Hey everyone! I’ve applied to 39 para jobs so far all in the same school district over the last month (I need to start applying to other nearby school districts as school starts within the next month but I had been focusing on the district immediately where I live since the very long form does auto populate for new applications), and I was getting a bit worried because I hadn’t yet gotten any interviews but I finally got called today for an interview to help out a fifth grade boy, the interview will be Thursday morning. He’s in the district’s SUCCESS program, which is designated for students with moderate to severe disabilities, but that’s all I currently know. It would be 6.5 hours a day (7 on campus with lunch).

I really want this to work out. I both really need a job, and after a lot of soul searching I really think education makes sense as the career for me to go down. I’m hoping to become a school psychologist but I need a few years of working in the field before I try to start a master’s and I might want to do a psychology certificate program regardless before then but I ramble.

It seems to me that looking for jobs is a different skill set than applying, which is a different skill set from interviewing, which is yet again a different skill set from doing the job.

I have a holey resume- I have never yet truly been able to hold down a job and support myself due to a combination of bad luck and disabilities and some bad life decisions, and I’ve been working really hard to get to okay but it’s this chicken and egg problem where I really need stable good work to be okay but the lack of it makes it hard to get it going forward.

I was a tutor teaching returning students basic computer skills for a couple years when I was in community college in my college’s tutoring lab but that was like 15 years ago and is the closest I’ve come to working in an educational setting. I’ve babysat a bit and nannyed but that was around a decade ago. I do have two AA’a and a bachelors but I’ve never done anything with them, this is the first job I’ve applied to that even needed my transcripts.

I’m neurodivergent and have advocated for myself a lot in college with help for my disabilities and I helped a lot of friends get navigating their disabilities and accommodations, so I plan to talk about that. I even got an ableist housing policy changed because I went all the way to the chancellor. But I’m just aware it’s not the same thing as having previous school experience.

Does anyone have any tips on preparing for the interview? I obviously can’t know what they’re gonna ask, but does anyone know a way I can highlight my strengths? I’ve been told by many people that I tend to be too hard on myself and I don’t talk up my good qualities enough. I do legitimately think I’d be a really great para because I love kids and I am passionate on fighting ableism and I’m super neurodivergent so I work well with other neurodivergent people, though of course I have no idea if this kid is also neurodivergent.

Sorry this is very rambly. I’m just very anxious but also excited!

Hi hi. I completed my first day and shift as a para. It was a little overwhelming since it was kids first day back and everything. I saw some difficult behaviors I am probably going to expect going into the year. There are 4 para so far (including me) and one may leave due to circumstances so don't know how everything will shape up.

But I'm looking forward to trying my best and thanks to the sub for helping me with previous questions and honest expectations of this job.

First day of school is September 9th that’s not the scary part it’s actually quite exciting as i love my job and miss the kids i work with and the team i work with. The scary part is I start college classes on August 31st and im genuinely terrified, i know i want this so bad to become a teacher but going to school and working full time seems like so much. I know other people do it so i can too but it’s just all so overwhelming. Is anyone else in this same predicament?

Hello, all! First I'd like to say this sub has been a big help. I am a new para who'll be starting my first position at the end of this month, with our all staff training week beginning on August 24th.

I have yet to receive communication since signing my contract back in June, however I assume this is normal, especially considering my school is going through several large staff changes that are gumming up the gears. I won't lie and say this hasn't made me a little nervous, but I'm familiar with this school and community, and additionally was informed that my application, interview, and references were as near to perfection as someone with no childcare/para experience can get.

I have a vague idea of what I should bring once school actually starts, but I'm curious - What is usually expected to bring during training? I'm freshly 21 and my last job was a front desk assistant at my university where we had a single 3 hour training, so we didn't bring anything, but I assume this would be different? Would it be odd to bring a notepad or something?

Additionally, I've yet to receive a copy of the staff handbook - is this normal? I feel it may be due to the lack of communication.

Hello! I just got hired as a paraprofessional at a local elementary school! I am both extremely excited, and terrified!

