March 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Amber Lueth never planned to become a special education teacher. When she first stepped into a special education classroom as a paraprofessional, it was simply a practical decision to align her work schedule with her daughter's school hours. "At first, I was like, I can't do this," she confesses, describing her initial reaction to the challenging environment. But something unexpected happened – the students grew on her, and she discovered a sense of purpose absent from her previous career in a law office.
This transformation from reluctant para to passionate special education teacher forms the heart of our conversation, revealing how meaningful work can appear in unexpected places. Amber shares the pivotal realization that drove her career change: "I felt good when I went home, being able to help them regulate themselves and use all their strategies." This sense of making a tangible difference starkly contrasts her law office experience, where she describes "taking people's houses" and never feeling satisfied with her contribution.
Our discussion clearly reveals the challenges of special education teaching, from the complexities of developing appropriate IEP goals to the constant need for flexibility when strategies that worked yesterday suddenly fail today. Yet Amber's innovative approaches shine through, like creating number manipulatives based on students' favorite show, "Number Blocks," to teach math concepts. These creative solutions yield remarkable results, with one parent reporting her child becoming "obsessed with numbers" at home.
What ultimately sustains educators in this demanding field? Amber doesn't hesitate: "I wouldn't be able to do it without you guys for support... I don't know what I would do without any person on our team." This honest acknowledgment of interdependence highlights why supportive professional relationships are crucial in special education, where the average career spans less than five years. Amber offers straightforward advice for those considering this path: "Go for it if it's something you're passionate about." Because without that passion, as our hosts note, "you're going to burn out pretty quick."
Ready to hear more perspectives from the special education world? Subscribe to Life in the IEP Tribe and join our conversation about the challenges, triumphs, and unexpected joys of teaching exceptional students.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
And that, my friend, is how a bill becomes a law.
Welcome to the newest, freshest, most ridiculous episode of
Life in the IEP Tribe.
I'm here and I being Jared withmy wife, laura, and we have
with us another special guest.
(00:22):
Now I got to tell you thiswhole guest thing is really cool
because I really like hearingwhat other people have to say
and their perspectives on things, and I realized when we first
started doing this that my depthof knowledge wasn't enough to
carry on many, many episodes, sonow we can talk to other people
(00:43):
.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's definitely been helpful to help us.
We've learned a lot, andhopefully other people have
learned some things.
A thing or two.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, and so it's been a lot of fun.
And again, like I said, we haveanother, another, another.
Sure we have another specialguest who has a pretty
interesting story as to how shecame about in the world of
teaching special education.
So what I'm going to do is I'mgoing to stop talking and, laura
(01:17):
, I'm going to let you introduceher.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
All right.
So with us tonight today Ialways say tonight because we
record at night, but you knowsome people might be listening
during the day, but anyway.
So for this episode we have ourfriend and coworker, amber Luth
, who we came to know last year.
We got a student and that was,I guess, unplanned and we said,
(01:45):
okay, well, yeah, we're okaywith that, but she's got to come
with them.
So that's how we got her aspart of our crew and then, just
through some series of eventsand some other unplanned things,
she now is teaching one of ourclasses.
(02:08):
So she started off as assistingus with a student as a para
last year and when she worked asour para or a para this year
with our third class and justreally took the lead in the
classroom, and then when it wastime to hire somebody, then she
(02:32):
got the job and so she is nowour third teacher.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And we didn't even have to drug her.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I know she came willingly.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
It wasn't even one of those things where it was okay.
So this kid is young, she's gota lot of life in her.
We need to make sure that shedoesn't leave us and so.
But no, we didn't like shewanted to be there and that's
kind of strange.
But it's a good thing that youwant to be there, because if you
didn't it'd be pretty miserable.
(02:59):
That was deep, wasn't it?
Yeah, see I things?
So, laura, go ahead and kickthis off with Amber.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
All right.
So I know, when we were kind ofpreparing for this a little bit
, you told me that this isn'tsomething that you thought you
would do, which I had no clue,because you're such a natural
and you're a para and that a lotof times is the progression, a
para and that a lot of times isis the progression.
(03:26):
So why don't you give us alittle bit of background of how,
um, yeah, how you got into thespecial education field and then
how you made that transition?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
yes, I actually became a para when my oldest
started kindergarten to have thesame schedule as she did for
school, because the schedulethat I was working when I was in
a law office was not the bestwith her school schedule and
when there were snow days ordays off the law offices were
(03:59):
still open.
So it didn't work.
So if I was a parent at herschool, I could be home when she
was home, home with her overthe summer, take her to school
and they just put me in aspecial education classroom.
It was a therapeutic learningprogram and worked one-on-one
(04:21):
with kids that had behaviors andtried to get them into the
classroom and if they had to betaken out we took them out and
we always tried to keep them inthe classroom as long as they
were being safe with the otherstudents and I just continued to
do that.
And then we moved down here andsame thing.
(04:43):
I knew I didn't want to go backinto a law office because it
was boring and it's the samething every single day and the
job now is never boring and itis never, ever the same thing.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, and you can certainly have five separate
experiences during the course ofthe week.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Even with the same students, and so, of course,
we've shared a lot of thosestudents and we're familiar with
those students as well.
