Hello there! Im about to start up a coffee shop in my classroom. For those who dont know or are familiar with the idea, my students would be making and then delivering coffee to staff on campus. This helps teaches life skills and alot more.

I have it all very set up but the only thing i am still deciding on is whether or not to charge the teachers or have them use money i give them. I am leaning to having them pay 1$ for coffee but my principal was wondering about how it would look of if i give the teachers 1$ prior to coffee shop day and they use that.

There are pros and cons to both! Making money is not a concern here, as i am given a HUGE budget and will never run out of money. I was just gonna use the profits to buy our supplies.

For those who have ran a coffee shop, what do you think?

I know I haven’t been writing my section in SDI for goals properly. I’ve been trying to fix that. Can you give me an example of a goal and how you write the SDI for that goal?

Like, on average...how long are the kids pulled for? (e.g., 10 minutes at a time?)

Can I be a Case Manager?

For the past 4 years I have taught special education and have been a case manager to 15+ students. I have a conditional teacher certification for secondary special education. I am in Maryland.

This year I am not teaching special education, I am in a general education department because I passed a praxis. There is a student and their family who want me to be the case manager for the student. I want to do that because no one is helping this kid and his family when they are advocating for themselves constantly.

Originally I was going to be back in special education this year and this child was assigned to me again. But then a position opened up & I took it.

I have tried to google the answer to this question (I’ve googled it in so many different ways): Can I be a case manager if I hold a conditional special education certification & have prior experience?

The child has medicaid, and I am aware that if a student has Medicaid, they have the right to request who they want as case manager.

I can’t get through to the department of special education. My school is so out of compliance it’s not even funny, so I don’t receive reliable information from them- there’s also almost entirely new staff. Admin are clueless. I have sent so many emails, called so many people, and hit dead ends. No answers at all. No calls returned.

TLDR; If I have a conditional special education certification, am I eligible to be this student’s case manager even though I am not teaching special education this year??

Again this student has Medicaid, I want to be their case manager, and I am in Maryland.

• cross post but I didn’t know how to properly cross post

Can we talk about the ridiculous expectation of making materials on your own time. I have about 20mins plan time and 10 mins with my paras before and after school. We have small desktop color printers located in classrooms for some reason, and a laminator across the school that has sheets so thin we have to double laminate. I was told I need to create materials for my room that came with nothing for k-3 non verbal students. I refuse to dedicate all my extra money (already used my annual 300.oo budget, still waiting for reim) and time to making costly color, laminated materials. If I don't do that they say use sensory play, of course on your own dime. Anyone else dealing with this? On top of all my other responsibilities, ieps, report cards, planning, managing/ training paras, I just can't deal. I'm just focusing on surviving each day, but not doing all this. They need me more than I need them. Rant over

So for the past couple of years we've been able to have our phones on us incase we needed to text each other about a student elopement or whatever. Now we are coming back after fall break and are now banned from using phones at all. My guess is others were abusing the phone usage.
Anyone else go through this?

I teach pulll out science and math classes for a middle school group. The class has shrunk by 4 children since the start of the school year because of kids moving or changing placement. The paraprofessional that was assigned to the room was moved, replaced, then the third was also moved. Now I have a guy who was hired on the 1st of the month.

I usually have excellent working relationships with any para assigned to my classroom. But this guy is something else. He sits in the back of the room, playing on his phone constantly, occasionally forgetting to turn the volume off so videos blare mid-lesson. He interrupts instruction repeatedly to start tangents. He never helps the students or me with anything. The most help he's been is when he left to deliver work to a student placed elsewhere. He once offered to help a kid with an open-notes assignment and then looked at the work and said, "oh, a crossword... yeah, you should wait for the teacher." He also has this racking cough that echos down the hall...

I no longer legally need a para due to numbers- how bad would it be to ask admin to remove him without replacement? It feels unprofessional, but so is his behavior. Thoughts?

