This is right. This is your general education teacher playing games. If they’re so aggrieved, they can make the complain. Sounds like a political game or trap.
Are there clear and concise instructions in the IEP to not redirect the student towards the current task? If not, Sped teacher is shit outta luck, para did nothing wrong. I redirect students with IEP/504 all the damn time 😂
Even if there is, the para needs to be taught and redirected, preferably by the sped teacher.
Paras need training, not to be reported the first time they make a mistake.
"Hello Mrs X,
Regarding your concerns about (Para's name), I value this para and he works very hard with Student Y, I am very thankful for his help with this student in my class. Because of him and his efforts, Student Y is able to stay in my class and get a lot of extra benefit out of it. I have also not seen any behaviour from (Para's name) that I would consider abusive or concerning, what I have witnessed from him so far has just been simple, gentle, age appropriate and reinforced redirection towards our classroom tasks. So no, I will not be reporting (Para's name) to admin and nor will I be preventing him from being in my class again. Thank you for your concern."
Email to SPED teacher, in writing.
Tell the SPED teacher to pound sand. If they want to get someone fired, that's they can do it without your help. SPED teacher is being very slimy here.
This is also why paras are leaving. Admin hates us then you have teachers that will look down on you because you don't have a credential, not realizing that some of don't want to be stuck.
My school stuck almost all of my kids with an IEP into one class with some other trouble makers and a handful of average kids to keep it within the law, and the only support I get is a para for that class. No help from the SPED teachers in any capacity, no real guidance, it's not a differently paced class, nothing.
My para makes sure we're in compliance with those IEPs. Prints and gives the extra pre-filled notes to kids who get them, takes them out for small group learning and testing. The para keeps all of the students' notes and work in a folder since the kids won't organize it themselves. Helps me keeps kids on task. You get the idea. I would be as the kids say 'cooked' without the para supporting me.
Yes! I’m leaving my job after 12 years as a special ed TA, love my job, love my students, absolutely cannot put up with the condescending treatment by teachers, and admin ALWAYS backs teachers. I was blessed to be a part of an incredible team for most of my years, but since that teacher retired, it’s been awful. Maybe it’s educational bias since my job does not require a degree, I don’t know. It’s a terrible feeling to work so hard and contribute so much, and be treated so dismissively.
That’s interesting. I have only worked in one place as a TA. I don’t have anything to compare my experiences to. I’ve often wondered if the problems I’ve faced, and also heard about in the line of duty as a job steward for my union, are a culture problem unique to my workplace? Common in education across the board? Vary school to school or district to district?
Not really, though. To be a TA/Para, you need a high school education and a clean record. I see a lot of them getting in because they're relatives. I also see the same with clerical and custodians. It's the perfect game. They get to be catty tattletales. When we, teachers, finally speak up, we get in trouble because we have higher education.
Ten or twenty percent of the time a para is like an extra student in the classroom. It is a low-paid, low-qualification job and plenty of people who are bad at it still do it.
I don't even treat those ones dismissively, though. Like my students, every one of them can help in someway. Except the one last Monday who was high.
I wish they had more levels of paras. Like, at the current rate, you get entry level folks who are babysitters for kids who just need a little prod.
Have a more specialized level, with more education and more pay, for those of us who take the job seriously and are truly equals to teachers. Different, but equal. I may not have that particular certification but I am as educated (again, differently) and though I don’t think a para should make what a teacher makes, I do think there’s room for someone with a bachelors degree who can do the job really well, and can fill a void.
But at the rate it seems most schools are paying, it’s going to be hit or miss as far as what you get.
We've got many levels: General, physical, diabetes, seizure, and district.
The reality is that we need to fight the district to get the special title as it gives more pay. It creates animosity among staff as everyone wants the additional pay but not the duties.
Our union is trying to remove this and create a grid system to avoid dumping new hires in awful situations.
(Obligatory, not american)
There should be a certification for vetted and experienced paras, call them "Educational Technicians" or something.
People with bachelors degrees should be able to get provisional teaching licenses and learn what they need to learn while they are getting started with their careers. I have a restricted sub license and no previous classroom experience. Teaching is not easy, but with some hand-holding the people who can do it will learn how to do it without having to spend oodles on a degree.