So what kept you from runningaway when you first ended up in
a classroom that was a specialeducation classroom.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
At first I did.
When I first started I was likeI can't do this, I can't.
But the kids grew on me and Ifelt good when I went home,
being able to help them andregulate themselves and use all
their strategies.
And I didn't.
I felt good coming home.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
It makes.
It makes a big difference when,when you feel like what you do
matters yeah, I know that I'veworked a handful of jobs over
the course of my life and therearen't many of them like the
ones that I all left, theexception of maybe one I found
myself thinking, yeah, there'snot a whole lot of real value to
this.
I'm helping somebody make moneyand I don't really care about
(06:06):
that.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
That's what I was doing, yeah, law offices and
taking people's houses.
I never, ever felt good, ohgosh.
When I went home at night itwas not good.
I was making peanuts and thelawyers were getting all the
money and they weren't doing allthe work.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
This is a rewarding job where the other one is not
so what is it that made youdecide that you wanted to take
it a step further and go for theteaching instead of staying as
a para?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, I don't really know, other than I knew that I
wanted to do what I was doingand help the kids and be able to
advocate for them and push forinclusion and help them meet all
(07:05):
of their goals in any way thatI can.
I love buying things to helpthem reach their goals.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So you needed the salary, you needed the salary.
Yeah, those big bucks that weall get you know.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Laura's story is very similar to yours.
She started as a para as well,and then it's really funny
because one day she's like, hey,guess what, I just signed up
for school.
I was like, oh, wow, okay,that's cool.
And then, you know, fastforward and she's teaching as
well.
And so I think there's, I thinkthere's a lot to be said for
somebody who, you know they findthemselves in the middle of the
(07:47):
special education world andthen being willing to say, you
know, I'm willing to invest time, money, sanity, like all of
these things, into a professionthat this isn't going to come as
a shock to anybody isn't makinganyone rich, right?
So there has to be thatfulfillment of the job itself,
(08:12):
because if somebody's doing itjust for the money, or even it's
not going to pan out very well.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, that's for sure .
So you know we're talking about.
I went about the same routethat you did.
Jared didn't para, he subbed,but then um, so yeah, a little
bit of experience in theclassroom.
What do you find that has beenvaluable from going from a para
(08:44):
to a teacher instead of um,cause we've all gone that non
non-traditional route where wedidn't go to school to be a
teacher and have the studentteaching.
And but as far as theexperiences as a para, what?
What skills or tools did youbring into your classroom now
(09:07):
that you developed or learnedwhile you were a para?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
A lot of different things.
I've learned things from youguys and I've learned things
from the people that I workedwith before, and I worked
closely with the BCBA up inConnecticut.
She taught me a lot ofdifferent things and just kind
of bringing it all together andseeing what works best for a
(09:32):
certain kid, it might not workfor another one, and just
knowing what will work for onemight not work for the other,
and then you got to be flexibleand try and come back around to
figure something else out thatwill work for them Right, and's
it?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
one of the things that I think is is challenging
is like okay, well, we triedthis and it's.
I think it's easy sometimes totry it for a couple days and go
up nope, it's not working.
Start away, and so I I findsometimes it's difficult to nope
.
Okay, let's, let's give it ashot, for you know this many
(10:08):
days and at least try it,instead of saying, well, you
know, we gave them thismanipulatively, well, you just
threw it and okay, we can't havethat anymore.
So let's try to reintroduce andtry to help them learn how how
to use it.
Um, so, do you feel that yourbackground with working close
(10:29):
with the BCBA has helped youprepare for this position you're
in now?
I think so.
Yes, so talk a little bit aboutI don't want to say that, so we
know that the IEP isindividualized.
(10:50):
What are some of the ways thatyou have to individualize your
instruction for your students?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
It's really tailored it to their goals.
Some of them can do things thatothers can't and making sure
you have things that for one,that they can realistically do
and for the everything istailored to their individual
needs and their goals.
Because what might be somebodyelse's goal and they have a way
(11:25):
of that they can do it, and youtry and do it with somebody else
, they might not be able tolearn it and pick it up the same
way as the other student Right,so they tailor it around what
works for them.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
And what they like.
I know you are really big onproviding things that they're
interested in, and I know wetalked about one of our other
episodes about really learningthe students and their you know,
(12:01):
not just their needs and theirabilities but what they're
interested in, and you do afantastic job at including
things that they're interestedin in the instruction.
And can you give us a couple ofexamples of what you've done
with that?
Speaker 3 (12:20):
The number blocks.
Three of the five love thenumber blocks and so when
they're working on their goalwhere they have to match the
number and count out, you know,here's number five, show me five
.
I've done the little math cubesand I've stacked them up to
look like the number blocks,because if they know the colors
(12:42):
of them they will put them inorder.
So you got to make sure thatit's not.
Oh, I know that this one goeshere and this is how they go and
the color of the number blocks.
So I get the white blocks and Ibuild them to look like the
number blocks so that they canmatch them to the numbers.
But the number blocks are ourbig one.
(13:04):
They like those.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
That's perfect, like all the way around.
