u/newsbowser

TLDR talus and pilon fracture in January >surgery in March> daily pain during an after school in August even with Bondi 9’s.

Back in January, I jumped a ramp chasing a kid and fractured my talus and right pilon. Due to workers' comp and initially being misdiagnosed, I didn't get surgery for over a month. I had ORIF in March and started twice-weekly PT 5 days later, and that lasted until July. Confirmed screw placement and healing in July.

School recently started back up, and I got moved to Pre-K special education. Before, I worked with 4th/5th graders, and I wasn't on my feet as much. My foot/ankle hurts more now after work than it did when I was doing twice-weekly PT.
I am only 30 and I am not used to this kind of daily pain. Would rather deal with another kidney stone than put up with this.

I am pretty sure surgeon said that there was not much they could do but debriment for the Talus fracture and I
Would have arthritis, they put screw through leg for pilon fracture.

Taking advil in the evening but I dont know if that is the best course of action long-term. Have not spoken to my PCP because he is useless and only reason I keep him is because I have to order to see my psyche doctor for sleep and ADHD meds.

Edit I have been wearing Bondi 9’s since back during PT. They are amazing for pain from stepping/jarring and were life savers early in injury. I don't know how much they are helping now.

TLDR talus and pilon fracture in January >surgery in March> daily pain during an after school in August.

and Back in January, I jumped a ramp chasing a kid and fractured my talus and right pilon. Due to workers' comp and initially being misdiagnosed, I didn't get surgery for over a month. I had ORIF in March and started twice-weekly PT 5 days later, and that lasted until July. Confirmed screw placement and healing in July.

School recently started back up, and I got moved to Pre-K special education. Before, I worked with 4th/5th graders, and I wasn't on my feet as much. My foot/ankle hurts more now after work than it did when I was doing twice-weekly PT.
I am only 30 and I am not used to this kind of daily pain. Would rather deal with another kidney stone than put up with this.

I am pretty sure surgeon said that there was not much they could do but debrimebt for the Talus fracture they put screw through leg for pilon fracture.

Taking advil in the evening but I dont know if that is the best course of action long-term. Have not spoken to my PCP because he is useless and only reason I keep him is because I have to order to see my psyche doctor for sleep and ADHD meds.

Edit I have been wearing Bondi 9’s since back during PT. They are amazing for pain from stepping/jarring and were life savers early in injury. I don't know how much they are helping now.

It feels so good to be treated with respect and dignity instead of like a second-class person or an outsider who can’t be trusted. At the same school, under different lead teachers, if I arrived first or they were out, I had to get the head custodian, the principal, or the vice principal to let me into my own classroom.

New lead is awesome. We are a team. There are no power struggles or making each other uncomfortable; we are adults who act like it. Neither of us has the time or energy to be petty or deal with unnecessary drama. It is refreshing to work with an adult who acts like an adult, not an ego/power-tripping gossipmonger.

Maybe her common sense and down-to-earth nature come from being a retired teacher turned para who returned to being a lead teacher when the old Pre-K sped teacher she worked with quit; either way, I will take it. Before working in the education sector, I loved working with older women because they were grown and didn't engage in petty drama, but that hasn't been my experience in education. At least, that was true before I started working with my new lead as she is awesome.

Trying to not be a couch potato like I usually do after the workweek but I am a public school employee and dont get my first full paycheck until the end of the week.

I buy the same dress pants off Amazon every few months/years, but tops are going fast.

I am tripling my move and step numbers since coming back from a broken foot/leg and being moved to Pre-K.

My school wants $20 per shirt for a black or blue Gildan tee with this year's school logo/motto on it, and the district wants $20-$25 for a polo.

