Dan: 0:00

Our little show hit a big milestone recently. We got our first prank call on the show's voicemail.

Prank Caller: 0:08

Hello, I'm a bus driver. Yes, I have fun bus driving. Heh, heh.

Dan: 0:18

Prank calling is a rite of passage for a lot of teenagers. I was a committed prank caller myself as a teen, and for Sierra Patrick, a special ed teacher, prank calling is her favorite Friday activity.

Sierra: 0:31

I want my students to have the same high school experience as all of their peers, and when I was in high school, that consisted of prank calling some people.

Dan: 0:42

So on Fridays, they dial another teacher's classroom. The teacher is expecting the call, of course, but for Sierra's students, it doesn't really matter. Sierra has to remind them before the call.

Sierra: 0:54

Hey, remember, friends, we can't start laughing until after we tell the joke. Because sometimes they'll answer the phone and they're just so excited because they know what they are doing that they just start cracking up. I'm like, we haven't said anything yet. But once that punchline hits or the other person on the phone is playing into it, oh, my students lose their minds.

Dan: 1:22

The jokes are ones you've probably heard before.

Sierra: 1:25

Is your refrigerator running? You better go catch it because that's just two phrases that the students have to memorize.

Dan: 1:32

But obviously, it's not about using killer joke material. It's about giving students, some of whom can barely speak, a chance to practice using the phone.

Sierra: 1:42

It's another way for them to communicate and practice those phrases and sentence structure and taking turns on the phone. Especially if you have a punchline to a joke, it's just such a fun time.

Dan: 2:09

I'm Dan Heath, and this is What It's Like T Be. In every episode, we walk in the shoes of someone from a different a harbor pilot, a London divorce lawyer, a high school principal. We want to know what they do all day at work. Today, we'll ask Sierra Patrick what it's like to be a special ed teacher. We'll talk about how she handled it when a young man cursed her out, how she helps students manage their emotions, and what happens to them when they age out of her classroom. Stay with us.

Planet Money Promo: 2:43

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Dan: 3:16

Sierra's classroom is what's called self-contained, meaning her students stay all day with her in one room. Her students have intellectual disabilities that are categorized from moderate to severe.

Sierra: 3:29

Sometimes that looks like Down syndrome. Sometimes it's students who have intellectual disabilities just based off of circumstances at birth, like fetal alcohol syndrome.

Dan: 3:41

Right.

Sierra: 3:42

Depending on the level of autism, they might be in my classroom as well. So there's really no student necessarily in my classroom that's like, "Hey, we all have the same thing. We're going to put a sticker on it, and this is where we're going to be."

Dan: 3:58

In practice, that means Sierra's students vary widely in ability.

Sierra: 4:02

I have some students who are verbal and can follow one to two step instruction, and I have some students who are nonverbal and can follow one to two-step instruction. I have students who are within my classroom to make sure that they have a protected space as they learn, emerging daily living skills like feeding themselves and then cleaning up after themselves.

Dan: 4:32

Part of the challenge of Sierra's job is teaching to each student's individual ability. Just like in a standard classroom, she has a curriculum. She teaches them as a whole group and in smaller groups. On the day we spoke, she was teaching a lesson on laws.

Sierra: 4:50

The chapter that we've read through today is talking about Sally and Dylan. I just made those names up. Sally and Dylan are walking on the sidewalk. Why are they walking on the sidewalk? Well, it's a law, and laws keep us safe. And so, the students that are verbal, they can vocalize. The students that are non-verbal, they have pictures in front of them, so they can either use the pictures from the text, you know, or the program that's been provided, or they can use their AAC device, which I know is a very different term. If you don't know, it's an alternate mode of communication. So think of it like an iPad...

Dan: 5:32

Okay.

Sierra: 5:32

And it has pictures. For my students, they are one-word pictures. That would mean, for example, laws has like the weighted scales, and so I'm like, what keeps us safe? And a student can look at their device and see the weighted scales. They will hit the button, and their device for them will say laws.

Dan: 5:55

Got it. Got it.

Sierra: 5:56

So they may not be able to verbally communicate, but non-speaking does not mean non-listening, and non-speaking does not mean non-understanding.

Dan: 6:07

What's the age range of the students you've got?

Sierra: 6:10

So as a high school special education teacher, my students can range anywhere from fourteen years old to twenty-one years old. So, students within the self-contained setting, they can complete their four general years of high school, and then, should the family choose to continue receiving supports, they can continue their high school career until they turn twenty-one years old. And that year that they turn twenty-one, they officially age out into the community.

Dan: 6:41

So, you might have the same student for what? S years?

Sierra: 6:44

Yes. So we really, we really go through it together. And just the progress that you see over that amount of time is insane.