All of them well, what's crazyis like we hear these stories of
of our students learning allthese great skills and as much
as I would love to take creditfor it, no, it's the number
blocks.
The kids watch number blocks.
They watch if they have freetime.
They want to watch numberblocks and but you know we'll
(13:29):
take what we can get.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
One of the moms told me that her son is obsessed with
numbers now and he has a numberchart and he goes and he traces
them and points them all nightlong.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
That's great well, that is, and that's one of the
things about working in specialeducation as well as raising a
child with special needs, isthat there has to be a lot of
flexibility on the part of theteacher and the parents, because
sometimes you're going to haveto learn how to just roll with
(14:05):
certain situations and if youhave, if you don't have kind of
that, that toolbox with youdifferent ideas, different
approaches it's really easy tofind yourself getting stuck.
And so I know that that wefound, you know, when we talk
about the classes, that we'vehad our first year in the school
that we're in now.
(14:25):
Our classrooms are verydifferent than what they are
today, and the kids are verydifferent than that first group.
And so what worked with thatfirst group doesn't necessarily
work with the rest of them.
And as far as raising childrengoes, we know that even those
that develop typically typicallywhoo Curtis, I don't know that
(14:49):
talking is working very wellthis evening those that are
learning things as what would becalled almost normal, it's hard
as well.
It's hard to raise kids andteach kids, and there's this
need for flexibility.
(15:10):
But when it comes to again toour students, not only is every
year different but, like youwere saying sometimes every day
is different.
What worked with the studenttoday may not work with them
tomorrow, and vice versa.
So let me ask you this as faras your transition from being a
(15:32):
paraprofessional and moving intothe classroom setting being the
one Now, your situation was alittle bit different, where we
had this really odd situation Iguess that's what we'll call it
where we had a classroom withtwo paras and no teacher Right.
(15:53):
So it was like how are we goingto figure this out?
But what have you?
This is the word I'm lookingfor.
What would you say is thebiggest surprise in shifting
from a para position to beingthe lead teacher in the
(16:15):
classroom?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Definitely, I would say, the IEP goals.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Making the IEP goals Like making them or tracking
them, or all of them, right themor tracking them, or all of
them right, just deciding what,what their goal should be, and
it's hard to see like, becausesome days they can do it real
good and where they're at andyou don't know if you should
move them up or keep them wherethey're at or if they can.
(16:44):
It's hard to track right andand.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
And identifying where to start is really difficult,
because I mean, when you thinkabout the school year in the
general education setting,especially with teachers that
teach the same grade or subjectevery year, there's kind of a.
(17:09):
They already kind of have anidea of what they're going to do
, they already have an idea ofhow they're going to present the
material, they have a prettygood idea of the breadth of the
spectrum of kids that they'reworking with, the highest and
the lowest really not being, youknow, miles apart, and so they
(17:31):
go into every year with an ideaof what they want to do.
Well, that doesn't quite workfor us, because not only do we
have multiple students withmultiple abilities, but we have
multiple ages and are stillrequired to teach multiple
standards, to teach multiplestandards, and so it's kind of a
(17:55):
double whammy, because we haveto try to learn the kid and then
develop something specificallyfor them.
And I don't remember why Istarted saying all that, like my
brain just went.
It's kind of sound like thegoat right, it was just horrible
.
So yeah, so that's us.
Go ahead, curtis.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
We were talking about her jumping into this role and
then having to, like you know,evolve into the teacher and yeah
, but I'm not know where youwere trying to go yeah so, yeah,
it works hard, we're going togo with that.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
And then the paperwork right.
So there's a ton of paperworkthat comes along with it.
That is by far the worst partof the job.
Paperwork is stupid.
They should just get rid of allof it.
All right, let's see where weat.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Okay, I got it.
So we have questions.
Right, we put these questionsout, so we don't have to do this
, right?
So I'm going to pick a question.
Okay, here we go.
Let's start with this one.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Are you talking to me ?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Okay, we know that at the beginning of the year there
was a lot.
You know that we had to kind ofhelp each other put together
and help do some differentthings, and our team moves
(19:32):
around a lot and so you've hadto have a lot of collaboration
and a lot of teamwork, so you'vehad to have a lot of
collaboration and a lot ofteamwork.
So, being in this role, how hasyour perspective on that of
collaborating with otherteachers and having a team, how
has it changed and evolved, like, especially when you're working
(20:03):
with paras or other SPED teammembers and are, as you're now,
the teacher and not the para.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Well, I definitely know I wouldn't be able to do it
without you guys for support.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
But mainly me, right?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
That's just because he's got the muscles, our team
works really well together andyou can rely on them if you need
something.
I don't know what I would dowithout anyone person on our
team.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I think we agree with that one.
For those that don't know, wehave a team of is it nine of us?
Yeah, nine of us, and it'ssurprising how we function and
get along.
I'm not saying that there'snever any hiccups, because you
(20:56):
know coworkers, friends,families all have issues,
because you know co-workers,friends, families, all have
issues.
However, for the size of teamthat we have, it does work well
(21:17):
and I feel like, yeah, justtreating each other with that
kindness and respect goes a longway too.