Hi all! I am a full time special ed teacher (currently teach a 3rd/4th grade 6:1:1 at a therapeutic day school). I have been looking for a side job to get some extra money, and I applied to be an itinerant teacher. Basically it’s working one on one with kids in preschools and daycares that have IEPs/IFSP’s. You can choose the hours, so I would do a couple days a week after school. Working with them on their goals and logging their progress is what I understand.

Any interview tips/questions you think they’ll ask? I’m assuming they’ll ask how I track progress (not one of my strengths as a sped teacher but I’m working on it 🙈), about behavior management strategies, etc. I’m not too nervous, I’ve been at my current school for 3 years now and all of the kids have emotional disabilities and behavior issues (for lack of a better term). I’ve just never done a position like this before.

Thanks!

In about two months, I (finally🎉) graduate from my undergrad program that will make me eligible to work towards my teaching license through a residency program. I am an IA/para in a self-contained, high school ID-Severe class which I love. was in an ID-Severe elementary class last year. The elementary school ran much differently than the high school and despite my voiced goals to become a teacher, I wasn’t really taken seriously by my lead teacher or shown really how to be in the teacher role. This year, my lead teacher has put me in a role to learn as much as possible as she will be departing soon. I intend on applying for her position and hoping I get it. However, I’m getting nervous that there is only two months left to learn the actual teaching aspects. With the unexpected time off between the two of us for illness/other reasons since the school year started, I haven’t learned enough where I feel fully confident in being in this role yet. Other teachers in the department think otherwise and are sincerely rooting for me as they’ve known me for 3 years and know that special education means the world to me. So, knowing that I have a limited time left to learn, what things should I be observing in detail or asking to learn? Thank you!!

Hello all, I need some guidance, and I want to know what others would do in my position.

During prep, I sometimes I have 1-2 students in the room with an EA assigned to the classroom. It has been fine and I'm okay with it.

However, there is talk about putting another student (not on my caseload) in my room for about an hour a day (although no one has reached out to me about it yet). Yesterday was the first day of this, the kid was in my room during prep.

If that's going to be the case going forward, I want to plan on having prep in a different space without students so I can fully prep or I will ask that classroom to send one staff to be with this student. This student is a 1:1 as well. None on my EAs have been trained or seen paperwork on this student, I haven't either.

My state also has a statute about uninterrupted prep times for teachers too.

I'm so annoyed that I'm dealing with this and so grateful to admin for having my back.

Girly, a new para, seemed to think the job was a co-teaching one and ended up getting upset when I wouldn't let her co-teach with me (start of the year, I have not settled in, no ma'am, I don't have the time to incorporate you). She got more and more hostile in the classroom until I finally called a meeting with admin. She responded with the strangest glee: "I look forward to it!!! Perfect!!!"

Things she said:

• I don't tell her about problems or concerns until days or weeks later. Her example was when she inappropriately spoke to a parent about their child's behavior and said I didn't tell her for a week. ...She was an vacation for that entire week. I'm not kidding. That was her example. The only one.

• I often leave her alone with the students outside, and don't come outside at all. What was lovely about this was the principal confirmed to her that there was no reason she could not be the only adult outside with a handful of children (which is the entire class right now). What pissed me off here though was that she was lying. Admin didn't care about her lie, but I intentionally go outside with my students. I haven't missed a single recess. The principal made an off-hand comment about there being cameras out there, and I enjoyed that, just because it may have made her a little scared about saying something untrue.

• I'm hindering her ability to be a good para because I don't like her questioning why I do things the way I do during class. Admin said it is not my job to explain myself to her, especially not during class.

• This one is fucking crazy. She said I smacked her hand when she tried to help a student glue. In reality, I said that I was going to have two students do an extension but the one she was with was going to have something else. I don't think she heard me -- I don't think it was intentional -- and she took the student's hand and started heading towards the glue. I put my hand on top of the glue container to prevent the child's hand from going in. She was guiding the hand. Our hands touched. She then shouted, "Okay!" at me. In the meeting, admin didn't really respond. Just moved on. I think she thought she had a gotcha?