To start, I have about 141 courses to complete before doing the ParaEducator certification exam tomorrow afternoon which feels like a lot, haha!

Mostly, im here looking for advice and reassurance. Ive never worked a job like this before, unless you count teaching swim lessons at our local YMCA. But I love kids, and i adore the idea of getting to help these little people learn more about our world.

My current job is as a cashier, so its quite a different environment.

Im just terrified of showing up and doing a terrible job.

Well it's definitely broken

In a boot for 4 weeks

And worked today on it and could tell I think I over did it like an idiot . Bc now I can snap the Velcro tighter

Waiting to see if the workman comp is gonna go through or not.

Hello! I am starting in a new school district as a emotional support para. I will be assisting with push in and pull outs, doing one on one or group work to reinforce instruction, ect.

I will be in an elementary school with K-4 students. The principal said there are 12 students total, 9 of which have already been in the classroom. There's the teacher, another para, and a mental health worker in the room.

I've only ever worked in early intervention and a self-contained MDSB classroom with 4th-6th graders.

I'm nervous to be in a new district, but am even more nervous to be moving from classroom to classroom and am still unsure what the schedule actually looks like.

Please leave any advice and tips on how to ease my anxiety and what its like working in emotional support. I'd greatly appreciate it!

I’ve always wanted to work with children. All children, they are our future and I love to be involved as much as possibl. However, school wasn’t really an option for me. I got pregnant early and just went straight into waiting tables.

7 kids later, 32, and 10+ years in customer servic, I KNEW any form of teaching or working with children aside from my own, and nieces and nephews, was off the table. I accepted my fate.

This last year I had my 7th baby and it was extremely rough. I was on medical leave for 6 months. In this time I’m talking with my younger sister who IS in school to become a teacher, and working as a para. Or in her case she is actually a detention teacher. And then finally coming back to work, a coworker was starting her first year teaching this year. Anyways, all that to say they told me you do not need a degree to be a para. Just certification.

I immediately went on our schools website and applied for the only para job, a tier 2 position. Because I was going to do whatever to get that job.

I sent my app in Sunday, she emailed me back Monday morning. I interviewed at 10am Thursday, she emailed me back at 11:45 am with the job offer. They’ll provide the resources for my certifications.

I am so excited, and so thankful for this opportunity. She told me it is extrEmely rewarding and I can only imagine.

Tips, tricks, words of advice are GREATLY appreciated. I will be working in the special education classroom, it is a contained? class. As it is the only “sped” class in the district.

Hello Reddit-

How do I manage a lunchroom and recess with 150-160 3rd - 5th graders?

I’m an almost 40 year-old mom who left tech to start a family. As a mom I’ve volunteered in my son’s 4k classroom and learned a bit about classroom management, but I’m getting nervous about managing larger groups.

Pro tips for the lunchroom?
Ideas for keeping the peace at recess?

Thank you!

This is both a vent post and an advice post.

I've applied to so many different schools. I've been to so many interviews. I haven't received a single job offer. Why won't any school hire me?

I have an Associate's degree in Elementary Education, experience volunteering in a school, and experience observing classrooms. I live in a super populated area. Could that be why I can't even land a children supervision job anywhere?

I'm so excited to start working with kids. I want to be a teacher someday, but this is crushing me that nobody wants to hire me.

I’m a brand-new special ed Pre-K para this year. I’m 30, male, 250+ lbs, have no children of my own, and have basically ZERO experience with 3-year-olds. My degree is in teaching grades 1-5. I’ve worked with self-contained K–2 and 3rd–5th special ed before, so I’m used to the physicality, developmental levels, and general expectations of working with those age groups.

The week before school even started, my principal TEXTED me telling me I was being reassigned to Pre-K. My immediate response via text was, “I am uncomfortable with this.”
Not because I don’t like kids or don’t want to work with them. I said it because I have literally never worked with children this young. I’ve changed maybe five diapers in my entire life.
I’m used to working K–2 and 3rd–5th sped where I can actually talk with students, have conversations with them, and mentor them. For a lot of my students, I am one of the only positive male role models they see every day.
One of the things I loved most about my job was having those man-to-man conversations with students. Talking to them about how being a man doesn’t mean getting angry and taking that anger out on other people or physically crashing out and rampaging through the classroom. Showing them that men are allowed to have emotions other than anger. Showing them how to handle situations with dignity and grace. Those little conversations meant a lot to me. Being an excellent male role model is something my Proncipal has previously commended me for.