Was it weird for you to go fromworking with this group?
You know you were a para andwas it weird for you to step
over to that teaching role?
Did you like feel weird?
Speaker 3 (21:35):
I did feel weird.
I don't know why I just did.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
No, and I get that we're going from being a para to
a teacher, because I still, and, like we said, our paras, they,
they're the reason why we cando what we're doing.
And so, you know, I think it'sit's great to still have that
para mindset because we know, weknow that, we know what they
(22:01):
make and and we know thatthey're they do a lot and for
for that and um, so I, I me,personally, I feel like it's
it's, it's good for teachers tohave had that kind of experience
and I don't feel like I hopethat they don't get taken for
(22:23):
granted or advantage of.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So, yep, hold on, I was going to say something.
I forgot what it was again.
Yeah, so what I was going tosay, I remember.
Now I remember.
So one of the cool things thatwe've been able to experience
this year is we have threemembers of our team that have
(22:54):
decided to go back to school andpursue being teachers not
moving from that paraposition tothe teaching position and it's
been really cool to see otherpeople not only experience the
job with us and enjoy it, butgrow such a connection with it
(23:16):
that they are pushing forward intheir education to again be
teachers.
What would you say if you couldsay one?
We have one thought, one pieceof advice, one bit of direction
to any para out there that wasconsidering becoming a teacher
in the special education world.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I would say go for it if it's something that you're
passionate about and that youlove doing.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Right, just kind of like take a stab at it, because
you never know.
And again, this is one of thoseoccupations that if you don't
love the people you're serving,you're going to burn out pretty
quick.
I think I read somewhere thatthe average career for a special
(24:08):
education teacher was, I think,less than five years, if I
remember correctly, just becauseof how hard it is and there's
not a bunch of money in it.
But the truth is this is thatworking in the setting that we
work in, if you got paid a tonof money, it still would be very
(24:30):
hard to stick with it if youdon't love the kids, because it
is a whole different world, itis a whole different tribe, as
we've mentioned numerous times.
And so you know, I think thatyou can also take that advice
and share that with parents.
(24:51):
And you know, I know parentsdon't typically choose for their
children to have special needs,right.
They kind of shock them when itcomes along, right, and we're
not expecting.
But at the same time, I thinkit really is great advice to
(25:13):
really urge and support parentsand say, hey, listen, but jump
in.
Like some of our other guestshave said, it gets messy, it
gets kind of crazy sometimes andit's not necessarily all
because I don't know about you,but I know.
There's times when we haveconversations with people and
one of the standard questions isoh so what do you do?
And when you tell them that youwork in special education, they
(25:34):
go oh so.
I know listen, I've got scarsI'm looking at right now from
those children that you aw.
No, because it is, it's a tough.
It's a tough relationship togrow when we're working with
(25:55):
students with special needs.
And, yes, there are some thatare just sweet as candy, but
they're kids and even the bestof kids can be turdy, right and
so, but what we have to do fortheir benefit, for our benefit,
is, like you said, amber, justyou kind of have to dive in and
(26:17):
and one thing that that I knowhas been huge for us is that
that willingness to kind ofapproach every day as an as a
new day, and that we have tohave short memories and and you
know they talk about footballplayers, quarterbacks, they
(26:38):
throw an interception.
Well, they have to have a shortmemory come back out and it's
kind of the same thing, right.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Well, yeah, you can't If we hold things about that
happened the day before and tryto well, now we're not going to
do that again today, right, thatdoesn't help anybody.
And then they just rememberthat, oh yeah, I did do that.
Let me do that again, yeah,every day.
(27:06):
Every day with a clean slate,because at the end of the day
and I know I mean we've seen you, amber, evolve into a fantastic
teacher.
Your love for the kids isapparent and I would not think
that you would be there if thatwasn't there.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I think I ran out of words.
How about you, Critty?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
It's hard at the end of the week, isn't?
Speaker 1 (27:38):
it.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yeah, in our world, tomorrow's Friday Fridays are
always worse than not worse, butthey're harder because we've
been getting up and going allweek, all week, all week, and
it's like, oh Friday.
So Thursday night, friday Eve,is hard.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Well, Miss Elle, you have anything else you want to
share with our listener outthere?
All both of them.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Okay, well, that's fine and dandy, there's nothing
wrong with that.
See, that's something.
But see, and that's somethingstrange too, because, let's be
honest, how many teachers haveyou ever met?
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I don't like to talk.
I don't like to talk, Right?
So it's like yeah, it's one ofthose things.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
You know, every teacher, and then we'll end with
this because I'm afraid I'llsay something to get myself in
trouble.
But every staff meeting youever sit in is full of teachers,
right?
I mean, we work at schools.
Teachers are always the onesgetting on the kids about hey,
hey, I need you to not talk whenI'm talking, please catch a
(28:46):
bubble, listen to what I have tosay, and then you throw us all
in a room and that's all they do.
Teachers are all so that evenlike you know, the bosses the
principals have to be like catcha bubble, and there's nothing
more exciting than being 40years old and being told to
catch a bubble.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
So anyway, but we go all day.