Last year she nominated me for paraprofessional of the year. After I reported her ass for a myriad of reasons, she spent the rest of the school year waging war against me and attempting to destroy me and my reputation. It was obvious I was not welcome anywhere near her room. So yeah, after the school year ended, I took anything that was left and belonged to me, including surge protectors, my Ethernet splitter, etc.
The wall where my and her desks were was only 1 functioning Ethernet port on it, so I had to jerry-rig things. Even after I changed classrooms mid-year last year, I left my cords so her room would keep functioning. She forgot it was my cords keeping her room functioning. She had all year and all summer to get other Ethernet ports working. She never did and just assumed things would keep working/functioning. Nope, newsflash: I was the one holding your room together, keeping things functioning. That's why they have not been able to hire and keep a replacement for me in that room.

Now things are coming along so nicely in my new classroom that she has to ask my lead teacher to let her use her Computer/Printer because almost nothing is hooked up or working in her room. It was then that she questioned me about my cords. I told her the truth. When I left to run another errand, she complained to my new lead teacher, saying she believed the cords, etc., were really hers, as they had been in her room last year. She, to no one's surprise, bad-mouthed me to my new lead when I was not present. That bad-mouthing me isn't working, as the new lead has seen me work and sees the value I bring beyond my limitless empathy with kids. She told me she doesn't even want to go to the old lead with questions, even though the old lead is the lead for special education on this campus, because she doesn't want to deal with her anymore.

Tomorrow I am bringing the box my Ethernet splitter/switch came in. I have the invoice from where I bought it online to prove it's mine, because I know she's going to complain to admin that my cords aren't really my cords and I didn't ask her permission to remove them after the school year ended. Oh well, too bad. So sad. Remember when she didn't want me to even cover for her and her classroom while she was out because she was afraid I might touch her supplies? Well, guess what: now you can't complain when I took what belonged to me, what I paid for with my own money, and she is left with not everything functioning or working with ease.

As I said before, it is the small things in life and the little victories that get us through the days.

Edit update. Old lead kept her mouth shut but I could tell it was eating her up to do so. She is of the mind that paras are beneath her and should be deferential to teachers and the fact that I am not deferential to her or anybody royally pisses her off.

I brought the original packaging with me to work in case she tried to start anything, but all she did was look at me with undisguised contempt (the usual at this point). Her room is still not functioning and she still has to use other teachers computer or printers.

My new lead teacher told me today she was at first nervous working with me because I would report things instead of letting them slide, and other people had been talking shit about me but after working with me for a week she can tell that is was the other people that were full of shit and just pissed off I would not roll over and let them get away with acting inappropriately.

She and I vibe well because neither of us has patience for petty bullshit. Both are very much say what you mean and mean what you say.

I also got the pleasure of watching and hearing the old lead struggle to keep kids under control and repeatedly chase elopers. So, it was a good day to end the first full week of classes.

It may be petty as hell, but that woman tried and failed to get me fired and make me miserable last year, and I am still standing. So now she gets this most contemptuous, absolutely disgusted look on her face every time she sees me.

I have 3 kids in my class, and she has, I don't even know how many, including the MVP of runners and a brand-new, unprepared para.

You can tell she is so angry that I still have a job and that it is not a completely exhausting clusterfuck, while her room is the exact opposite.

I have made it a point not to say anything negative to her or about her to anybody, and I gave her new para all the useful tips I could.

This new para is about the 5th or 6th replacement for me in her room, and nobody lasts long. She wants paras to pick up the slack for her so she can sit at her desk all day, every day. For example, she wanted me to pick out lessons and figure out how to run them with all the different small groups, with all different capabilities and abilities, for a dozen K-4 kids.

She may have escaped a harsher punishment for her completely unprofessional behavior last year. Still, the fact that no para lasts in her room and her room is always a clusterfuck is punishment enough.

I’m a brand-new special ed Pre-K para this year. I’m 30, male, 250+ lbs, have no children of my own, and have basically ZERO experience with 3-year-olds. My degree is in teaching grades 1-5. I’ve worked with self-contained K–2 and 3rd–5th special ed before, so I’m used to the physicality, developmental levels, and general expectations of working with those age groups.