• That she apologized about specific events she certainly did not apologize for.

We have to work together. Admin says they won't move her in her 90 day trial period. We have like 48 days left. It's hard to work with someone who made the decision to lie about something in the hopes of getting me fired. I really don't like her.

Long story short: I have a HS intervention class with almost 20 students. After admin witnessed the extreme behavioral disfunction on several occasions, the class is being split into two sections.

This has been the most challenging section I've had in my years of teaching. I know this doesn't change the need to keep reflecting and growing in my practice, but I also feel super frustrated that this was a no-win scenario from the start. I had a good cry feeling like I was the worst teacher ever, and am hopeful that this will help to smooth things out a bit.

This might not be the place for this question but it is something that has been on my mind. I am a middle-aged adult now but I was a Sped student all through school. I have dyslexia, dysgraphia, discalculia, dyspraxia and ADHD. I had an IEP and went to resource class. I know my resource class mates and myself were all at the very bottom of the social latter with few if any friends. We all guarded the fact that we were in special education with our lives. We all got picked on. I know a few of us had boyfriends or girlfriends. A few of us also got to participate in things like home coming and prom despite everything.

We were around the self contained class and I knew a few of the kids in those classes. They tend to group all the special education classes on the same hall at most schools in my experience. I know most of the kids in the self contained class didn't have friends outside of those classes. I know those kids didn't get to go to homecoming or prom.

Has inclusion charged any of this for them or are they there among the other kids but not really a part of there social groups?

I am in WA, and have case managed in two different (local) districts. Both use IEP Online.

I know IEP Online gets a lot of flak, at least locally, but I'm deeply paranoid about this being suddenly changed because it's all I've ever known! I don't even know any names of other management systems, but they obviously exist. I'm curious to know what else is out there, and how everyone feels about what their district uses.

I got my certification in teaching adolescents (grades 7-12) with mild disabilities through a quick-and-dirty alternative certification program, and the two years I spent part-time in grad school taught me basically nothing. I've been a special education teacher in my school's co-taught 11th and 12th ELA classes for the past two years, and literally everything I've learned about teaching students with disabilities has come through reflecting on my experience in the classroom and from working with my significantly more experienced (gen ed) co-teachers.

But I'm getting to a point where I have more questions about how to help my students than answers, and I have no idea where to turn. What are best practices for co-teaching in the upper grades of high school? How should I approach teaching an ELA class where some students are reading at a college level, some are reading at a fifth grade level, and everybody is 15-18 years old and hypersensitive about comparing themselves to their peers? I find myself Googling things I feel I should know as a sped teacher (like "how to know if a kid has dyslexia") because I feel so out of my depth.

I know there are millions of pedagogical books out there, and I've read a few that have helped a lot, but frankly I don't trust the pedagogical literature-industrial complex and can't afford to buy any old book on a whim.

So, teachers of students with disabilities, I'm curious:

• What has been the most useful "professional development" experience you have personally had since starting teaching?
• How do you keep learning as a special educator? Are there any websites/journals/authors/programs you consistently return to, or turn to whenever you have a specific question in the classroom? What are the best ways to keep teaching myself how to teach?

Thank you all!

Hi all!

I am from Scotland, and work in a school for children and young people with complex needs. We have everything, from kids with terminal illnesses to profound disabilities to high support needs autism, and everything in between.

Our school has its own dentists, nurses, OTs, Physios, SLTs etc.

We have classes of 8 students. Our students are aged 2.5 to 18 years old.

In my class (teens) there is a teacher, then me (my job title is "nursery nurse"), then 3 PSAs (pupil support assistants). That's the flow chart of responsibility, too.

Would I be a 'para'? I love the sub, and seeing how things are done elsewhere - but sometimes struggle with the hugely different terminology!

Hi! I’m special Ed teacher who teaches in a classroom where the students only go out for specials, lunch, recess, and morning meetings. I have 3 paras and PCAs in my room. What can I get them for Christmas that says thank you? You guys do not get paid enough, and I appreciate all they do. What says that??