Well, most teachers go all daytalking to children.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
We're lucky that we have a team.
Most teachers do go all daylong talking to children and
even though they're in abuilding full of adults, there's
not a whole lot of adultconversation that goes on in
their what?
Three minutes of planning andtheir two-minute lunch, I mean.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
That's true, that's a good point.
Well, that's sad.
It's like I spend all daytalking to an eight-year-old
Like who wants that?
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Hey, we've had some eight-year-olds have some pretty
great conversations.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
That is true, that is true.
So anyway, with all that said,we're going to go ahead and wrap
up this episode.
Thank you, amber, for hangingout with us and chit-chatting,
and hey, anybody that'slistening to this.
If you haven't heard the otherstuff, go ahead and listen to
some of the episodes from thepast, Way back in the day, like
(30:01):
October.
All right, that's it, I'm done.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
We'll see you later, Amber.
And that, my friend, is how a bill becomes a law.
Welcome to the newest, freshest, most ridiculous episode of
Life in the IEP Tribe.
I'm here and I being Jared withmy wife, laura, and we have
with us another special guest.
(00:22):
Now I got to tell you thiswhole guest thing is really cool
because I really like hearingwhat other people have to say
and their perspectives on things, and I realized when we first
started doing this that my depthof knowledge wasn't enough to
carry on many, many episodes, sonow we can talk to other people
(00:43):
.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's definitely been helpful to help us.
We've learned a lot, andhopefully other people have
learned some things.
A thing or two.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, and so it's been a lot of fun.
And again, like I said, we haveanother, another, another.
Sure we have another specialguest who has a pretty
interesting story as to how shecame about in the world of
teaching special education.
So what I'm going to do is I'mgoing to stop talking and, laura
(01:17):
, I'm going to let you introduceher.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
All right.
So with us tonight today Ialways say tonight because we
record at night, but you knowsome people might be listening
during the day, but anyway.
So for this episode we have ourfriend and coworker, amber Luth
, who we came to know last year.
We got a student and that was,I guess, unplanned and we said,
(01:45):
okay, well, yeah, we're okaywith that, but she's got to come
with them.
So that's how we got her aspart of our crew and then, just
through some series of eventsand some other unplanned things,
she now is teaching one of ourclasses.
(02:08):
So she started off as assistingus with a student as a para
last year and when she worked asour para or a para this year
with our third class and justreally took the lead in the
classroom, and then when it wastime to hire somebody, then she
(02:32):
got the job and so she is nowour third teacher.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And we didn't even have to drug her.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I know she came willingly.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
It wasn't even one of those things where it was okay.
So this kid is young, she's gota lot of life in her.
We need to make sure that shedoesn't leave us and so.
But no, we didn't like shewanted to be there and that's
kind of strange.
But it's a good thing that youwant to be there, because if you
didn't it'd be pretty miserable.
(02:59):
That was deep, wasn't it?
Yeah, see I things?
So, laura, go ahead and kickthis off with Amber.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
All right.
So I know, when we were kind ofpreparing for this a little bit
, you told me that this isn'tsomething that you thought you
would do, which I had no clue,because you're such a natural
and you're a para and that a lotof times is the progression, a
para and that a lot of times isis the progression.
(03:26):
So why don't you give us alittle bit of background of how,
um, yeah, how you got into thespecial education field and then
how you made that transition?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
yes, I actually became a para when my oldest
started kindergarten to have thesame schedule as she did for
school, because the schedulethat I was working when I was in
a law office was not the bestwith her school schedule and
when there were snow days ordays off the law offices were
(03:59):
still open.
So it didn't work.
So if I was a parent at herschool, I could be home when she
was home, home with her overthe summer, take her to school
and they just put me in aspecial education classroom.
It was a therapeutic learningprogram and worked one-on-one
(04:21):
with kids that had behaviors andtried to get them into the
classroom and if they had to betaken out we took them out and
we always tried to keep them inthe classroom as long as they
were being safe with the otherstudents and I just continued to
do that.
And then we moved down here andsame thing.
(04:43):
I knew I didn't want to go backinto a law office because it
was boring and it's the samething every single day and the
job now is never boring and itis never, ever the same thing.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, and you can certainly have five separate
experiences during the course ofthe week.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Even with the same students, and so, of course,
we've shared a lot of thosestudents and we're familiar with
those students as well.
So what kept you from runningaway when you first ended up in
a classroom that was a specialeducation classroom.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
At first I did.
When I first started I was likeI can't do this, I can't.
But the kids grew on me and Ifelt good when I went home,
being able to help them andregulate themselves and use all
their strategies.
And I didn't.
I felt good coming home.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
It makes.
It makes a big difference when,when you feel like what you do
matters yeah, I know that I'veworked a handful of jobs over
the course of my life and therearen't many of them like the
ones that I all left, theexception of maybe one I found
myself thinking, yeah, there'snot a whole lot of real value to
this.
I'm helping somebody make moneyand I don't really care about
(06:06):
that.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
That's what I was doing, yeah, law offices and
taking people's houses.
I never, ever felt good, ohgosh.
When I went home at night itwas not good.
