08/05/2025
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ฒโ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ฒโ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
At Beyond Ordinary Pathways, each of us carries personal storiesโboth as students and as educatorsโthat shape our vision for what school could be. These stories arenโt about blaming teachers or schools; theyโre about recognizing that even with dedicated educators, the system often leaves kids, teachers, and parents behind.
Today, Helen is sharing one of her experiencesโnot to criticize, but to open the conversation about why ๐ง๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ.
๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ as a paraprofessional for the district and was placed at a large elementary school. If you donโt know what a para is, my job is to assist students by implementing the strategies outlined in their IEPs. There are sometimes no resources or training programs for paraprofessionals, that was my case. The most direction I received was, โThis child needs help in math. Make sure they get the work done.โ In other words: compliance.
No training. No professional development.
I would walk into classrooms and kids would point at the student I was assigned to. There was no sense of dignity, no confidentiality. I quickly realized the social divide that the students I worked with were facing.
This story is about a second graderโweโll call her Sadie. She had long, beautiful black hair in a new hairdo every single day. She wore lots of pink and loved everything to do with makeup, nails, and ponies. She was fierce and knew exactly what she liked and didnโt like. Sadie was also a dual language learner, and Spanish was her first language.
I was assigned to help her in math. She had undiagnosed ADHD and struggled to follow the teacherโs instructions during lessons. The classroom followed a common structure called โI do. We do. You do.โ In this classroom, that meant students were expected to sit at their desks, follow along with the teacher as she worked through the front side of a worksheet, and then complete the back side independently.
After a few days in the classroom, I started to notice some things.
Instructional time meant the teacher stood at the front of the class filling out the worksheet on the board. Students were expected to copy her work. That part alone took up most of the math block, leaving very little time for kids to work through the problems on their own. Multiple students were falling behind and losing focus.
And Sadie wanted nothing to do with me. She avoided me to no end. Refusing work at all costs.
I began helping other students in the classroom, and the teacher quickly reprimanded me for โabandoningโ Sadie. But the truth was, Sadie wanted so badly to fit in. Having an unfamiliar adult sit next to her during class made her shut down. I wanted to build a relationship with the entire class that way she didnโt feel singled out.
I couldnโt move around the roomโI was expected to stay by her sideโbut she was embarrassed and refused to engage with me.
So, my solution was to do math work with her in the hallway.
And she was a completely different student out thereโoutgoing, bubbly, kind. I was somewhat pleased with the result: she was learning. But she was also isolated. Her peers were still in the classroomโmany of them still strugglingโand she was missing out on being part of the group. Pulling her out created an unnecessary divide between her and her peers.
There are ways to solve this issue. Why not incorporate more movement into the classroomโfor both students and teachers? Instead of requiring students to stay seated at their desks the entire time, why not allow them to get their wiggles out while working? The teacher could move around the room while instructing, which would help build connection with each student and keep them more engaged.
Why not encourage co-teachers or support staff to divide and conquer when assisting all students? That way, no child feels singled outโor worse, left out entirely.
What about collaborative learning? Small groups? Partner activities? These simple changes can make a huge difference. Sadieโs confidence was so low, she would give up halfway through any assignment. She wanted to make friends in class, to feel like she belonged. If she had felt like part of a community, I truly believe she wouldโve been more motivated to learn alongside her peers.
Sharing stories like this is important because it shines a light on a deeper issue: school systems are often built to serve only one kind of student. The rest are left to struggle throughโor worse, slip through the cracks entirely.
