Based on 7.5 hours for 34 weeks (5 days work week) at $12.14/hr
Let's talk shop and pay, collectively we deserve better.
I've switched careers and wow! To work with Students who have a desire to learn, to work among Teachers who have a desire to teach and help their students out. My mind is kinda blown just how fun and healthy this environment and school I'm working at is. Hell, the teacher I work under and a few others put together a care package of welcome for me, I was shocked and grateful.
Yes it's work but good and rewarding work. I have really lucked out.
A friend of mines mom who was also a very impactful paraeducator for me was told a couple days ago she has weeks to live. This friend of mine I have known since kindergarten, and we aren't particularly close but we are in the same friend group. We were also roommates for a few years as well. I reached out and let him know if he needed anything he could reach out, but honestly I feel like I should do more. His mom had a very profound impact on me as a child. She was a paraeducator in my elementary school, and as a kid who struggled with dyslexia people like her are why I was able to complete my education, and have the life I have now. It's something that I am incredibly grateful for. I don't want to intrude on the families privacy, or make them feel alienated. I was thinking of writing her a letter or sending her a card would that be too much? Should I ask my friend if that's okay first?
I feel really stupid about this because I really should have done this over the summer. I have been dealing with some mental health challenges for a while now and had a feeling this year would be a challenge for me but I told myself I needed to try to make it work. It's the first week and I can already tell I'm just going to be miserable for the whole year.
I've never had to think about getting out of a contract or anything like that before so I'm looking for advice on the minimum amount of notice to give or anything else I can do to avoid getting sued for breach of contract.
So, I work for my school district as a para educator, and I work with kids one-on-one most of the time. Well, last month, I had to write up one of the first graders I work with for pulling the fire alarm for no reason. It led to the entire school having to stand outside for two hours during lunch, while the fire department came and tried to figure out what happened. So the kid got suspended, and she just came back to school last week.
Well, apparently, her mom was not at all happy with the fact her kid got suspended. So she wanted to shout at the para who wrote her up. The kid apparently tried to point me out to her mom when she was getting picked up. Well, my older sister that lives across the country was in town for a wedding, and had been with me at the time, since we were going to an early dinner together before she had to leave for the rehearsal dinner.
I ended up walking away, telling my big sis to stay put, since I just needed to go get my bag from my locker before we could leave. And the Karen had appeared almost as soon as I was gone, thinking my sister was her kids para. She started screaming at my sister, saying how her daughter would NEVER do such a thing, and how I was a lier who was somehow able to hate an angel like her daughter. Well, my sister doesn't know what to do, she doesn't have a clue what's going on, and they're starting to draw attention. Karen is still shouting, my sister can't get a word in, and other paras who are leaving are coming out and take notice.
Thankfully, they're good people, and they jumped in to stop the Karen. Apearently being faced with more then one person was not what the Karen was planning, because she backed up and was given a verbal take down by three forty something ladies that don't take shit from kids, much less entitled Karens. That Karen ran with her tail between her legs, and was gone before I got back.
My sister was super cool about it. It freaked her out at first, but she just brushed it off and let it go. She didn't even tell me until this morning when we went to breakfast before she left for the airport. Which is why I'm posting this now, with her permission of course.
Thankfully, I haven't seen the Karen yet. I will update if she comes after me, though.
I am a new SPED Paraeducator and I started in May. I was in school-aged students for a bit, but they already had a routine and I was mainly following the lead of the other paras. However, this time I was placed in a preschool class and one of the students is deaf. The other paras told me that we just gesture and point to get him to sit or do something. However, no one was trained in sign language and he is usually all over the place. I was told to ignore him unless I need to change him. However, he is aware of things and I can play toys with him with little issue. I want to know what I can do so he doesn't regress.
I almost have my associates degree to be a paraeducator, however I was wondering if there is a pathway to become a teacher after obtaining my associates. I linked the associates degree I will be getting. After taking the courses to become a paraeducator I decided I am very interested in becoming a teacher.
https://www.pcc.edu/programs/education/aas-paraeducator/
I know that a lot of Paraeducators are overlooked, even though what we do is very important. As an ESOL Paraeducator, I do feel a little overlooked..
First off, yes I did just start my new job at the end of the school year. Not sure why my new school needed someone in the last month but I'm not complaining. I'm using this position to finish up my practicum and get a feel for what it's like to be in the classroom. To be perfectly honest it's all very sudden. Not to mention I am not assigned to just one room, I'm more exactly assigned to a few select students in IEP or S.E. I'm a little out of my element and want to do my best for these kids. What can I do to better achieve this? Thanks ahead of time!
I’m not sure if this is a trend but it kind of makes me nervous. Are districts planning on making a big shift in education and remove paras? How can they do this with laws requiring supported classes or support for students with IEPs?
And it’s really made me rethink my choice of career in teaching. Like I don’t know if I should still pursue it. Any advice would be helpful.
For context: I’m a paraeducator at an elementary school, when my main focus would be secondary or post secondary history. I just don’t know if I should pursue it anymore because I feel so out of my depth with being a teachers assistant.
I recently applied for a para position. Subbing would be absolutely perfect if it weren’t for the lack of benefits. Insurance is expensive and although I have a part time job, I can’t afford it anymore. Has anyone gone from being a sub to a para? If you have, do you like it? Thanks in advance!