I was making peanuts and thelawyers were getting all the
money and they weren't doing allthe work.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
This is a rewarding job where the other one is not
so what is it that made youdecide that you wanted to take
it a step further and go for theteaching instead of staying as
a para?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, I don't really know, other than I knew that I
wanted to do what I was doingand help the kids and be able to
advocate for them and push forinclusion and help them meet all
(07:05):
of their goals in any way thatI can.
I love buying things to helpthem reach their goals.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So you needed the salary, you needed the salary.
Yeah, those big bucks that weall get you know.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Laura's story is very similar to yours.
She started as a para as well,and then it's really funny
because one day she's like, hey,guess what, I just signed up
for school.
I was like, oh, wow, okay,that's cool.
And then, you know, fastforward and she's teaching as
well.
And so I think there's, I thinkthere's a lot to be said for
somebody who, you know they findthemselves in the middle of the
(07:47):
special education world andthen being willing to say, you
know, I'm willing to invest time, money, sanity, like all of
these things, into a professionthat this isn't going to come as
a shock to anybody isn't makinganyone rich, right?
So there has to be thatfulfillment of the job itself,
(08:12):
because if somebody's doing itjust for the money, or even it's
not going to pan out very well.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, that's for sure .
So you know we're talking about.
I went about the same routethat you did.
Jared didn't para, he subbed,but then um, so yeah, a little
bit of experience in theclassroom.
What do you find that has beenvaluable from going from a para
(08:44):
to a teacher instead of um,cause we've all gone that non
non-traditional route where wedidn't go to school to be a
teacher and have the studentteaching.
And but as far as theexperiences as a para, what?
What skills or tools did youbring into your classroom now
(09:07):
that you developed or learnedwhile you were a para?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
A lot of different things.
I've learned things from youguys and I've learned things
from the people that I workedwith before, and I worked
closely with the BCBA up inConnecticut.
She taught me a lot ofdifferent things and just kind
of bringing it all together andseeing what works best for a
(09:32):
certain kid, it might not workfor another one, and just
knowing what will work for onemight not work for the other,
and then you got to be flexibleand try and come back around to
figure something else out thatwill work for them Right, and's
it?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
one of the things that I think is is challenging
is like okay, well, we triedthis and it's.
I think it's easy sometimes totry it for a couple days and go
up nope, it's not working.
Start away, and so I I findsometimes it's difficult to nope
.
Okay, let's, let's give it ashot, for you know this many
(10:08):
days and at least try it,instead of saying, well, you
know, we gave them thismanipulatively, well, you just
threw it and okay, we can't havethat anymore.
So let's try to reintroduce andtry to help them learn how how
to use it.
Um, so, do you feel that yourbackground with working close
(10:29):
with the BCBA has helped youprepare for this position you're
in now?
I think so.
Yes, so talk a little bit aboutI don't want to say that, so we
know that the IEP isindividualized.
(10:50):
What are some of the ways thatyou have to individualize your
instruction for your students?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
It's really tailored it to their goals.
Some of them can do things thatothers can't and making sure
you have things that for one,that they can realistically do
and for the everything istailored to their individual
needs and their goals.
Because what might be somebodyelse's goal and they have a way
(11:25):
of that they can do it, and youtry and do it with somebody else
, they might not be able tolearn it and pick it up the same
way as the other student Right,so they tailor it around what
works for them.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
And what they like.
I know you are really big onproviding things that they're
interested in, and I know wetalked about one of our other
episodes about really learningthe students and their you know,
(12:01):
not just their needs and theirabilities but what they're
interested in, and you do afantastic job at including
things that they're interestedin in the instruction.
And can you give us a couple ofexamples of what you've done
with that?
Speaker 3 (12:20):
The number blocks.
Three of the five love thenumber blocks and so when
they're working on their goalwhere they have to match the
number and count out, you know,here's number five, show me five
.
I've done the little math cubesand I've stacked them up to
look like the number blocks,because if they know the colors
(12:42):
of them they will put them inorder.
So you got to make sure thatit's not.
Oh, I know that this one goeshere and this is how they go and
the color of the number blocks.
So I get the white blocks and Ibuild them to look like the
number blocks so that they canmatch them to the numbers.
But the number blocks are ourbig one.
(13:04):
They like those.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
That's perfect, like all the way around.
All of them well, what's crazyis like we hear these stories of
of our students learning allthese great skills and as much
as I would love to take creditfor it, no, it's the number
blocks.
The kids watch number blocks.
They watch if they have freetime.
They want to watch numberblocks and but you know we'll
(13:29):
take what we can get.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
One of the moms told me that her son is obsessed with
numbers now and he has a numberchart and he goes and he traces
them and points them all nightlong.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
That's great well, that is, and that's one of the
things about working in specialeducation as well as raising a
child with special needs, isthat there has to be a lot of
flexibility on the part of theteacher and the parents, because
sometimes you're going to haveto learn how to just roll with
(14:05):
certain situations and if youhave, if you don't have kind of
that, that toolbox with youdifferent ideas, different
approaches it's really easy tofind yourself getting stuck.
