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r/paraprofessional•6 mo. ago

TheresJustNoMoney

When my Boomer Para noticed me writing a note intended for a crush in our 7th grade Language Arts class, she came up to my desk and demanded "Give it here!" How would she have responded if I asked, "What's the magic word?"

Vent 🗣

If she were to ask why I dared to ask for the magic word from her, what if I said:

Because if we kids are expected to say "please" and "thank you," then adults should set a great example for all kids by saying those same words themselves!

Then how would grouchy Boomer paras react to that?

Gen X paras: How would you have reacted if you were in charge of a 7th grader who asked for the magic word of any of your demands?

Gen Y / Millennial paras: How would you have reacted?

Gen Z / Zoomer paras: How about you?

Future Gen Alpha paras: To all Gen Alphas who hang out here and plan to become paras someday: How would you react to a 12 y.o. student you'll be in charge of when they ask you for the magic word of any demand you make of them?

No school faculty member upset me more in all of my K-12 years than the Boomer para I had in 7th grade. I wanted to rebel on her. So now I wonder what would've happened if I had.

 

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[–]MLadyNorth 2 points 5 months ago 

I think I would have laughed about it later, but in the moment, I would have kept up the appearance of a position of authority and viewed it as insubordinate. I am not the kind of para who says "give it here". I would have asked, "what are you doing?" and "is that school work?"

My colleagues who are not as well-humored as I am would likely have been grumpy about it. They have very high expectations for students, which is good, and they tend to be more commanding.

Ideally the para wants you to get back on task, for your own good.

I often ask kids for the password if they want to enter a room that I have control over, as in, getting into class late, or enter in the school gate in the morning, and I try to remind them that they are lucky to have the opportunity to have a quality education.

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[–]sarah_bear_crafts 2 points 5 months ago 

I’m an elder millennial, and first, I would have been so charmed and nostalgic about you writing an actual note, I would have let you do your thing, but probably told you to set it aside, or at least hurry up, so you could get back to work. For incentive, after you finished your work, I’d probably offer to show you a cool way to fold it.

If I were having a bad day and found myself telling you to hand it over, and you reminded me to use the magic word, I would have snapped the heck out of it and thanked you for reminding me of my manners.

Btw, I’m autistic and I’m open about that with students and teachers, so I’m not sure if it’s my generation or my neurodivergence that drives how I react.

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[–]00tiptoe -1 points 5 months ago 

I mean this with the most respect possible, but this is probably not the best forum for this. And by probably, I mean definitely.

I would suggest the teen sub, or something similar.

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