Hi All,

I have some students this year who require text to speech to complete classwork. The classwork is done through the curriculum's website, and some of the pages do not have TTS, so does anyone know a way to supplement for that? Is there an extension I could add?

Hello! I’m a dual certified general education teacher who solo teaches an inclusion third grade class. I’m in love with my job so far and I enjoy getting to use both of my licenses in the classroom!

There’s one thing that I want to make better for myself. Since it’s a relatively large class (23) sometimes it gets really loud in my classroom. I’ve found myself getting overstimulated at times. Has this happened to anyone else? What can I do to support this? I’ve thought of getting some noise canceling thing for myself but I worry about the safety concern (like what if it blocks out TOO much noise).

Thank you so much for all your help! This community has taught me a lot!

I teach resource. For whatever reason, it feels like half of the boys (AKA, most of my kids, I have only a few girls) on my caseload of 25 are wanting to do welding after graduation. I have no problem with this. I think it's a good option for them - we have welding classes at the school as well as our local trade school that works with the high school - and it's easy to write transition goals for lol - but it seems like really a disproportionate amount of kids wanting to weld. Is this common in your schools? Particularly with the boys. Is this a trend? If this is a huge trend going around, especially with resource kids, and they really do all pursue welding, society will be overflowing with welders. 🤣

Hello! Im new to a d75 school and I teach 6-8th graders in a 12:1:1 setting. I have a 6th grade autistic student who has meltdowns that include flipping desks, throwing chairs and the other kids being evacuated from the room. Last month the meltdowns seemed to be due to being in a new environment with a new teacher.

Today, the student kept avoiding doing work and kept sneaking his Nintendo switch out of his book bag and into his desk to play. I gave multiple reminders for him to put the device in his book bag which he would do but then, sneakily, he would go to his book bag and take it back out. I told him the next time I caught him with his device he would lose his computer time. 10 minutes later he is playing with the switch again. I told him he lost his computer time and he begins screaming and throws a chair. He eventually calms down and picks up the chair after being asked to.

I believe I set the right expectations but not sure what else to do prevent meltdowns while placing boundaries. Open to any advice.

I’m certified in Special Education, Elementary Education, and Early Childhood Education. I’m thinking about working as a paraprofessional. I was non-renewed last year. I’m currently subbing.

Hi everyone. I'm a cross-cat sped teacher in the US, in a fairly large district in my state, and for the past 3 years, all of my students receiving OT services have moved to consult, if not outright dismissed.

I have students who have high sensory needs, students with high sensory sensitivity, students who completely lack the dexterity to even hold a pencil, students who pick things up with their thumb and pointer finger knuckle rather than a tripod grip... And they're all either consult or not receiving services at all.

I've talked with my OT and asked her perspective, given that she's the professional in the matter. She seemed hesitant to say anything, as the head of the department has been pushing for everyone to be moved to the consultative model. She asked my perspective on a lot of it, and I shared that it feels like yet another hat I'm asked to wear, one that I have ZERO training on. Yes, in a consultative model I can ask her questions, but I don't know what I don't know. There are things I've seen her correct (on transfer-ins, before we hold a review & revise and change their services to consult....) that I would have never thought to correct or suggest to perform one way or another. It can also be difficult to remember everything I need to ask her about on a weekly basis.

I'm in no way complaining about this specific OT. Again, she seemed like she didn't buy into it but has been told to do this. We have had other OTs service different ages and they're doing the same thing. It's a district-wide movement. It just doesn't seem like it's what's in the best interest of the child, especially when every transfer-in comes with direct OT services and we have to change it.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any OTs who can convince me on this model? She brought up LRE and that was convincing but not enough imo, since some kids literally can't write their name and they're in fourth grade, with few other skill deficits apart from fine motor areas.

I work in self contained mod/severe 3rd-5th grade.