And so I know that that wefound, you know, when we talk
about the classes, that we'vehad our first year in the school
that we're in now.
(14:25):
Our classrooms are verydifferent than what they are
today, and the kids are verydifferent than that first group.
And so what worked with thatfirst group doesn't necessarily
work with the rest of them.
And as far as raising childrengoes, we know that even those
that develop typically typicallywhoo Curtis, I don't know that
(14:49):
talking is working very wellthis evening those that are
learning things as what would becalled almost normal, it's hard
as well.
It's hard to raise kids andteach kids, and there's this
need for flexibility.
(15:10):
But when it comes to again toour students, not only is every
year different but, like youwere saying sometimes every day
is different.
What worked with the studenttoday may not work with them
tomorrow, and vice versa.
So let me ask you this as faras your transition from being a
(15:32):
paraprofessional and moving intothe classroom setting being the
one Now, your situation was alittle bit different, where we
had this really odd situation Iguess that's what we'll call it
where we had a classroom withtwo paras and no teacher Right.
(15:53):
So it was like how are we goingto figure this out?
But what have you?
This is the word I'm lookingfor.
What would you say is thebiggest surprise in shifting
from a para position to beingthe lead teacher in the
(16:15):
classroom?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Definitely, I would say, the IEP goals.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Making the IEP goals Like making them or tracking
them, or all of them, right themor tracking them, or all of
them right, just deciding what,what their goal should be, and
it's hard to see like, becausesome days they can do it real
good and where they're at andyou don't know if you should
move them up or keep them wherethey're at or if they can.
(16:44):
It's hard to track right andand.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
And identifying where to start is really difficult,
because I mean, when you thinkabout the school year in the
general education setting,especially with teachers that
teach the same grade or subjectevery year, there's kind of a.
(17:09):
They already kind of have anidea of what they're going to do
, they already have an idea ofhow they're going to present the
material, they have a prettygood idea of the breadth of the
spectrum of kids that they'reworking with, the highest and
the lowest really not being, youknow, miles apart, and so they
(17:31):
go into every year with an ideaof what they want to do.
Well, that doesn't quite workfor us, because not only do we
have multiple students withmultiple abilities, but we have
multiple ages and are stillrequired to teach multiple
standards, to teach multiplestandards, and so it's kind of a
(17:55):
double whammy, because we haveto try to learn the kid and then
develop something specificallyfor them.
And I don't remember why Istarted saying all that, like my
brain just went.
It's kind of sound like thegoat right, it was just horrible
.
So yeah, so that's us.
Go ahead, curtis.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
We were talking about her jumping into this role and
then having to, like you know,evolve into the teacher and yeah
, but I'm not know where youwere trying to go yeah so, yeah,
it works hard, we're going togo with that.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
And then the paperwork right.
So there's a ton of paperworkthat comes along with it.
That is by far the worst partof the job.
Paperwork is stupid.
They should just get rid of allof it.
All right, let's see where weat.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Okay, I got it.
So we have questions.
Right, we put these questionsout, so we don't have to do this
, right?
So I'm going to pick a question.
Okay, here we go.
Let's start with this one.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Are you talking to me ?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Okay, we know that at the beginning of the year there
was a lot.
You know that we had to kind ofhelp each other put together
and help do some differentthings, and our team moves
(19:32):
around a lot and so you've hadto have a lot of collaboration
and a lot of teamwork, so you'vehad to have a lot of
collaboration and a lot ofteamwork.
So, being in this role, how hasyour perspective on that of
collaborating with otherteachers and having a team, how
has it changed and evolved, like, especially when you're working
(20:03):
with paras or other SPED teammembers and are, as you're now,
the teacher and not the para.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Well, I definitely know I wouldn't be able to do it
without you guys for support.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
But mainly me, right?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
That's just because he's got the muscles, our team
works really well together andyou can rely on them if you need
something.
I don't know what I would dowithout anyone person on our
team.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I think we agree with that one.
For those that don't know, wehave a team of is it nine of us?
Yeah, nine of us, and it'ssurprising how we function and
get along.
I'm not saying that there'snever any hiccups, because you
(20:56):
know coworkers, friends,families all have issues,
because you know co-workers,friends, families, all have
issues.
However, for the size of teamthat we have, it does work well
(21:17):
and I feel like, yeah, justtreating each other with that
kindness and respect goes a longway too.
Was it weird for you to go fromworking with this group?
You know you were a para andwas it weird for you to step
over to that teaching role?
Did you like feel weird?
Speaker 3 (21:35):
I did feel weird.
I don't know why I just did.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
No, and I get that we're going from being a para to
a teacher, because I still, and, like we said, our paras, they,
they're the reason why we cando what we're doing.
And so, you know, I think it'sit's great to still have that
para mindset because we know, weknow that, we know what they
(22:01):
make and and we know thatthey're they do a lot and for
for that and um, so I, I me,personally, I feel like it's
it's, it's good for teachers tohave had that kind of experience
and I don't feel like I hopethat they don't get taken for
(22:23):
granted or advantage of.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So, yep, hold on, I was going to say something.
I forgot what it was again.
Yeah, so what I was going tosay, I remember.
Now I remember.