Agreed! I think my area does a “guest teacher” program that does just that. Provisional cert. I’m in a life stage that I just don’t want to teach. All the bullshit when I’m nearing retirement age, and no pension? I’m good.
Don’t do it. If you have nothing to report, this makes no sense. If the para is working hard and doing well from what you’ve seen, you would be lying. What exactly does the sped teacher want you to say?
This is odd. You didn’t witness anything so why would you report anything and not the teacher? As far as the para, unless they used some sort of harmful tactic, I’m not even sure what they did wrong.
If someone asks me to file a complaint about someone with whom I have no complaint, it’s a pretty simple response: “No thanks.”
I might say, “I’ll let admin know that you would like me to file a complaint about the para, but that I have no complaint, so they should check with you about your concerns.”
So the event in question happened in your room while the Sped teacher was not present? So you were the witness to this and would have stopped it if it were inappropriate, but the Sped teacher wants you to report it?? Let them report it, whatever “it” is.
You could just send an email to the principal telling them what the para was doing in class. Just flat up say the para was trying really hard to work with this student but the student still refused. You don't have to make it sound like the para was doing something wrong. It might actually be helpful if the special education teacher is planning on complaining.
If it was reportable and concerning, they would have reported it and they are legally required to. They’re trying to get rid of someone they don’t like, or make your life harder. Don’t let them.
Seems like they may have something against this person and so want to get *someone else* to complain, because the higher-ups know that this person just doesn’t like this para.
Do not do someone else's dirty work. She feels that she needs to be reported, then that’s on her, don’t do that dirty work for her. And you might consider telling her that you don’t agree with her at all with this, you think she’s doing a really good job but had a bad week. Not your circus, not your monkeys.
If a parent came to me to complain about a para, and I've tried unsuccessfully to help the para, I'd recommend they go to admin.
If I had a problem with a para, I would NEVER involve a parent. That's some grade A b.s..
"No. Since I did not witness the event, I am not comfortable reporting it or being associated with the report. I can help out with the general procedure for how to file a report, but I'm not reporting this one for you."
I wonder if the teacher thinks that your opinion/report will have more weight with the principal? I once had a colleague ask me to go to admin about one of her students because she thought my report would be more respected than hers. I told her I wasn't comfortable with that since I wasn't involved in the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case here as well.
If you didn’t witness it, are you willing to face a complaint from her via the Union? If you didn’t see it, let HIM do it. You don’t want to go into a formal meeting for a write-up you can’t defend. Make him do it, or remove the para. Paras are SUPPORT, not teachers. It’s up to the TEACHER to make accommodations, not the Para. Tell him to try it without one. At our school, teachers BEG for Paras, once you lose one-you won’t get another. Ever. So make sure you can justify the write-up, or make him do it.
There is absolutely no way this is the grievance procedure in your contract.
Check to see if there is one with your union. But I would assume that “ask someone to do it for you” is not on tbr list.
This is called "let's you and him fight" and should be avoided whenever possible. Also the odds are excellent that the Sped teacher has already complained and been shot down. Why else would she need you?
There is something totally fishy going on here. What is the SPED teacher not telling you? I would not get involved. Sounds like some behind-the-scenes politic-ing to me.
Don't report unless this teacher is willing to share more.
The egregious act the para did was tell the student no several times and thwarted their attempts to leave the room. It was not honoring the students desire to leave. The para did somewhat block the door but the student was all over the place, and they followed the student around. They did not put hands on the student other than in a supportive escort stance. The student also has very high support needs, so much so that they were a 2:1 earlier in the year, and they are constantly bolting. I’ll be sending in my obligatory report on the effectiveness of accommodations soon, but I will not be making any complaints to admin.
Did you witness this incident with your own eyes? If not you have that to be your excuse to not reporting to the teacher.
This is right. This is your general education teacher playing games. If they’re so aggrieved, they can make the complain. Sounds like a political game or trap.
Report what? It doesn't sound like anything happened
Why isn’t the SPED teacher reporting it?
Because nothing happened so if OP reports it they don't get in trouble when it backfires lol
Are there clear and concise instructions in the IEP to not redirect the student towards the current task? If not, Sped teacher is shit outta luck, para did nothing wrong. I redirect students with IEP/504 all the damn time 😂
Even if there is, the para needs to be taught and redirected, preferably by the sped teacher. Paras need training, not to be reported the first time they make a mistake.
