Hi folks. Would quitting my current teaching job kill my chances of ever having another career as a teacher? I am defeated, and there has only been six full school days. I am a sp. ed. EBD teacher. On 5/6 days I have had to write long, detailed reports on a particular student's behavior. I have had to use CPI holds on this particular student a couple of times, and that documentation is tedious and long as well. I have other students that I am ignoring because I have to be there for this student 5.90 of every 6.0 hours. Teachers want simple things like picture schedules for their kids and the printer is broken. I go to school early to work on lesson planning, only to find that I have to write more and more and more and more and more about this particular student. This student's guardians tell me one thing one day, then they tell me the opposite thing the next day. They call at least 2 times a day. They show up in my building and watch me work. They see everything that goes on and seem to agree that the student is having a tough time. Then the next day they're calling/emailing/talking to the area advocate about our/my practices. We have had an hour long meeting where one guardian told me things to do/try. Then when I try them, I am told I am taking him out of the general ed. room too often. Every time I setup my room, he destroys everything. EVERYTHING. It doesn't look like I've even set up in there any more. He's ripped up my lesson plans, schedules, etc. I have almost no curriculum. All I have are hand-me-downs from other special ed. teachers, and they're great people, but half of the stuff they're giving me is missing vital components. I have no means to truly assess and monitor my students. The second I try to, I am dealing with this one particular student over and over again. I am missing pull-out time with other students because of this student. I have been punched in the face, spit on, had my clothes ripped, kicked, a hole knocked in my wall, my glasses broken, scratched - JUST ABOUT EVERY DAY. I feel like I am going to snap. I only got my students IEP's 3 days before school started. Yet, I feel like if I quit, even giving adequate time to fill my position, this will destroy any chance I have of ever working in education again because my side of the story will never be told. I feel like my dreams have been crushed. What does it take for a school to forcibly move a child into a level 4 setting? This child is going to hurt someone badly. He uses everything in the room as weapons, he's constantly talking about shooting guns, and he's now obsessed with grabbing my para's breasts. I'm beat. I want to quit. I dread tomorrow.
Oh my! I am so sorry you are going through that. I know that dreading going in to the school makes it that much tougher. My heart goes out to you... I don't have any advice for the topic of your post. But I wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and sending you lots of hugs.
Thank you. To top it all of, this student's BIP is very specific on what we have to do. The principal just verbally tells me to ignore portions of it (e.g. "grab him from under a table after he rips down a poster.") and the BIP clearly says this student can only be escorted after causing MAJOR property damage or causing/threatening MAJOR physical harm to himself or others. I know who would get thrown under the bus for that in court, and it certainly wouldn't be the principal. "I never said that."
I truly understand your dilemma...been there before. One suggestion...do you have a union, are you a member, and have you read the contract to see if it addresses the issue of aggressive students? (Our contract requires payment to replace things like glasses that are broken in the line of duty) Have you brought in district behavior people to do assessments? Where is your administrative support? As a last resort...file assault charges. (or your para, who can file sexual assault charges) You might get someone's attention then!
I'm going to read it now. The pressing charges thing, this student is young to the point where I'd end up in the news used as one of those funny stories "so and so filed charges against x year old elementary student."
That changes some things, but the child still needs enormous behavior supports...and you and your para need protection. If you decide that this is all too much for you to handle and you decide to quit, I don't think it would prevent you from getting a new job. Just be honest with the P and explain that you didn't sign on to get constantly attacked. Explain that you are worried about your (and your para's) physical safety. If you resign, write a letter that explains that so you have something to back yourself up when you apply for new jobs. Good luck.
I will look into that. As far as behavior assessment, it's an ongoing thing with this student with many people involved. He is very unique in that his behaviors are seemingly random - as what makes him happy/calm one day will put him into a rage the other. I believe he is psychotic, and I do not say that lightly. He cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not real and will quickly go from happiness to attack mode in a split second. We have a team meeting very soon, but I am so discouraged...
I'm glad you point that out. What kind of extra protection should I request for the paras (one at a time, each half a day) and myself? Last year he had 2 paras on him at all times. I don't know why that went away.
Go find out why the supports were removed. Make a pest of yourself. Contact everyone from the district who might remotely have a part of this. Can you look at written records from the teacher last year? Many times they don't (lazy or overworked) provide enough documentation to show the necessity of keeping the double paras. Some bureaucrat with no knowledge of the situation decides to change things. Likely, they will tell you "budget". If that is the case, begin filing workman's comp reports for every single time any you are even minutely injured. Tell them you have to see the dr. See how their budget explodes then! Also, you need to be documenting every minute that child is with you. Do you know how to do ABC data? This will back you up when you find someone willing to discuss returning his supports from last year. Again, get union protection.
Keep writing your notes on this student. It seems that your admin. either took away support for budget reasons, so that he would have more incidents thus providing a reason to get him out or that his guardians will move him to another school. He appears to need a self-contained class...
I doubt it will ruin your career if you quit. If you feel you need to do, do it. With that said, I don't think your situation is unique. This kind of thing happens often. Sped, especially working with ED students, is tough. If you decide to stick with it, I'm sure things will get better. You can only get so low before others step in to help make some positive changes. Hound your admin for support. Call them when you have a problem. The louder you are, the more they'll realize that either a) you need more para support, or b) the student's placement needs to be changed. Good look. You can do it.
I teach in a school for students with EBD diagnoses. We do have a few students who even with a small class size (usually no larger than 8), a teacher and 2 support staff, that still require 1:1 support.
I also doubt it would kill your career, but you may have a harder time getting a new job especially if your district takes action against your license. I understand how it feels to dread going to work - to dread going to bed at night because you didn't want to go to work in the morning -and the toll this can take on you mentally, emotionally and/or physically. You just have to determine if the paycheck is worth it - can you survive without it?
Might be time to look into OSHA requirements. There is a point where you are there to teach and a point where the workplace is unsafe.
Adding... We had a teacher where I used to work that could not get the support she needed. The child had no business being where he was. In my uneducated opinion, the child needed to be in a psych ward. She was at the point where you seem to be and started going to the doctor after every injury, no matter how minor. How many times are told over and over again to notify admin if we are injured AT ALL while at work. They mean if we trip over a cord and fall, granted, but she was being assaulted daily like you are and was being injured. Only bruising and soreness, but injured just the same. So she filed workman's comp for each and every time she got injured. Even if it was every day. She started leaving school immediately after an assault, just as one would do if they fell down and got hurt while at work. The child was removed within a month of her doing this. I don't know if he was transferred to the alternative school, a medical facility or if mom decided to homeschool. But he wasn't at that school any longer.
Just an update. I am toughing it out right now because our top SPED person stepped in and took some serious action in my favor. In short, we are filling out a lot of paperwork for CPI holds, but we can apply them a lot more quickly. The student *crosses fingers* seems to be doing a lot better knowing that a near immediate consequence is a hold, but we'll see. Thanks everyone for the support. A lot of my fears have been mitigated by this person as well. She told me how all of the court processes would work, so I don't fear litigation for holds as much as I did. She also told the principal I get my full lunches without duty or else...so I am feeling a lot better at the moment.
I had an old co-worker who resigned... and then reapplied for the county and was hired at another school. Working conditions were tough an I don't think she had any issues with getting a new job. Wish I had remembered this tidbit of information earlier. I would also include documentation/evidence where you have met and discussed your concerns with your P so the County Admins are aware that you did try multiple avenues to solve the issue with the student.
Didn't read your previous post. I am happy that things are working more in your favor. Please keep us posted.