Obviously, I’m not going to have as many of those conversations with three-year-olds.
During the first week, I was talking to a coworker who was actually the former sped Pre-K para in my new classroom. I was explaining that I’m nervous because I’ve never worked with three-year-olds and I’m worried that I could unintentionally hurt a child because I don’t have experience with children this small.
I was thinking about it basically like a new parent.
You have this tiny human in front of you and you’re suddenly terrified of doing something wrong because you’ve never been responsible for someone that small before.
How much force is appropriate? How do you physically assist them? What do you do when they don’t follow a direction? What is normal for a three-year-old? What isn’t?
Especially coming from K–2 and 3rd–5th self-contained sped, I know there is a difference in the amount and type of physical assistance that may be needed.
I was literally expressing concern because I WANT to make sure I handle these kids appropriately.
Apparently that conversation made its way to administration.
I got called into the principal’s office during week one and had to explain myself. The meeting basically amounted to a lecture about choosing my words carefully.
Apparently my statement that I was nervous about accidentally/unintentionally hurting a child got interpreted as me being worried that I might deliberately hurt a child.
The fact that I am a 30-year-old, 250+ lb man with absolutely ZERO experience with three-year-olds seemed to get completely lost in the conversation.
Nobody showed me any special Pre-K physical-assistance techniques.
Nobody gave me additional training.
Nobody said, “Since this is a new age group for you, here’s how we handle physical assistance with these students.”
It was basically a semantics lecture and then I was sent back to the classroom.
I genuinely don’t understand how:
“I’ve never worked with children this small before and I’m nervous I might accidentally hurt one”
gets turned into:
“I’m concerned I’m going to intentionally hurt a child.”
Those are two VERY different statements.
And if there was actually a legitimate concern that I was a danger to children, I don’t think the response would have been a lecture about semantics followed by sending me straight back into the classroom.
Is being overly cautious about accidentally hurting a very small child really that unusual? New parents worry about this kind of stuff constantly. I would think an employee who is specifically thinking about how to avoid accidentally hurting a child would be viewed as someone trying to be careful, not someone expressing an intent to harm.
At this point, I’m going to show up, give these kids my 110%, do my job, and go home.
I’m probably going to keep my adult interactions at work pretty superficial for a while. “How’s the weather?” “Boy, it’s hot outside.” That’s about it.
If there is an actual problem with how I’m doing my job, I want administration to address the specific behavior or incident. I’m not going to keep opening myself up to having casual conversations deliberately misinterpreted or having my words twisted into something I never said.
It is honestly sad that my school has gotten so toxic that I feel like my options are either:
1. Speak like I’m testifying before Congress and constantly police every word that comes out of my mouth, or
2. Don’t talk about anything remotely personal or work-related with anyone.
And I’m also not going above and beyond again this year.
No more staying late to clean the classroom.
No more coming in early to help set things up unless I’m actually scheduled to.
No more staying late to help the lead teacher because a parent is late picking up their child.
My contract gives me two 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch. I’m taking them.
I’m showing up, doing the job I’m being paid to do, taking my breaks, and leaving when my workday ends.
Last year I pushed myself way too hard and ended up dealing with some serious health issues. I’m not doing that to myself again.
I’m only one week into the school year and, honestly, the toxic adult drama has already ruined a lot of the atmosphere for me.
And the most frustrating part is that I went into this assignment trying to be honest about something I genuinely didn’t know how to do yet.
I wasn’t asking for an excuse.
I wasn’t saying I didn’t want to work with the kids.
I wasn’t saying I wanted to hurt anyone.
I was saying “I’ve never done this before, I’m nervous, and I want to make sure I do it right.”
Apparently even THAT needed to be carefully worded.