Dan: 6:57

Yeah, tell me about that. I mean, I know you can't give any identifying information out, and I won't ask. But if you could just sketch out the portrait of of one student that you've worked with for a long time, and kind of where they started and where they are now.

Sierra: 7:10

Yeah, so breakthroughs happen every single day in my classroom, and I think sometimes people imagine this like a huge movie moment where, like, oh, we've we've gone at it every single day, and the student suddenly accomplishes this big ginormous thing. But the reality is, is maybe they used to drink out of a straw, and now they can open their milk carton and drink out of the milk independently. And because of stuff like that, like we celebrate it all. And now, the student who solely relied on another person just to drink something with their breakfast or lunch, now subtly or not so subtly, will look around the room to get the gaze of an adult as the student opens his milk and drinks from it, and waits for his applause because we all applaud.

Dan: 8:06

Breakthroughs in Sierra's classroom are sometimes less subtle than opening a milk carton.

Sierra: 8:13

So, I had a student who was verbal, but more so considered a select mute, meaning that while he could communicate, he was just a very quiet guy and struggled to communicate his wants and needs. And then one day, he was completely fed up with me. And you can kind of see the wheels like turning as he was trying to think. And for the sake of this podcast, I won't say the words verbatim.

Dan: 8:46

No, say it. We'll bleep it. Just let it rip.

Sierra: 8:50

Slowly but surely, he was like, "Shut, shut your." "Shut your b*** a** up!" And I mean, I think for anybody else, you'd be like, "Now hold on, we don't talk to people like that."

Dan: 9:10

Get to the principal's office now.

Sierra: 9:12

Yeah, but the special education teacher in me was like, "Did you hear that sentence?" You know?

Dan: 9:20

You just expressed what was on your mind. Well done.

Sierra: 9:23

I mean, like what most people like this would probably like an in school detention, but like for him, I mean, we like scored ten out of ten on an IEP goal. You know?

Dan: 9:36

Successfully cursed a teacher.

Sierra: 9:38

Yeah. Now, don't get me wrong. Like, I still had to learn what the fine line is when it comes to moments like these about what is correct in the behavior and what is it that you can say that's not going to diminish progress.

Dan: 9:52

Hmm. So, I mean, what did you say in the moment after he said that to you?

Sierra: 9:58

Well, after I completely fixed my face, because again, you can't look you can't look too excited, or you won't see it again. And so I was just like, "Hey, I hear you're frustrated. Thank you for letting me know what you need. I'm gonna give you some space, okay? And we're gonna chat a little bit later. So I'm gonna turn this timer. I want you to use a tool from your toolbox, and I'll be back." And then like. However long he needed to get the fulfillment of that space he needed, I came back and I was like, "Hey, I'm so proud of you for communicating what it is that you needed." "Do you think using those words with a stranger would be a strong choice or a weak choice?" "Oh, a weak choice. Got it." "What are some words that might be a strong choice that we can use to communicate our needs?" I don't like using words like good and bad because I don't want that student to hear that and make the connotation I said something bad, so I'm bad.

Dan: 11:07

A big part of Sierra's job is helping her students manage these kinds of big emotions.

Sierra: 11:13

If you don't allow yourself to really fully walk through your emotions or your feelings, which are very fleeting, that's going to suppress and build up and come out in other ways. So for my students, that looks like, hey, like it's probably really frustrating that you can't open this carton of milk. And you're asking Ms. Patrick to help you, and I'm not doing it for you because I want you to figure it out. And that's just a very simple thing. But if you can walk through the small frustrations, then it leads into something else. Like, hey, you are struggling to put the toothpaste on your toothbrush because we also practice hygiene of the morning. If you're struggling to put the toothpaste on your toothbrush, like it would take me two seconds to do that for you.

Dan: 12:08

Yeah.

Sierra: 12:09

But like, if they can't struggle on the small things, then when they do face bigger things in life. That's going to feel a hundred times bigger.

Dan: 12:19

Oh, that's a great point. Yeah.

Sierra: 12:22

And so we got to figure out how to struggle because struggling's okay. Struggling is actually necessary.

Dan: 12:30

But she doesn't let her students struggle alone. She told me a story about a student who was frustrated, and...

Sierra: 12:37

He was just so overwhelmed that he just flopped down on the floor. Now, I could have. Stood there, be like, all right, get up. We're not gonna act like that. You're not a baby. You're in high school. Go to your seat. You know. But I try to imagine like if someone was above me talking down to me. I'm probably not going to hear anything that they're saying. So the only correct answer in that moment was now I am also a starfish on the floor, and I'm like, "Hey, you know I'm feeling some pretty big emotions too. Let's let's take some deep breaths together." "Hmm. This floor feels really cold on my back. Do you feel it on your back?" When I take deep breaths, I can, I can feel my belly go up and down. Can you feel your belly go up and down? And after a little bit, you've taken away this power struggle and this dynamic that this kid's already overwhelmed. You placing demands and telling him step by step what he needs to do. Or she needs to do. Standing above them isn't going to do you anything, and it's not going to do that kid anything. And so, you have to make a connection before you can make a correction. And so, for me to connect with this student to be like, hey, like, it might not feel like it, but I'm right here with you. Let me get down here with you.

