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Job Number Fourteen, Teacher Aide

I had been trying to get some kind of office job at a local school for some time. My Mom works at the school in their cafeteria, so she kept me in the loop about new positions. The only way to know about new positions was if you were inside the school, for that’s the only place the jobs were posted. The school put up a bulletin for any open positions near the timeclock or sign-in sheet for current employees. They didn’t advertise in newspapers nor did they use their own website to list job openings, although they had a page for it on their site. Although there were no office openings, my Mom did let me know about an opening for a Teacher Aide for the Special Education department. I applied and “interviewed” with the supervisor for that department (who was also the Vice-Principal of the high school).

I say “interviewed” because when I showed up, she said to me, “You know you were hired last night, right?” The school board approved me being placed in the position, apparently. I would later learn that nothing was done without the approval of the school board. They could only give me a few hours per week, which was fine because I was working another job at the time, too.

It only paid minimum wage, but there was little I could do about that. I saw this as my chance to get my foot in the door to be considered for any secretarial position that might open up in the future.

I shadowed another Aide for a few days to get the hang of the job. She would be leaving soon, so I was under the impression that I would be taking over her schedule. I was technically hired as a “Substitute Teacher Aide” so that I could fill in for any other Aides if they called in or had to take time off. I have to admit, I didn’t quite “get” the job. Following the aide, and watching the others, I could surmise that the majority of the job was hanging out and talking with one another and the students. It seemed like a popularity contest.

I wasn’t exactly in the best school, either. In my first week, students tried to poison a teacher by putting hand sanitizer in his drink. The school administration decided to lie to the students and say he was very sick and in the hospital, when in reality he was on vacation. They hoped they could scare the kids into admitting who did the deed, but it didn’t work. The student also trashed the room, and although there are video cameras in all the rooms, it wasn’t turned on during the incident, though they had a pretty good idea who did it.

One of the aides I shadowed made disparaging comments about Blacks, Hispanics and Asians, with one instance being in front of a student. Also, teachers and aides openly talked about drinking alcohol in front of students. I’m no prude, but I don’t think this was appropriate behavior for a school.

My job consisted of sitting in classrooms, listening to teachers do their thing, waiting to see if any of my students needed help. The program was called Individualized Education Program (IEP), and basically the kids in the program either had some difficulty in learning or had behavioral issues. They weren’t mentally disabled (you need special training for that), but they might learn a little slower or in a different way than the majority of the class. There were hundreds of the kids at the school in the program, and I was assigned to a number of classes with some of the IEP kids in them. Basically, if they needed help, I could help them, or if they were taking a test, I’d take them to a separate room and give them some help during their testing.

I was never trained on how to do any of this. I had to watch other aides to see how they handled proctoring tests and assignments. Some aides gave the answers to the students, some just told the students which answers were wrong, and some gave no help at all. I guess it was a matter of style, really.



I did learn some things in those classes. It was like a refresher to me, especially the math classes. I liked that aspect of the job, but it did get very boring. Soon, I also learned that I couldn’t trust anyone there, not even the students. I came to work one day to find a note from the Vice-Principal to come to her office. I sat down and she asked me, “Do you listen to an iPod while you’re in classes?”

Apparently someone had told her that I was listening to music while I was in class with students. Obviously it wasn’t true. I never even brought headphones to work with me. I never found out who said it or why, but it made me feel like I needed to watch my back while I was there.

I also started doubting that I’d ever get an office job at the school. Positions opened up, but they were always filled quickly by people other than me. I never even got called for an interview. With one job, I kept on the secretary for updates and asked if interviews would be conducted. She told me they would, but I still didn’t get a call. It also didn’t help that some of the secretaries and teachers thought I was a student. They say you should appreciate looking younger than you are, but when I’m 30 years old and I still look like a teenager, it gets irritating. I start to feel like I won’t be taken seriously in the office world if I look young. I’ll always be underestimated, I fear.

I was nominated, instead, to be a permanent Teacher Aide at the school. It had to be approved by the school board first, of course. I waited until the meeting, but I wasn’t mentioned. It turned out, the Vice Principal forgot to put it in the notes for the meeting. I would have to wait another month to be approved.

When I was hired, the Superintendant and the Vice-Principle kept saying I was a “good catch” and that they were lucky to have me at the school. I realized later that they meant they were lucky to get someone with a Bachelor’s Degree to work minimum wage at a boring job.

One month left to go in the school year, I was suddenly given more hours. I was required to help another student. It turned out to be a babysitting gig where I had to follow a trouble student (she wasn’t even part of the IEP program) to make sure she didn’t fight with another girl. I traded an English class (where I got to read short stories) for a gym class and a lunch period. Just what I wanted.

The good thing about switching to a longer day meant that I got a lunch break. School lunches can sometimes be good, though not nutritionally the best. Another great thing was that my Mom worked in the cafeteria, so I got to see her every day. Honestly, that was the best part of the entire job.

At least when school ended and Summer break started, I was able to start collecting unemployment.