Share the Worst Job You've Ever Had
As a teacher's aide I was to provide assistance to special needs students in middle school. My students had a range of learning and/or behavioral, psychological, physical and emotional disabilities. Even though I had a Bachelors in Vocational Education and full certifications for K-12 classrooms, I felt unprepared and overwhelmed in these duties, which officially only require an Associates to perform.
But, the classroom teacher made what could have been okay into a horrow show.
What Made This Job Your Worst Job - Ever
I was "in charge" of Title 1 students while taking their tests for NCLB. The students had various "modifications;" in one student's case that meant extra time to complete tasks.
But, these testing cycles were strictly timed, after which normal classes would resume. At the end of testing I gave the teacher my students' stack of test booklets and went with them to their regular classes.
When being CCd on emails to the staff a few weeks later, I learned I was being blamed for this kid's low test scores because I should have somehow known his extra time was supposed to be made up during the sessions for kids who had been out sick on test day. I was, it turns out, supposed to tell this kid's regular teacher that he didn't finish his test (he never finished anything), retrieve his booklet from the counselor's office on test makeup day, leave my kids in their regular classes on makeup day and inform the teacher of my need to help this kid resume his test.
After a year of her saying, "You should have known ___" after whatever mishap occurred, I was already stressed but this was the last straw.
I will never know if the staff who received these accusations about me ever realized there was simply no process for me to follow, or if there was, I just didn't know about it.
Tips and Tricks
- I really needed the job so I dealt with her in passive mode, apologized as I went along and did what I had thought was my best. She was the school's teacher whose assistants never lasted more than one school year, and I was just the latest of them. By the time this testing event happened, she had achieved tenure and was unlikely to be influenced by my complaints. I found new employment outside education, and felt very lucky in doing so.
