September 30, 2014

Well, I’m working again. I finally got my substitute teacher’s license so I have been working as a teacher’s aide in the Champaign schools. I decided not to teach until I got more familiar with procedures, classroom management, lesson plans, SmartBoard, Class Dojo, etc. etc. etc.

I also got a part-time seasonal sales associate job at Bergner’s at the mall. I worked twice at Bergner’s this past week and four times as a teacher’s aide in the last two weeks. I made $307. I get $11.70 for being a teacher’s aide per hour, and $8.50 for each hour at Bergner’s. In my last job I made $33 an hour.

Quite a difference. In my job at the software company I sat in a chair most of the day, helping people with problems on the phone, online, and through email. I was able to get coffee have a snack, walk around a bit when I needed to.

The new jobs are very physically demanding, at least for me. I herniated a disc about 15 years ago and had back surgery. My discs are degenerated, so being on my feet a lot bending, lifting, etc. cause compression and pain and numbness in my legs and feet. Working with students involves a lot of getting down to their level and also being on my feet.

A teacher’s aide works in the classroom to focus on children with various types of emotional, mental, and physical challenges. I enjoyed working with the students, particularly in one on one relationships. I praised them and tried to give them a lot of encouragement. It was very satisfying to see them accomplish a task and to create rapport with them. I liked them, and most of them liked me.  I asked one autistic boy how I was doing.  He said “You’re kind of boring, but I love you.” Sweet.

 But sometimes the job involved a physical aspect, like holding the hand of student suddenly tries to pull and try to run away. I didn’t want to let go, but didn’t have the strength to pull against them.  In some special education classes, teachers and aides had to change diapers, which meant lifting the children up to a changing station or lifting them out of wheelchairs, into standing frames, etc. My lifting limit is 10 pounds, so I could not do that at all, and had to leave it to the other staff.

Being a retail sales associate is all about being on your feet, and having to bend down to organize merchandise. The good part is you are really not supposed to just stand there, so there’s a lot of opportunity to walk around and straighten out displays, size merchandise, and just get acquainted with the store layout.  But walking around for 4 – 6 hour shifts may be a bit much.

So we shall see if I can last. I’ve had to do a lot of my techniques for reversing spinal compression, like McKinsey maneuvers, laying on a slant board, and hanging in the swimming pool in a local hotel that has a fitness club.

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