So one of the cool things thatwe've been able to experience
this year is we have threemembers of our team that have
(22:54):
decided to go back to school andpursue being teachers not
moving from that paraposition tothe teaching position and it's
been really cool to see otherpeople not only experience the
job with us and enjoy it, butgrow such a connection with it
(23:16):
that they are pushing forward intheir education to again be
teachers.
What would you say if you couldsay one?
We have one thought, one pieceof advice, one bit of direction
to any para out there that wasconsidering becoming a teacher
in the special education world.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I would say go for it if it's something that you're
passionate about and that youlove doing.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Right, just kind of like take a stab at it, because
you never know.
And again, this is one of thoseoccupations that if you don't
love the people you're serving,you're going to burn out pretty
quick.
I think I read somewhere thatthe average career for a special
(24:08):
education teacher was, I think,less than five years, if I
remember correctly, just becauseof how hard it is and there's
not a bunch of money in it.
But the truth is this is thatworking in the setting that we
work in, if you got paid a tonof money, it still would be very
(24:30):
hard to stick with it if youdon't love the kids, because it
is a whole different world, itis a whole different tribe, as
we've mentioned numerous times.
And so you know, I think thatyou can also take that advice
and share that with parents.
(24:51):
And you know, I know parentsdon't typically choose for their
children to have special needs,right.
They kind of shock them when itcomes along, right, and we're
not expecting.
But at the same time, I thinkit really is great advice to
(25:13):
really urge and support parentsand say, hey, listen, but jump
in.
Like some of our other guestshave said, it gets messy, it
gets kind of crazy sometimes andit's not necessarily all
because I don't know about you,but I know.
There's times when we haveconversations with people and
one of the standard questions isoh so what do you do?
And when you tell them that youwork in special education, they
(25:34):
go oh so.
I know listen, I've got scarsI'm looking at right now from
those children that you aw.
No, because it is, it's a tough.
It's a tough relationship togrow when we're working with
(25:55):
students with special needs.
And, yes, there are some thatare just sweet as candy, but
they're kids and even the bestof kids can be turdy, right and
so, but what we have to do fortheir benefit, for our benefit,
is, like you said, amber, justyou kind of have to dive in and
(26:17):
and one thing that that I knowhas been huge for us is that
that willingness to kind ofapproach every day as an as a
new day, and that we have tohave short memories and and you
know they talk about footballplayers, quarterbacks, they
(26:38):
throw an interception.
Well, they have to have a shortmemory come back out and it's
kind of the same thing, right.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Well, yeah, you can't If we hold things about that
happened the day before and tryto well, now we're not going to
do that again today, right, thatdoesn't help anybody.
And then they just rememberthat, oh yeah, I did do that.
Let me do that again, yeah,every day.
(27:06):
Every day with a clean slate,because at the end of the day
and I know I mean we've seen you, amber, evolve into a fantastic
teacher.
Your love for the kids isapparent and I would not think
that you would be there if thatwasn't there.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I think I ran out of words.
How about you, Critty?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
It's hard at the end of the week, isn't?
Speaker 1 (27:38):
it.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yeah, in our world, tomorrow's Friday Fridays are
always worse than not worse, butthey're harder because we've
been getting up and going allweek, all week, all week, and
it's like, oh Friday.
So Thursday night, friday Eve,is hard.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Well, Miss Elle, you have anything else you want to
share with our listener outthere?
All both of them.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Okay, well, that's fine and dandy, there's nothing
wrong with that.
See, that's something.
But see, and that's somethingstrange too, because, let's be
honest, how many teachers haveyou ever met?
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I don't like to talk.
I don't like to talk, Right?
So it's like yeah, it's one ofthose things.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
You know, every teacher, and then we'll end with
this because I'm afraid I'llsay something to get myself in
trouble.
But every staff meeting youever sit in is full of teachers,
right?
I mean, we work at schools.
Teachers are always the onesgetting on the kids about hey,
hey, I need you to not talk whenI'm talking, please catch a
(28:46):
bubble, listen to what I have tosay, and then you throw us all
in a room and that's all they do.
Teachers are all so that evenlike you know, the bosses the
principals have to be like catcha bubble, and there's nothing
more exciting than being 40years old and being told to
catch a bubble.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
So anyway, but we go all day.
Well, most teachers go all daytalking to children.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
We're lucky that we have a team.
Most teachers do go all daylong talking to children and
even though they're in abuilding full of adults, there's
not a whole lot of adultconversation that goes on in
their what?
Three minutes of planning andtheir two-minute lunch, I mean.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
That's true, that's a good point.
Well, that's sad.
It's like I spend all daytalking to an eight-year-old
Like who wants that?
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Hey, we've had some eight-year-olds have some pretty
great conversations.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
That is true, that is true.
So anyway, with all that said,we're going to go ahead and wrap
up this episode.
Thank you, amber, for hangingout with us and chit-chatting,
and hey, anybody that'slistening to this.
If you haven't heard the otherstuff, go ahead and listen to
some of the episodes from thepast, Way back in the day, like
(30:01):
October.
All right, that's it, I'm done.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
We'll see you later, Amber.
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