u/Firm-Syrup-9858

I work for a staffing company (not Kelly) and was just hired on last month. Already, I have received negative feedback for a two-day sub job at a 1st-grade class that was insanity. The main thing I am concerned about was that I left the students "in danger". Which...is not what happened at all.

The first thing I will address is that there was a student with an IEP who hit students, and he was sitting next to them in a close block of four, like everyone else. The only thing that the teacher's notes said was to call an extension to get the Behavioral Interventionist in the room. Well, the student not only hit a child during transition but threw a girl and slammed her chair and her desk on the floor. Of course, I immediately called the extension and got the guy in there. They kept the student in the BI's office the whole day, and the second day he needed to come back because he was hitting kids again. There was nothing about de-escalating the student; just call the BI, which is what I did.

So the next thing I will discuss is that the internet went down all afternoon, and nobody at the school bothered to tell me. Why is this important? Other than the fact that I couldn't do a lot of the afternoon activities because they involved videos on YouTube. The phones to call people were down. So, did the whole incident with slamming kids on the floor happen in the afternoon? I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CALL ANYONE!!!! Was I supposed to leave the students in the room alone to find someone?! Nobody bothered to help me except for one para, who was shocked by the students' behavior.

Which gets me to the next issue. This was a "gifted" first grade class. I understand that little kids can be rascals. But these kids were over-the-top feral. I told them multiple times to stay on task and work. The students, multiple times, to my face said, "Yeah, but it's Friday, so I will just do this Monday." "No I will do this Monday." "No, I am going to play instead."

No, no, no, no, no.......I already made this too long, but the students just told me straight to my face no, they were not going to do anything.

I already made this post too long, so I won't bother going into all the details, but this was unlike anything I have ever seen in regards to just not caring about what a teacher says. The para was not happy with the class, told them she expected better, and the students were even giving her attitude back about not wanting to follow directions. So there was somebody that could back me up. I left a long note on the teacher's desk with my phone number. Maybe it was thrown away, but the feedback said I left the students in a dangerous situation without any explanation of what was "dangerous," and that I told them we could complete the work on Monday. Which I did NOT say, and I tried telling the students MULTIPLE times, but they kept being defiant about not doing this.

Thank you for reading this long post. My main question is: do I respond to this, and how do I keep it professional? Has anyone dealt with an issue like this before, and how did you handle it? I am lucky to work in a high-paying district with lots of work, but I am already worried that I might have to start looking for another job.

I accepted a week long assignment for the final full week of school. It is a smaller school where in the few times I have subbed have been asked to cover other classes during my prep because they cannot find subs for this school and they don'thave enough staff to cover. I check the assignment today and it has been updated telling me that I need to come in early Monday and Tuesday to supervise breakfast duty AND students playing basketball at the SAME TIME. I personally don't sub for PE as kids are feral and the last thing I need is someone getting knocked upside the head on my watch.

Also my district is now experiencing a severe sub shortage now (over 20+ unfilled jobs this morning!) as all the teachers are taking their PTO which means being pulled everywhere and students will be extra unruly. This basically guarantees that my planning periods will probably be me being pulled out to cover someone else.

I'm honestly thinking of calling it quits a few weeks early and put my efforts into applying for new jobs. It's exhausting and too stressful to be so understaffed. Everyone seems to be calling it quits, so I guess I should too?

Can anyone in Arizona please help me understand whether I need to pay NAU $ 1,500 to complete my 100 clinical hours in a school setting? I would ask our state's Facebook group, but it seems permanently shut down, and I don't know where else to ask this question. Previously, in that group, SLPAs said they were able to complete the 100 clinical hours in a school district without paying and going through NAU. However, it seems this has changed, as every school district I have spoken with has told me they won't accept me unless I am enrolled in the clinical practicum program. Even school districts that people reported previously having done the hours independently are telling me I need to be enrolled at NAU and commit to a whole semester, not just 100 hours. (To clarify, I live in the Phoenix metro, not the Flagstaff area.)

I think it is absolutely RIDICULOUS that I need to spend $1500 to find my own placement just because. Nobody needed to do this until recently. Maybe this is why they closed the Facebook group, so people wouldn't complain about this? But I am just so defeated. Pay in schools is no better than my current job, substitute teaching. I am honestly wondering if I should just cut my losses on this altogether or wait, assess, and try for grad school. If I want to try grad school, why am I wasting $1500 to find my own internship?!

Oh, and I have already tried to do my hours at a clinic, and that was a total disaster. More clients canceled at the last minute than arrived for therapy, and the two SLPAs almost got fired for upsetting a kid. That is a whole other story. Needless to say, I am fed up and lost as to what to do. Thank you to anyone who can send help.