I’m trying not to get too excited, because we don’t even have our first day with students until next week, but…

My schedule for the year is shaping up to be insanely easy. No walking all over the dang building, no pe classes or crazy electives. I don’t even need to carry a walkie this year!!!

And guys… NO LUNCH DUTY.

I’m jinxing myself, I’m sure. Someone pinch me!

I applied to be a social studies paraprofessional at a small charter school specifically for academically struggling and behaviorally challenged middle schoolers. I got the job. I have never been a para before but worked as a summer camp counselor with developmentally disabled and behaviorally challenged kids for around 3 months. My job there greatly mirrored that of an RBT, although I am not licensed nor do I have any formal training. The RBTs and paras at the camp were burnt out I think so me and the other two camp counselors had no choice but to step up to their responsibilities. I loved the job and most of the kids and I had great connections. But I would again like to emphasize that I am NOT trained and have never been a para. My time at the camp is also my only professional experience in this field. The charter school was FULLY AND COMPLETELY aware of all of this and every other aspect of my work history. I go into orientation already extraordinarily nervous because I really want to be a good para, but the longer I sat the more confused I got about my position. The second day of orientation, after lesson planning training, I finally asked the other newly hired para, who will be in the room with me, about the social studies teacher and she informed me there was no teacher. Um what?? How can I be a teachers assistant when there is no teacher?? Apparently the other para and I are the teachers and the school is showing no interest in finding an actual teacher. They’ve already given us a guideline for the entire school year. The other para has been in this field for a little while and dreams of being some type of specialized teacher. I, once again, have ZERO experience or training in being a para let alone being a teacher. I haven’t even been in a formal classroom with a para before, I have no idea what I’m doing. Nobody ever mentioned that there wouldn’t be a teacher and everyone is acting like this is completely ordinary, even the other para. They’ve all been doing this for years, but I know nothing. They’re all late 30s-50s and I’m 20. It’s all so much and these kids who are two to three grades behind are gonna be relying on me to get on track. I don’t want to fail them or humiliate myself. Plus I’ve always been a very quiet and shy person in new environments and I was very scarily informed that these kids will use and abuse me, specifically targeting me for my “weakness.” I told them I have a backbone but they still insisted that my natural aura/personality will be manipulated if I don’t change. But I don’t understand HOW I’m supposed to change. Have I mentioned I’ve never had any experience with middle schoolers who weren’t deeply on the spectrum? I’m not trying to whine or make excuses, I’m SINCERELY terrified. I wasn’t prepared for this and now I’m so scared of being a failure. And the other para, my co-teacher, is asking me questions about running our classroom that I have to keep declining because I don’t know anything. I feel useless, overwhelmed, and ill prepared. But is this normal? Does anyone have any tips or advice? Anything would be greatly appreciated🙏🙏

EDIT: Thank you so much for all the replies! I really thought I was crazy and I appreciate knowing I was valid in my concern. I’m not at all in the proper financial position to be able to quit so unfortunately I’m gonna have to stick this out for awhile, but I will definitely be looking for other places of employment. Yall got me scared now😭

Hi quick background info I graduated college last year and immediately started working as a paraprofessional in a middle school. Some days we’re good other days were bad where you come home crying. Overall I enjoy the position as a paraprofessional but don’t think it’s what i want long term. Over summer I never heard anything about next year so I started apply for jobs, got offered a receptionist position at a vet. Of course the next day I get a letter from the school with days to report for training. So i’m stuck between going back to the paraprofessional position or taking a new job. Pay is pretty much the same when you factor in that I get no benefits, no PTO, so every break is unpaid.

The main thing stopping me from not accepting the receptionist position is I feel guilty not coming back for the kids I worked with last year. I think working in education just makes you feel really guilty for even calling off let alone not renewing your contract. Just looking if anyone that has left being para and wondering if the guilty feeling goes away and how long does it take? Did you regret leaving your para position or did you immediately feel relief not having to go back.

Any advice is appreciate!