He is a retired mayor and became a paraeducator after leaving office. He was warned about his observed behavior regarding a developmentally disabled student while on the job, yet was still not only allowed to stay in his role and to be around her, but was allowed to take her and another developmentally disabled student to an off-campus volunteering opportunity at an animal shelter, where he sexually assaulted her in full observation of the animal shelter staff, who promptly reported him.
Here's the story:
Why do you think he was still allowed around vulnerable female students after the first incident? Do you think it was a case of "Oh, he's from a different generation, he doesn't know any better/didn't mean anything by it" kind of attitude? Or a "But he was the MAYOR, he can't be a bad person!" assumption?
If you manage a program that involves volunteers, including online volunteers, what are your written protocols and training for staff regarding what to do if they see a staff member - paid or volunteer - or a client, do something inappropriate during their service? Do they have a definition for "inappropriate"?
#safety
With the shift from in person classes to remote learning in my school district, I have moved my enrichment program from the classroom to virtual platforms. To do so I have created the opportunity to expand from just the students at my school to students everywhere.
Created to facilitate learning through play as a paraeducator I have been using D&D to teach students about the world around them. With subjects such as physical science, mathematics, English composition, and concepts like team work, the scientific method, and more.
Play based learning serves to bolster
several key aspects of child development. Such as cognitive , emotional, and social development.
Options available for students K-12th grade
Hi, I’ve been a Paraeducator ( now promoted to Associate Teacher) for the past 3 years. I was told that, as far as Direct Care Positions, ABA Therapist and Registered Behavior Technicians make the most money. I work in NH and got got a raise to $17 from 14.50. The facility I work in is pretty extreme, we have a lot of rougher clients and often we have to use restraints. It’s called a school but it feels more like an institution. Anyway, I was wondering what your experiences with either of these two positions has been compared to being a paraeducator! I’d like to get out of this environment at my job which has unfortunately become somewhat dangerous and it seems, with my experience, ABA Therapist OT Registered Behavior Technician is the way to go! Thanks!
Like the title said but with a little more background, I’m going to college for elementary education but I saw an opportunity to get a job as a paraeducator substitute and thought this might be a good way to start getting involved in schools.
What would I be doing on a job?
Thank you! I’m sorry about the formatting, I’m on mobile
This post is a follow-up to this one.
I have another IEP meeting tomorrow and I have been told today by the principal of my son's current school that not only will they deny the paraeducator request but that they will propose sending him to a residential facility instead of a school (before we adopted him, he was at a residential facility at least twice, as far as a know, and it was complete chaos).
To summarize, the real problem is that my son won't listen to anyone he doesn't consider a legitimate threat to him. He treats everything as a game and the school as his playground. He absolutely loves his teacher and today he slugged her in the face. She has been killing him with kindness since the beginning of the year and that's why he loves her but she is not a threat to him.
He doesn't have behaviors like that at home because he understand that anything even remotely close to this kind of behavior will lead to him being completely immobilized until he is ready to be freed. At school, they let him escape the classroom and run around and he threatens to kill himself and cusses. All shit he did during the 1st week of living with us at home.
So is a paraeducator allowed to physically keep him in his chair or immediately pin him down if he starts to act in a threatening way? This is in Iowa.
I started working as a paraeducator a few months ago. I've worked with 2 different kids now and this new one I am working with scares me. He is 3rd grader, 8 years old with ADHD and autism.
I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just share some of the things about him that have been worrying me:
- During my first week with him he handed me his scissors, sharp end first, and almost stabbed me. (His scissors have now been taken away from him)
- He draws pictures of him shooting people.
- 2 weeks ago he punched some kid in the face during PE and last week he tackled another kid to the ground during recess. The punch to the face happened before I arrived (I only work 10:30am - 3pm with him, which means from 8am-10:30am he is pretty much unsupervised. He used to have a para from 8am-3pm, but I guess the school decided he only needed one from 10:30-3 because of "good behavior"??)
- Last week during a math test he paused, looked up from his test and said "school shooting"... then went right back to his math test. Later that day he told me he was going to bring a gun to school the next day. I told the social worker/principle/woman in charge of paras+special ed at the school and basically nothing was done. The school called his parents, who said "he must've learned that at school, we don't talk about those things at our house."
- The day after the school shooting/gun comments the kid's dad came in to observe him. He left saying "_______ is fine. He's well behaved. I don't see what the para is talking about." Immediately after leaving the kid started acting up again. Screaming in my face, calling me stupid, saying he wants to kill me, saying he wants to kill himself, yelling every swear word he can think of.
- He's recently started getting physical. Last week I told him not to yell at the kid sitting next to him and he shoved me. Now, almost every day he will push or elbow me. Yesterday he even did this to his teacher. He's only getting more and more violent and the school is refusing to do anything about it.
- Yesterday I was given a letter from the principle that the kid's dad had written to him, it said "It has come to my attention that _________'s paraeducator has been following him too closely at recess, which is aggravating him and thus causing him to act out. Please advise the paraeducator to stand down and keep her distance." I told the principle that I don't follow him around, but I try and stay close enough to where I can intervene i
I know it is the opposite of how things usually go, but I'm burning out of being a teacher, and I'm curious if anybody else has taken this path.
In my district, paras make about 1/3 the income that I currently work, and work 30hrs a week (!). They don't talk to parents ever, they don't grade, they have no lesson planning, and they get to work with students in small groups and one-on-one (which is one of the big draws for me, really).
I'm married and we have no children and don't intend to ever, so we could definitely take the pay cut. I just feel like the stress level of being a teacher, and the time requirement is making me depressed, and more of a grumpy person.