I have a helicopter parent that is very overbearing, I was warned about the mom before starting but god it’s bad. She is really pushing for a 1:1 for her daughter that doesn’t really need it and I have been taking a ridiculous amount of data (separate rant). Her daughter is babied by everyone in her life and has a ridiculous amount of learned dependency and refusal to do anything herself (also separate rant).

But anyway, this student has a VERY strong oral fixation and is very sensory seeking, she will literally put anything she can in her mouth. I told mom that I got a few different chewy to try (fabric necklaces, spiral ones, just your average chewy)to try out, and at the time she seemed on board. After a couple of weeks mom said she does not want the student using a chewy because they are so unhygienic’. (But apparently it’s okay for her to chew on her jacket sleeve and her shoes… okay). I feel like I am already walking on eggshells with this parent because she has escalated wanting a 1:1 to anyone is the district she can think of. I have worked in self contained sled for 6 years, but this is my first year teaching. I am truly good at my job, I know my stuff and everyone thought I was a veteran teacher, but I am so afraid of doing it saying the wrong thing because I know how quickly a SpEd teacher can get thrown under the bus.

I feel so bad for this student because she is obviously seeking that sensory input and I’m struggling to find an appropriate way to do it. She also CONSTANTLY wants food and tries to gain access to snacks (I’m assuming for the sensory input and not because she is actually hungry). I don’t think it’s reasonable to give her constant access to food, she would eat until she is sick. I thought about gum but I can almost guarantee she would swallow it and Mom would not be happy with it. I’ve also considered mints but I don’t think that will give her that chewing sensation she is looking for.

Does anyone have any suggestions to give her that sensory input in an appropriate way or how to approach the situation with Mom?

Preface: This is my first year in special education AND my first year at the elementary school level (it's a long story how I ended up here)

I’m working with a student who qualifies for special education services for social-emotional needs and is autistic. His previous IEP focused on self-regulation, conflict resolution, and sustaining focus, but none of these areas align with his current behavior. Both his gen ed teacher and his mother report that he’s doing great—focused, engaged, and with no peer conflicts. He attends a private school and only comes to our school for 30 minutes a week for his special education services, which he enjoys. His re-evaluation isn’t due for another year, and his mom isn’t interested in stopping services. I’m writing new goals around recognizing and responding to social cues and improving reciprocal interaction (like asking questions about peers).

For the latter, I'm thinking about something like:

When given opportunities to interact with peers in real-life situations or hypothetical scenarios in an SEL class setting,

Student will initiate and maintain reciprocal interactions by asking questions or making a comments relevant to a peer's interests or feelings,

improving social reciprocity

from 0 questions/comments per interaction

to 3 questions/comments per interaction

as measured by teacher observation and data collection during both real and hypothetical peer interactions.

Hey all, I’m in a rather frustrating situation. One of my class sections is closing and I’m being asked to teach a single section of the ASD/DCD “Social Success” class. The class has had subs all year so far due to an open position, and the other sections would continue to have a sub.

When I asked what the curriculum was for the class I was told “I’ll look into it” which is code for “there isn’t one.”

Most ASD social interventions I’ve seen are targeted toward 1-1 or small group time and/or are for elementary school kids.

The class has a wide range of students: significant cognitive delay, nonverbal, verbal, grade-level academically, etc. While they all have some kind of social or communication goal in there IEP.

I’d love recommendations for curriculum that I can utilize for the rest of the year. Something that won’t seem babyish to high school students, but also includes a variety of skills from more basic to more nuanced. Something pre-scaffolded or easy to modify would also be incredibly beneficial.

I’m ok with something I’d have to pay for or get approved to buy, as long as I have it come recommended.

Thanks so much for any resources!

Just wanted to share some success.

New team. New students. New structure. New transitions. LOTS of very complex needs.

Everyone has been an absolute wonder this week. Just wanted to share it on here. Have already told SLT and parents, but I literally cried in joy. I'm so proud of them all.

