This month, July 2017, marks the end of my first school year as a ParaProfessional Direct Service Provider in an ABA-based, public school alternative for elementary-middle school aged children with moderate-severe disabilities.
Put a bit more simply, this marks the end of my first year as a teacher in training.
And yes, I know there is a big difference between the Professional Teachers and myself. They are the ones with the degrees, the ones who write and keep responsibility over IEPs, BIPs, and all EIs. They are the ones who have paid their dues in time and money to go to school to study the incredibly important foundations & core principles of our work. But we are all the ones who enact those foundations and core principles, every single day.
At our institute, the paraprofessionals help the professional teachers constantly with the goings on & upkeep of the students and their plans. This is how we manage to keep above a 1:1 Staff/Student ratio: Most of us are paraprofessionals. This is precisely why I think of myself as a Teacher in Training, because at my school, I am not simply providing direct service. I am responsible for the material management for an entire individual student, on top of keeping up on their goal progress by maintaining their charts and permanent school portfolio. I am responsible for running lessons & educational tasks with 5 different children every day, making sure that I know each one’s individual lesson plans and behavioral interventions. All of the paraprofessionals at my institution are trained on how to appropriately and safely intervene and take control in event of an emergency - and, in our world, emergencies are fairly commonplace.
[At least, what others see as emergencies. By our standards, sometimes it’s just Thursday]
I have found myself enraptured by every part of the Teacher’s Life. This past 6 months spent at my school has shown me not only what being a teacher truly entails, but that I am ready and willing to volunteer as tribute. The time spent worrying over kids meeting goals, laminating charts and making materials, applying the science at our disposal to help these children… every part of it is intensive and beautiful and completely vital. Every moment is worth it, no matter what the salary may or may not be.
At the end of this, my first school year in Education, I find myself more convinced than ever of my dream of becoming a teacher. Any age, (almost) any subject, I am a teacher in my heart and soul. And as I commit myself further & more wholeheartedly to this dream every day, I both know & pray that this never changes.
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