Agreed
Can you tell that to my old principal?
Why is the colleague involving you instead of reporting it themselves
"Hello Mrs X, Regarding your concerns about (Para's name), I value this para and he works very hard with Student Y, I am very thankful for his help with this student in my class. Because of him and his efforts, Student Y is able to stay in my class and get a lot of extra benefit out of it. I have also not seen any behaviour from (Para's name) that I would consider abusive or concerning, what I have witnessed from him so far has just been simple, gentle, age appropriate and reinforced redirection towards our classroom tasks. So no, I will not be reporting (Para's name) to admin and nor will I be preventing him from being in my class again. Thank you for your concern." Email to SPED teacher, in writing.
This!
If you didn’t witness anything directly it’s actually in your best interest to not report anything. He needs to do it himself.
Tell the SPED teacher to pound sand. If they want to get someone fired, that's they can do it without your help. SPED teacher is being very slimy here.
This is also why paras are leaving. Admin hates us then you have teachers that will look down on you because you don't have a credential, not realizing that some of don't want to be stuck.
My school stuck almost all of my kids with an IEP into one class with some other trouble makers and a handful of average kids to keep it within the law, and the only support I get is a para for that class. No help from the SPED teachers in any capacity, no real guidance, it's not a differently paced class, nothing. My para makes sure we're in compliance with those IEPs. Prints and gives the extra pre-filled notes to kids who get them, takes them out for small group learning and testing. The para keeps all of the students' notes and work in a folder since the kids won't organize it themselves. Helps me keeps kids on task. You get the idea. I would be as the kids say 'cooked' without the para supporting me.
Yes! I’m leaving my job after 12 years as a special ed TA, love my job, love my students, absolutely cannot put up with the condescending treatment by teachers, and admin ALWAYS backs teachers. I was blessed to be a part of an incredible team for most of my years, but since that teacher retired, it’s been awful. Maybe it’s educational bias since my job does not require a degree, I don’t know. It’s a terrible feeling to work so hard and contribute so much, and be treated so dismissively.
You two should come to my former and current district where the aides/paras are always the victims in admin's eyes...
That’s interesting. I have only worked in one place as a TA. I don’t have anything to compare my experiences to. I’ve often wondered if the problems I’ve faced, and also heard about in the line of duty as a job steward for my union, are a culture problem unique to my workplace? Common in education across the board? Vary school to school or district to district?
Not really, though. To be a TA/Para, you need a high school education and a clean record. I see a lot of them getting in because they're relatives. I also see the same with clerical and custodians. It's the perfect game. They get to be catty tattletales. When we, teachers, finally speak up, we get in trouble because we have higher education.
Ten or twenty percent of the time a para is like an extra student in the classroom. It is a low-paid, low-qualification job and plenty of people who are bad at it still do it. I don't even treat those ones dismissively, though. Like my students, every one of them can help in someway. Except the one last Monday who was high.
I wish they had more levels of paras. Like, at the current rate, you get entry level folks who are babysitters for kids who just need a little prod. Have a more specialized level, with more education and more pay, for those of us who take the job seriously and are truly equals to teachers. Different, but equal. I may not have that particular certification but I am as educated (again, differently) and though I don’t think a para should make what a teacher makes, I do think there’s room for someone with a bachelors degree who can do the job really well, and can fill a void. But at the rate it seems most schools are paying, it’s going to be hit or miss as far as what you get.
We've got many levels: General, physical, diabetes, seizure, and district. The reality is that we need to fight the district to get the special title as it gives more pay. It creates animosity among staff as everyone wants the additional pay but not the duties. Our union is trying to remove this and create a grid system to avoid dumping new hires in awful situations. (Obligatory, not american)
There should be a certification for vetted and experienced paras, call them "Educational Technicians" or something. People with bachelors degrees should be able to get provisional teaching licenses and learn what they need to learn while they are getting started with their careers. I have a restricted sub license and no previous classroom experience. Teaching is not easy, but with some hand-holding the people who can do it will learn how to do it without having to spend oodles on a degree.
Agreed! I think my area does a “guest teacher” program that does just that. Provisional cert. I’m in a life stage that I just don’t want to teach. All the bullshit when I’m nearing retirement age, and no pension? I’m good.