I still have PSTD over a school where I only worked for 2 months

I’m never usually up this late, but I’m sick with Covid for the 3rd time since 2022 and my sleep has been messed up the past few days 🙃 Anyway, I just wanted to share a story of what happened to me at my last school. It’s something that still affects me to this day, and it’s been 3 years. Sorry in advance for the long post, I’m new to Reddit and just need to get this off my chest for some reason right now! Not looking for advice as I have been out of this place since November 2021.

In 2020 when covid hit, I knew that I wanted to move back home to NY from Virginia. I have my certifications in elementary, early childhood, and special education. I taught Gen Ed in Virginia after college for a few years, and even at the time in 2020-2021 when I was job searching for positions up here in NY, there wasn’t the teacher shortage just yet and it was tough to find positions. I decided to make the switch to special ed to make myself more marketable and I’ve always loved kids with special needs.

Long story short, I ended up getting a job as a 6:1:1 teacher for kindergarten-2nd grade at a rural district about 35 min away from where I live. It was a long process, I had to go through a round of 3 interviews, one of them being a demo lesson where the principal and admin team watched me. The principal who hired me was super nice, and I got great vibes from her. I was so excited about this job and it felt right.

The thing about my position was that it was brand new. Before that, there had been one special Ed teacher (we’ll call her Sharon) and they ended up splitting her class into two separate classes, which is where I came along. Sharon was assigned to be my mentor and everyone raved about how amazing she was.

I started setting up my classroom that August of 2021. I purchased so much for my students with my own money to make it a welcome environment for them. About a week before the official start of the school year, the principal who had hired me emailed everyone saying she took another position at another school. I was really bummed. For her replacement, they moved the assistant principal down from the high school to the primary school. Let’s call her Pam.

The school year started, and it was good. I had 4 students, all with very severe needs. Mainly behavioral needs and autism. I wasn’t a new teacher, just new to the special ed world, although I had students in my Gen Ed classes with ieps and I did a sped student teaching placement. My TA, we’ll call her Whitney, seemed okay. A little rough around the edges and sassy but okay. There was also a temporary person in my room as a 1:1 aide for one of the kids until they cold find a replacement for him full time. The kids behaviors were tough, but I was doing my best and seeing little successes here and there that made me proud.

Around the end of September, I got a call from the woman who was in charge of the mentoring program. She told me that she had “received complaints” about my classroom management and she wanted me to come in the next morning before school to meet with her. I was taken aback, as not one person had said anything to me about it. Sharon (mentor) gave me pointers here and there, but nothing major. Pam (principal) would stop in, ask me if I need anything, and move on. I expressed shock on the phone and after I hung up with her, I immediately went to the bathroom, called my mom, and sobbed. This was my 6th year of teaching and it made me upset that whoever this person was couldn’t come to me and instead went to the supervisor of the mentoring program. After I called my mom, I went to Pam’s office and again broke down crying. Told her I was doing my best, spending so much time outside of school prepping and doing things to help the kids. She was nice and told me not to worry, she could see I was doing a good job and that she is the only person’s opinion who mattered.

That made me feel better, and I went to the meeting the next morning, again breaking down in tears. She told me the same thing Pam told me. She told me that’s just the culture of the school, people are very gossipy. They even told us at orientation that you better go to the school football games and events “or people will talk”. I was starting to get bad vibes now about this place.

Since the meeting was before school, I then went into my classroom to do my job. When I get there, Pam is sitting there at a back table with her laptop. She sat there the ENTIRE day, watching my every move and typing. Watching, typing, watching, typing for the entirety of the school day. I was already so anxious, I had cried to her the day before, and then she comes in and watches me like a hawk for 6+ hours.

The next day, Pam meets with me and tells me I give the students too many breaks and there needs to be more instructional time. Mind you, at the time, I had one kindergarten student who still had not turned 5 and has adhd and fetal alcohol syndrome, 1 first grade student, and 2 second grade students with level 1 autism. I am a firm believer in giving kids breaks after they complete their work (a 5 minute dance video after working for 30 min type of thing). She then told me I had to redo my entire schedule. I told her that I had copied and pasted my schedule from Sharon. She just kept saying it’s too many breaks.