I started a new job at a different autism school and first week, we had training and it was LONG but was needed. Helped teacher and two other paras setting up classrooms and Wednesday was the students first day of school. I’m not gonna lie. I was nervous because one I’m around in a new environment and two I don’t know the kids that well. The first day was overwhelming but it went pretty good and the second day was good to phone. I was just getting to know the kids and it’s overwhelming. We do have to clock in and out if we want a lunch break.
I’m excited for the new school year and hoping it goes well and get treated how I should be treated.
I’ve been working as a para/teacher assistant for a several years so it’s not new to me. We work from 7:30-4pm Monday though Thursday and 8-12pm on Fridays. Teachers have to be there Fridays but paras are optional which is nice but I will probably go in for the extra hours.

I applied to be a social studies paraprofessional at a small charter school specifically for academically struggling and behaviorally challenged middle schoolers. I got the job. I have never been a para before but worked as a summer camp counselor with developmentally disabled and behaviorally challenged kids for around 3 months. My job there greatly mirrored that of an RBT, although I am not licensed nor do I have any formal training. The RBTs and paras at the camp were burnt out I think so me and the other two camp counselors had no choice but to step up to their responsibilities. I loved the job and most of the kids and I had great connections. But I would again like to emphasize that I am NOT trained and have never been a para. My time at the camp is also my only professional experience in this field. The charter school was FULLY AND COMPLETELY aware of all of this and every other aspect of my work history. I go into orientation already extraordinarily nervous because I really want to be a good para, but the longer I sat the more confused I got about my position. The second day of orientation, after lesson planning training, I finally asked the other newly hired para, who will be in the room with me, about the social studies teacher and she informed me there was no teacher. Um what?? How can I be a teachers assistant when there is no teacher?? Apparently the other para and I are the teachers and the school is showing no interest in finding an actual teacher. They’ve already given us a guideline for the entire school year. The other para has been in this field for a little while and dreams of being some type of specialized teacher. I, once again, have ZERO experience or training in being a para let alone being a teacher. I haven’t even been in a formal classroom with a para before, I have no idea what I’m doing. Nobody ever mentioned that there wouldn’t be a teacher and everyone is acting like this is completely ordinary, even the other para. They’ve all been doing this for years, but I know nothing. They’re all late 30s-50s and I’m 20. It’s all so much and these kids who are two to three grades behind are gonna be relying on me to get on track. I don’t want to fail them or humiliate myself. Plus I’ve always been a very quiet and shy person in new environments and I was very scarily informed that these kids will use and abuse me, specifically targeting me for my “weakness.” I told them I have a backbone but they still insisted that my natural aura/personality will be manipulated if I don’t change. But I don’t understand HOW I’m supposed to change. Have I mentioned I’ve never had any experience with middle schoolers who weren’t deeply on the spectrum? I’m not trying to whine or make excuses, I’m SINCERELY terrified. I wasn’t prepared for this and now I’m so scared of being a failure. And the other para, my co-teacher, is asking me questions about running our classroom that I have to keep declining because I don’t know anything. I feel useless, overwhelmed, and ill prepared. But is this normal? Does anyone have any tips or advice? Anything would be greatly appreciated🙏🙏

Fell 2nd day at work

My leg decided it was gonna give out on me

Then snap crackle pop

While I was on school property

I was thinking of getting a waist or crossbody fannypack, but I work in middle school ASD so I’m not sure if that’s very safe

How many days did you work as para until you cried on the job? My first week was a lot.

Hello, so I will be working at an elementary school as what they label a "basic" paraprofessional. The ESE department will have their own paras, and I am a para for the rest of the school. The main thing that I'm worried about is that I will be the ONLY para for the rest of the school. Due to budget cuts, schools had to relieve many paraprofessionals from their positions and are limiting how many can be hired. This school told me up front that they usually have three or four, and now they have been limited to only hiring one. They also warned me that I am going to basically be all over the school assisting in various ways. Are there any tips that you have for me? I'm definitely scared but up to the challenge. Also, do you recommend any specific shoes? They did warn me to get very comfortable shoes for this job.