12/6/2020 What I Learned as a Paraprofessional | Teach For America

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What I Learned as a Paraprofessional

The teachers assumed I was inexperienced. I assumed the job was
easy. We all learned a few things.

By Sara Needham
March 24, 2015

COMMUNITY VOICES SCHOOL LIFE

O
n my first day as a special education paraprofessional, I was “assigned to” Thomas.
Lucky for me, after a couple weeks of this weird lady following him around, he got
used to me. He liked being able to whisper to me in class, and he could always tell
me what he thought the answer was, even if he wasn’t called on. What student
doesn’t like immediate feedback all day? No need to stand on his chair and yell
anymore, or run down the hall because he got sent out of class. I won’t deny that
Thomas was still often very disruptive in class, and unstructured times were his Achilles
heel. We would frequently spend a lot of time in a small office completing work when he
couldn’t be in class. There were definite highlights of my day, but there were also many
lows.

As soon as I walked into the school building with the label “paraprofessional,” the
assumptions started. Teachers thought I must have just graduated from high school or
had no experience with kids, or that I was just there to babysit an unruly student so the
teachers could actually teach the rest of the class. Finally, there was the assumption
that I made myself: that this job was easy.

It’s actually very difficult to sit and listen all day long. I had to step into a student’s shoes,
and I have to say, it wasn’t easy. Sure, sometimes we did a few minute-long activities
that got us out of our seats, and sometimes we did a science experiment. But from 8:00
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12/6/2020 What I Learned as a Paraprofessional | Teach For America

a.m. to 4:00 p.m., we sat. We listened. We wrote. Even though Thomas improved leaps
and bounds, he still directed his anger at me when he didn’t get his way, and would get
sent out of class. He would cry and yell at me in our little room. Thomas’ behavior was
my only charge, and as such, my only way to judge my success and failure.

The invisibility to the other adults was hard to get used to, and the rollercoaster ride
with Thomas was emotionally draining. Above all else, the hardest part was leaving. I
didn’t leave the school or even the grade. I took a job as a full-time special educator
and was no longer next to Thomas in class every day, all day. I wasn’t in his ear
reminding him that even if he wasn’t called on, he mattered. And even though I wouldn’t
let him tell the whole class a joke that he just had to tell, he was still funny. But without
that consistency and predictability, he fell apart. He began getting sent out of class
again, and feeling anger that he couldn’t process alone. I watched him fall apart from a
distance because he wasn’t my “assignment” anymore, and I had so much to do for my
own class. I tried to explain that he didn’t need me as much anymore, and that, hey, I
was still in his math class every day. But it wasn’t enough. Thomas transferred schools a
few months later, and we lost touch.

I’m not saying every paraprofessional is perfect and they deserve a trophy tomorrow.
But do take a closer look. Ask what they know and what they see in your school, and
start to challenge your own assumptions of the role. Being a paraprofessional was the
hardest job I’ve ever had, and it didn’t include any of the things we regularly consider
difficult from a teaching perspective. Even acknowledging these challenges is a step in
the right direction for schools with a paraprofessional in the building. You might even
have one that deserves some well-needed recognition.

Topics: COMMUNITY VOICES SCHOOL LIFE

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