So her “plan” to help me be a better teacher was for her to come in and “model” for me each part of the day, starting with morning meeting, and then watch me teach that part the next day. So the next day she came in to do morning meeting, which she suggested I make 30 minutes instead of my 10-15 minutes I had on the schedule for my wiggly kids. I tried not to laugh in her face at the thought of the kids sitting for 30 minutes. Just like she wanted, I sat back and watched the show. When I tell you she could not control these kids for FIVE minutes. The kindergartener was climbing all over her, spitting on her, and running around the room. She got up when she was done, came over to me and said “never mind, keep it at 10 minutes. And I don’t need to come in and model for you, you got this” and walked out.

Also around this time, I was seeking out help from Sharon. One of Sharon’s “brilliant” suggestions for my autistic student who screamed a lot was to and I quote “shake a can of coins at him”. I looked at her in disbelief and told her no, I won’t even do that to my dog, let alone a child. Oh, and another observation that Pam had when coming into my room is, and I quote, “you should have the students help Whitney take the trays down to the cafeteria after breakfast. It’ll teach them job skills, since they’ll probably just go into the food service industry anyways”. Again, we were talking about 4-7 year olds!! I started documenting everything at this point and started looking for other jobs. This was taking a huge toll on my mental health, I was incredibly stressed. I felt like I was being watched and couldn’t do anything right.

Also around this time (it’s fuzzy now since it was 3 years ago), Pam called me on a SUNDAY morning at 9 am and left me a voicemail along the lines of “hi, I was looking at your schedule, let’s change the bathroom break time from 10:15-10:20 to 10:10-10:15 and on and on like that. I did not answer or respond to her, because it was a SUNDAY MORNING.

This was right before Halloween. The evening before Halloween, she emailed me telling me she got me a sub for a half day in the afternoon, and that I will be spending 12:00-3:00 with her to revamp my schedule. I explained to her that I had already went out and bought tons of crafts and goodies for my kids, so can we please meet the following day, to which she replied no.

I was a ball of anxiety at this point. So I show up to work dressed in my coordinated costume with my aides and then leave to go meet with Pam for 3 hours. She had me sit there on my laptop and work on lesson plans and my schedule. She wanted me to submit my weekly lesson plans to her every Sunday for the upcoming week. No other teacher in the building had to do that.

And, also at this time, how could I forget! They had hired a woman for the 1:1 aide position who was a special Ed teacher “taking a pay cut because she wanted a foot in the door for the district and was friends with the special Ed director”. We’ll call her Sarah. Sarah was miserable, monotone, had no personality.

So after the Halloween meeting, I come to work, I try my best to do everything Pam is telling me to do. I made the mistake of confiding in Whitney about what was going on, and she would say I’m so sorry, Pam is crazy, etc.

One day, I had a water table delivered to the classroom that someone was giving away. 2/4 of my kids were absent. They had done a great job all week of following this ridiculous schedule with NO break times whatsoever. Meanwhile, my classroom was connected to Sharon’s classroom by a sliding door, so I would pop in there to ask her questions. One time I went in there to see her aide on the floor wrestling with the kids, just having a grand old time. Interesting that they were allowed to take breaks. So, on this particular day when HALF MY CLASS was absent and the 2 that were there had worked so hard, I told them they could have a few minutes to play in the water table that had just come in. I said and I quote to Whitney (again, my mistake), “they worked so hard and if Pam has a problem with this, I will defend myself”.

The next day, I was called in for a meeting with Pam. Actually, she was meeting with me every single day after school at this point to “check in with me”. But this meeting this day I knew was different because the superintendent was there. Pam told me how she heard from someone that I let my kids have a break when it wasn’t break time, and then repeated the quote about defending myself. So obviously it was Whitney. I said yes, I’m sorry, but they worked really hard, I thought I had somewhat of a say as to what happens in my classroom, etc. She then told me I was fired. For letting 2 children have a few minutes to play in a water table as a reward for working hard and not sticking to her military school type schedule.