The week before school even started, my principal TEXTED me telling me I was being reassigned to Pre-K. My immediate response via text was, “I am uncomfortable with this.”
Not because I don’t like kids or don’t want to work with them. I said it because I have literally never worked with children this young. I’ve changed maybe five diapers in my entire life.
I’m used to working K–2 and 3rd–5th sped where I can actually talk with students, have conversations with them, and mentor them. For a lot of my students, I am one of the only positive male role models they see every day.
One of the things I loved most about my job was having those man-to-man conversations with students. Talking to them about how being a man doesn’t mean getting angry and taking that anger out on other people or physically crashing out and rampaging through the classroom. Showing them that men are allowed to have emotions other than anger. Showing them how to handle situations with dignity and grace. Those little conversations meant a lot to me. Being an excellent male role model is something my Proncipal has previously commended me for.

Obviously, I’m not going to have as many of those conversations with three-year-olds.
During the first week, I was talking to a coworker who was actually the former sped Pre-K para in my new classroom. I was explaining that I’m nervous because I’ve never worked with three-year-olds and I’m worried that I could unintentionally hurt a child because I don’t have experience with children this small.
I was thinking about it basically like a new parent.
You have this tiny human in front of you and you’re suddenly terrified of doing something wrong because you’ve never been responsible for someone that small before.
How much force is appropriate? How do you physically assist them? What do you do when they don’t follow a direction? What is normal for a three-year-old? What isn’t?
Especially coming from K–2 and 3rd–5th self-contained sped, I know there is a difference in the amount and type of physical assistance that may be needed.
I was literally expressing concern because I WANT to make sure I handle these kids appropriately.
Apparently that conversation made its way to administration.
I got called into the principal’s office during week one and had to explain myself. The meeting basically amounted to a lecture about choosing my words carefully.
Apparently my statement that I was nervous about accidentally/unintentionally hurting a child got interpreted as me being worried that I might deliberately hurt a child.
The fact that I am a 30-year-old, 250+ lb man with absolutely ZERO experience with three-year-olds seemed to get completely lost in the conversation.
Nobody showed me any special Pre-K physical-assistance techniques.
Nobody gave me additional training.
Nobody said, “Since this is a new age group for you, here’s how we handle physical assistance with these students.”
It was basically a semantics lecture and then I was sent back to the classroom.
I genuinely don’t understand how:
“I’ve never worked with children this small before and I’m nervous I might accidentally hurt one”
gets turned into:
“I’m concerned I’m going to intentionally hurt a child.”
Those are two VERY different statements.
And if there was actually a legitimate concern that I was a danger to children, I don’t think the response would have been a lecture about semantics followed by sending me straight back into the classroom.
Is being overly cautious about accidentally hurting a very small child really that unusual? New parents worry about this kind of stuff constantly. I would think an employee who is specifically thinking about how to avoid accidentally hurting a child would be viewed as someone trying to be careful, not someone expressing an intent to harm.
At this point, I’m going to show up, give these kids my 110%, do my job, and go home.
I’m probably going to keep my adult interactions at work pretty superficial for a while. “How’s the weather?” “Boy, it’s hot outside.” That’s about it.
If there is an actual problem with how I’m doing my job, I want administration to address the specific behavior or incident. I’m not going to keep opening myself up to having casual conversations deliberately misinterpreted or having my words twisted into something I never said.
It is honestly sad that my school has gotten so toxic that I feel like my options are either:

1. Speak like I’m testifying before Congress and constantly police every word that comes out of my mouth, or
2. Don’t talk about anything remotely personal or work-related with anyone.
   And I’m also not going above and beyond again this year.
   No more staying late to clean the classroom.
   No more coming in early to help set things up unless I’m actually scheduled to.
   No more staying late to help the lead teacher because a parent is late picking up their child.
   My contract gives me two 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch. I’m taking them.
   I’m showing up, doing the job I’m being paid to do, taking my breaks, and leaving when my workday ends.
   Last year I pushed myself way too hard and ended up dealing with some serious health issues. I’m not doing that to myself again.
   I’m only one week into the school year and, honestly, the toxic adult drama has already ruined a lot of the atmosphere for me.
   And the most frustrating part is that I went into this assignment trying to be honest about something I genuinely didn’t know how to do yet.
   I wasn’t asking for an excuse.
   I wasn’t saying I didn’t want to work with the kids.
   I wasn’t saying I wanted to hurt anyone.
   I was saying “I’ve never done this before, I’m nervous, and I want to make sure I do it right.”
   Apparently even THAT needed to be carefully worded.

I did not ask for permission; I announced I was stepping away, excused myself, and went on my breaks. This is apparently the way the school wants us to operate. I have my cell on me if I need to be reached urgently.

On my breaks, I didn't doomscroll; I walked the campus, found a vacant parking lot, and got my steps and stretches in while soaking in some Vitamin D. I took only my contractually stipulated 15-minute break. Lunch went smoothly; we all ate together in the cafeteria. Then in the afternoon I took my final 15-minute break. I had already gotten my steps in, so I just found a quiet spot to stretch out, prop the leg I broke in January and had fixed in March, and keep it elevated. Again, I took only my contractually stipulated 15-minute break.

This job is demanding as hell; you have to do everything in your power to keep it from eating you up. That includes forcing yourself to get out of the classroom and take some time for yourself.

Current Pre-K SPED para here. Pre-K SPED teachers, paras, or anyone with experience with this age group what can I do to be the best para I can be? Already got the Hoka Bondi 9s on and I’m not afraid to get down on the floor with the kids.

I’m honestly at a loss with kids this young.

I started as a para after earning my Associate of Science in Teaching (Grades 1–5). This is my third year in education, my third year at the same school, and my third year as a SPED para.

Last year I won Paraprofessional of the Year for my work in our K–2 self-contained SPED classroom. Later that school year, after breaking bones in my foot and leg while chasing an eloping student, I was moved to the 3rd–5th grade self-contained SPED classroom while I recovered. Turns out you can’t exactly chase kids down from a wheelchair.

With K–5, I felt like I knew what I was doing. I knew how to talk to the kids, how to build relationships, how to de-escalate meltdowns, and sometimes even prevent them before they started. I also drew from both my formal education and my own experiences growing up in self-contained SPED classes until 7th grade.

Now that I’m in Pre-K, I honestly feel like I’m bumbling around trying to figure out what works. I’m a 30-year-old male, I don’t have kids of my own yet, and I was the youngest child in my family, so I don’t have much experience with children this little. I don’t want to be as firm or authoritative as I sometimes had to be with the K–5 kids because I’m worried that approach would just be scary and counterproductive with 3- and 4-year-olds.

To make things more stressful, I feel like I’m under a microscope. Because our rooms weren’t ready at the start of the year, the Pre-K class is sharing a room with my old K–2 self-contained SPED class. My former lead teacher (who has never liked me since I reported that we weren’t getting our contractually required lunches and breaks) is right there. The former Pre-K para is also in the room because she’s now my old lead teacher’s para, and she’s also the mother of one of our Pre-K students.

It feels like there are a lot of eyes on me, and I constantly feel like I’m not doing enough or doing things the wrong way.

So, for those of you who have worked in Pre-K SPED:

What do you wish new paras knew?

What works best with 3- and 4-year-olds?

What mistakes should I avoid?

How can I be the biggest help to my teacher and students?

How do you redirect behavior at this age without coming across as too stern?

I genuinely want to be good at this. I just feel way out of my element right now, and I know Pre-K is a completely different world than elementary

Current Pre-K SPED para here. Pre-K SPED teachers, paras, or anyone with experience with this age group what can I do to be the best para I can be? Already got the Hoka Bondi 9s on and I’m not afraid to get down on the floor with the kids.

I’m honestly at a loss with kids this young.