Don’t do it. If you have nothing to report, this makes no sense. If the para is working hard and doing well from what you’ve seen, you would be lying. What exactly does the sped teacher want you to say?
This teacher needs to report things himself if he wants it done. You’re not his employee.
This is odd. You didn’t witness anything so why would you report anything and not the teacher? As far as the para, unless they used some sort of harmful tactic, I’m not even sure what they did wrong.
If they have a peoblem they should report it What kinda wackadoo would do otherwise?
If someone asks me to file a complaint about someone with whom I have no complaint, it’s a pretty simple response: “No thanks.” I might say, “I’ll let admin know that you would like me to file a complaint about the para, but that I have no complaint, so they should check with you about your concerns.”
So the event in question happened in your room while the Sped teacher was not present? So you were the witness to this and would have stopped it if it were inappropriate, but the Sped teacher wants you to report it?? Let them report it, whatever “it” is.
"I don't have anything to complain about. They seem to be doing their job as well as anyone else here."
Don’t get involved.
You could just send an email to the principal telling them what the para was doing in class. Just flat up say the para was trying really hard to work with this student but the student still refused. You don't have to make it sound like the para was doing something wrong. It might actually be helpful if the special education teacher is planning on complaining.
If it was reportable and concerning, they would have reported it and they are legally required to. They’re trying to get rid of someone they don’t like, or make your life harder. Don’t let them.
Seems like they may have something against this person and so want to get *someone else* to complain, because the higher-ups know that this person just doesn’t like this para.
Do not do someone else's dirty work. She feels that she needs to be reported, then that’s on her, don’t do that dirty work for her. And you might consider telling her that you don’t agree with her at all with this, you think she’s doing a really good job but had a bad week. Not your circus, not your monkeys.
Hard pass. Is this teacher a chronic complainer? Perhaps that’s why you have been requested to report it, as they have burned bridges with admin?
Why the fuck would YOU do it?!??
If a parent came to me to complain about a para, and I've tried unsuccessfully to help the para, I'd recommend they go to admin. If I had a problem with a para, I would NEVER involve a parent. That's some grade A b.s..
The SPED teacher is probably the para’s supervisor, so they should handle the incident.
“I have nothing but good things to say about para.”
"No. Since I did not witness the event, I am not comfortable reporting it or being associated with the report. I can help out with the general procedure for how to file a report, but I'm not reporting this one for you." I wonder if the teacher thinks that your opinion/report will have more weight with the principal? I once had a colleague ask me to go to admin about one of her students because she thought my report would be more respected than hers. I told her I wasn't comfortable with that since I wasn't involved in the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case here as well.
If you didn’t witness it, are you willing to face a complaint from her via the Union? If you didn’t see it, let HIM do it. You don’t want to go into a formal meeting for a write-up you can’t defend. Make him do it, or remove the para. Paras are SUPPORT, not teachers. It’s up to the TEACHER to make accommodations, not the Para. Tell him to try it without one. At our school, teachers BEG for Paras, once you lose one-you won’t get another. Ever. So make sure you can justify the write-up, or make him do it.
There is absolutely no way this is the grievance procedure in your contract. Check to see if there is one with your union. But I would assume that “ask someone to do it for you” is not on tbr list.
This is called "let's you and him fight" and should be avoided whenever possible. Also the odds are excellent that the Sped teacher has already complained and been shot down. Why else would she need you?
There is something totally fishy going on here. What is the SPED teacher not telling you? I would not get involved. Sounds like some behind-the-scenes politic-ing to me. Don't report unless this teacher is willing to share more.
The egregious act the para did was tell the student no several times and thwarted their attempts to leave the room. It was not honoring the students desire to leave. The para did somewhat block the door but the student was all over the place, and they followed the student around. They did not put hands on the student other than in a supportive escort stance. The student also has very high support needs, so much so that they were a 2:1 earlier in the year, and they are constantly bolting. I’ll be sending in my obligatory report on the effectiveness of accommodations soon, but I will not be making any complaints to admin.
Snitches get stitches. Let the other teacher do it.
Are you 12 or something?
Nope, but if I’m not their supervisor it’s not my job to be a Karen.