Luckily, the superintendent explained to me that I had the option of resigning. I said oh absolutely I will be resigning, in fact I had already been on another job interview. Also forgot to mention that I had reached out to the union, who was absolutely no help. The union rep told me “sweetie, this is our culture here. We like conformity. One time, a teacher didn’t want to paint her nails pink like the rest of the team and it was brought to the union, she got in trouble”. Like WHAT?!

I was in tears of course. The kicker was when the superintendent told me “you’re the age of my daughter, I’m so sorry”. He had been so kind when he interviewed me. I had just lost my dad unexpectedly to a heart attack a few months prior to this. So when he said that, I lost it. I asked when I could say goodbye to the kids. They said you don’t, you can’t see them again. Come back on Friday after school to get all your stuff.

So I did. And I ended up applying for the school where I’m at now that same week and got an offer on the spot in a zoom interview. It’s been a world of difference and I have admin that supports me. But I STILL have nightmares about this place. I STILL fear that I am in trouble and my job is at stake every time I get an email from admin saying we need to talk or meet, and it’s never anything bad.

That school messed me up so bad, but if it never happened, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I’m sure I’m forgetting some parts. Like oh yeah, Sarah, the one who applied to “get her foot in the door and was friends with the sped director” ended up taking my job. Funny how that happened, what a crazy coincidence! And what’s even funnier is all of this bullying and micromanaging of me started right when she got hired.

I build such great relationships with those kids in those 2 short months, and I made a great friend out of it. The school counselor, who was new alongside me, was a confidant during this time. She is now one of my bridesmaids in my wedding. Oh yeah, guess what happened to her? They CUT HER POSITION about a year and a half later. Because who needs mental health support, right? Even when you drive by the school, on their banner thing that changes the message when you drive by, it says “your mental health matters” 😂 😂 😂

Thanks if you read my long long rant. Like I said, no advice needed. This was 3 years ago. Just was thinking about this at 1 am and felt like sharing.

I’m a para working in a building housing 8th and 9th graders. A teacher (good friend even before I started in this district), a student and I were sitting around chatting this morning before morning announcements. A new thing they started this year was wishing happy birthday to anyone having a birthday that day. This student’s (I’ll call him Timmy, fake name) name was called. When announcements ended, I wished him a happy birthday. He smiled widely and thanked me. The three of us started talking about birthdays in general and the teacher and I shared some of the silly things we subject our own children to on their birthdays. Timmy sighed and said, “I wish I had some memories like that.” He told us he’d had a bunch of friends wish him happy birthday on socials and in person, the two of us had wished him happy birthday, and even the school had. His parents hadn’t said a word though. His dad was at home and awake when he left the house this morning. He said nothing. His mom hadn’t texted or called him. He said it’d be 50/50 whether they remembered to say happy birthday today. There’d be no presents waiting at home for him. He’d have no cake for his birthday tonight. I just stared right into his eyes and told him that I was so sorry.

Later, the teacher told me that at a recent meeting with a couple teachers and this kid’s mom, the mom couldn’t say a single positive thing about him or let anyone else either. Anything the teacher said to highlight an accomplishment or improvement, the mom twisted around to make it negative and tear him down. Guys, I was gutted. This kid has his issues but he is the coolest kid. He always has a smile on his face. He tries hard in most of his classes. He’s fairly popular and well liked by other students. I have no idea how he can be as well adjusted as he is with a home life like that.

I understand there are a lot of issues in a mod/sev self-contained classroom. My issue isn't with the students, I know they are doing what they can. My discouragement (lack of better word) is from the paras and teachers. I try to do my best. I try to go above and beyond because I think our kids deserve it.

It feels like most of them are just skating along doing the bare minimum. I'm not built like that. Do I start doing the same? I really love this job, but the adults are making it a bummer.