I started as a para after earning my Associate of Science in Teaching (Grades 1–5). This is my third year in education, my third year at the same school, and my third year as a SPED para.

Last year I won Paraprofessional of the Year for my work in our K–2 self-contained SPED classroom. Later that school year, after breaking bones in my foot and leg while chasing an eloping student, I was moved to the 3rd–5th grade self-contained SPED classroom while I recovered. Turns out you can’t exactly chase kids down from a wheelchair.

With K–5, I felt like I knew what I was doing. I knew how to talk to the kids, how to build relationships, how to de-escalate meltdowns, and sometimes even prevent them before they started. I also drew from both my formal education and my own experiences growing up in self-contained SPED classes until 7th grade.

Now that I’m in Pre-K, I honestly feel like I’m bumbling around trying to figure out what works. I’m a 30-year-old male, I don’t have kids of my own yet, and I was the youngest child in my family, so I don’t have much experience with children this little. I don’t want to be as firm or authoritative as I sometimes had to be with the K–5 kids because I’m worried that approach would just be scary and counterproductive with 3- and 4-year-olds.

To make things more stressful, I feel like I’m under a microscope. Because our rooms weren’t ready at the start of the year, the Pre-K class is sharing a room with my old K–2 self-contained SPED class. My former lead teacher (who has never liked me since I reported that we weren’t getting our contractually required lunches and breaks) is right there. The former Pre-K para is also in the room because she’s now my old lead teacher’s para, and she’s also the mother of one of our Pre-K students.

It feels like there are a lot of eyes on me, and I constantly feel like I’m not doing enough or doing things the wrong way.

So, for those of you who have worked in Pre-K SPED:

What do you wish new paras knew?

What works best with 3- and 4-year-olds?

What mistakes should I avoid?

How can I be the biggest help to my teacher and students?

How do you redirect behavior at this age without coming across as too stern?

I genuinely want to be good at this. I just feel way out of my element right now, and I know Pre-K is a completely different world than elementary

I am trying to figure out what works. Working in K-2 and later 3rd-5th self-contained SPED came naturally to me because I was in a self-contained classroom setting from 2nd -7th grade.

I got those kids because I was one of those kids growing up.

Pre-K was when I had my TBI, and I barely remember it. I am a 30-year-old male with the build of Homer Simpson, with barely more hair. I know I am a giant to these little ones, so I am doing my best to be as non-threatening as possible. I am used to K-2 kids that are more cooperative and I feel(but know it not incredibly accurate)less fragile/vulnerable.I don’t know how to get these kids to cooperate. Kind of felt like Arnold Swartzenager in Kindergarten Cop except less muscles and paid WAY LESS.

They didn't say no religious test except Christianity?

I was the 3rd-5th grade self-contained SPED para last year. This year, like 2 weeks before school starts, the principal texts me that I am being moved to pre-K. They hired someone else for my 3rd-5th-grade self-contained para role. That is throwing me.

Also principal basically told me in same text exchange that if I don't like it quit/transfer.

Last year the Principal was commending me for being an excellent positive male role model for kids to look up to because even students I had limited contact with in regular ed setting were speaking highly of me and getting along so well with me. Now I am in Pre K and going to have very little contact with other students.

I was the 3rd-5th grade self-contained SPED para last year. This year, like 2 weeks before school starts, the principal texts me that I am being moved to pre-K. They hired someone else for my 3rd-5th-grade self-contained para role. That is throwing me.

Also principal basically told me in same text exchange that if I don't like it quit/transfer.

Last year the Principal was commending me for being an excellent positive male role model for kids to look up to because even students I had limited contact with in regular ed setting were speaking highly of me and getting along so well with me. Now I am in Pre K and going to have very little contact with other students.

One of my favorite parts of being a para and working with kids is being able to provide a positive male role model and have man-to-man type conversations with the kids. I could tell them I was in self-contained SPED like them growing up and have meaningful conversations with them about being a good person and similar topics. My Principal even commended me before for having a special connection with the kids and being a positive male role model.

I thought I was uncomfortable with Pre-K SPED because my degree is in teaching grades 1-5, not Pre-K, and that I have zero experience with toileting, but I realize now it is more than that. It is the loss of the ability to communicate with students about broader topics and discuss life. The experience I have from being raised by a single mom and being in a self-contained setting until 7th grade makes me like a lot of the students I had; it is rather lost to my Pre-K to 3-year-old students. I can't have man-to-man conversations with 3-year-olds and under. I loved being able to discuss handling emotions with grace and what it means to be a man, a gentleman, etc with kids who, like me, grew up without a positive male role model to emulate.

I do not understand why I was moved from 3rd-5th grade sped para to Pre K. There are so far only 4 students in this Pre K class. They hired someone new, placed them in that role, and moved me to Pre K. The principal told me by literally texting me like a week or two before classes began.

Today was the first day of support staff on campus, and teachers returned yesterday. So today I met the person they hired and placed in my role of 3rd-5th grade sped para. Part of me is glad to not be in that class because the lead teacher has a voice like Fran Drescher. Another part of me dislikes being reassigned to an area where I have ZERO experience and where I feel like my being a positive male role model is less impactful. Another part says this is an opportunity for me to show through action rather than by explaining a male appropriately reacting to situation and handling it with dignity and grace instead of reacting/behaving with anger or inappropriately.

Just kind of rambling/venting.

One of my favorite parts of being a para and working with kids is being able to provide a positive male role model and have man-to-man type conversations with the kids. I could tell them I was in self-contained SPED like them growing up and have meaningful conversations with them about being a good person and similar topics. My Principal even commended me before for having a special connection with the kids and being a positive male role model.

I thought I was uncomfortable with Pre-K SPED because my degree is in teaching grades 1-5, not Pre-K, and that I have zero experience with toileting, but I realize now it is more than that. It is the loss of the ability to communicate with students about broader topics and discuss life. The experience I have from being raised by a single mom and being in a self-contained setting until 7th grade makes me like a lot of the students I had; it is rather lost to my Pre-K to 3-year-old students. I can't have man-to-man conversations with 3-year-olds and under. I loved being able to discuss handling emotions with grace and what it means to be a man, a gentleman, etc with kids who, like me, grew up without a positive male role model to emulate.

I do not understand why I was moved from 3rd-5th grade sped para to Pre K. There are so far only 4 students in this Pre K class. They hired someone new, placed them in that role, and moved me to Pre K. The principal told me by literally texting me like a week or two before classes began.

Today was the first day of support staff on campus, and teachers returned yesterday. So today I met the person they hired and placed in my role of 3rd-5th grade sped para. Part of me is glad to not be in that class because the lead teacher has a voice like Fran Drescher. Another part of me dislikes being reassigned to an area where I have ZERO experience and where I feel like my being a positive male role model is less impactful. Another part says this is an opportunity for me to show through action rather than by explaining a male appropriately reacting to situation and handling it with dignity and grace instead of reacting/behaving with anger or inappropriately.

Just kind of rambling/venting.

I was the youngest of 4 kids and have no experience with changing diapers or toileting children. I was 3rd-5th and K-2nd special education and have a degree in teaching grades 1-5. I feel like there will be very little teaching going on in that setting from what I can tell it is glorified day care. The only student that had toiletry needs in my previous classroom had a 1-1 aid.

Also I know the k-2nd para quit and I was the 3rd-5th para and the only para left in school.

This feels more like a move to get me to quit than a staffing issue.

Trying to lose weight and wanted to get away from benzos so I switched from 1mg Xanax with 15mg Remeron/Mirtazipine nightly and tried Sonata and now prescribed Ramelteon 8mg.

Sonata when it did work I would maybe get 4 hours of sleep and be back up. Is Ramelteon** **just a prescription dose of Melatonin? Melatonin didn’t do crap for me growing up.