Dan: 14:47

You are so zen. I mean, this is just fascinating to hear. Has this always been your personality? Like, are you a really patient person, or did you have to kind of grow into this role?

Sierra: 15:00

I very much think I grew into it. I wouldn't say necessarily like I was an impatient person. I think it's I think it's less about patience and more about understanding. In the sense that, if you knew. Even an ounce of the story that these kids have walked through, then it really makes you step back. Like I can't be mad that a student got frustrated and kicked a chair over or tried to run out of my classroom. Whenever I know the bigger picture, like hey, this student might really miss a parent that's not in the picture, and no one's ever taught him how to emotionally regulate, and this is the only way he knows how to get that out. So I have to provide a space where we can get it out because I would rather my students act out those feelings in my classroom than to be... Oh gosh, I'm starting to get emotional. Then for them to be at Walmart or the grocery store and start struggling, and it be perceived the wrong way, and then potentially get hurt because of how they chose to act out their feelings because someone else does not understand.

Dan: 16:22

Mm. Do your students know they're different?

Sierra: 16:30

Um, I would say my my very quick answer was no. The only time that they even remotely feel different is if they've not been included in something, or if maybe they heard a student laughing. And even then, it takes my students a bit for them to realize. Wait a second, is that at me? Because I have never met a more confident human being than I have the students that's in my classroom. I don't know if a majority of my students have ever felt embarrassed. They just go out here and they're living life, and like, I think it's just the way that they see the world. They just walk out, and they're like, "I and me, and this is what I got." And some days it might be walking up to Ms. Patrick's smartboard, hitting an answer, and twerking. Regardless if it's right or wrong, because I'm just happy I got to go click the button on the smartboard. To, I have a student who, in class, well, I say this... If he has to do work, I think he quote unquote forgets that he can, in fact, react in phrases or sentences, and therefore doesn't say much. But you get him out in the hallway with someone he's never met before, and he's like, "Hey, Buttercup," and I'm like, I bet these other high school boys wish they had that game. Walking up to somebody they don't know.

Dan: 18:07

So, I mean, that portrayal makes it sound like there's a lot of joy in the job.

Sierra: 18:14

A hundred percent. Some people are like, I don't know how you do what you do. I just, you must have all the patience in the world. And I'm like, thanks, but actually, I have the most fun and exciting job in the world. What kid wants to come to school and wants to do the things that I'm asking them to do? And my kids say yes every time. Now, I might ask them to do something, and they won't even remotely do what it was that I was asked. And they're here for the vibes, and they're just they're going to do something. And there are a lot of hard things that we experience, and there are some sad things that we experience. But at the end of the day, we get to do that together in my classroom.

Dan: 19:08

Another thing Sierra does together with her students... make cookies.

Sierra: 19:14

Our students have a thriving cookie school-based enterprise, and on record, like we sell easily about twelve hundred dollars worth of cookies in a single day.

Dan: 19:29

Wait, twelve hundred dollars in cookies in a day?

Sierra: 19:33

Yes, we sell them for a dollar, and the their high school peers buy them up like hotcakes.

Dan: 19:39

Holy cow!

Sierra: 19:39

And every single student in our self-contained classrooms participates. Some students have the ability to scoop. That might be in our mild program, our MLD program. My students, none of like some of them can write. Some of them can't, but we have. We actually have an assembly line where they glove up just like they would in an employment-based environment for sanitary reasons to get that practice in. And they have stamps of the cookie flavors. So my class is the production for stamping to get the bags ready. There's another class that does scooping, and we make roughly anywhere between I would say nine hundred dollars on a slow day. I think the most that we've ever earned in a single day was seventeen hundred dollars.

Dan: 20:33

Man, that that's got to be such fun for them to be part of this like entrepreneurial venture.

Sierra: 20:39

Oh yes! And so I say all that to say, like, and this is not this is not a political podcast. This is not to turn into anything like that. But we know that funding looks different for every state and every district. And so, we can't always rely that there's always going to be funding available for transportation. So, our students they work for these opportunities so that they can go into the community as often as we let them. So, every single Monday, we bus students to Walmart so that they can practice the daily living skills of buying groceries. And beyond that, the groceries that they go are based off of a grocery list to menu items that we make to practice cooking every single Friday. So every Monday they're going to the grocery store.

Dan: 21:34

And what is it like for the people at Walmart when your students roll in? Like, did do they manage that well or or not so well?

Sierra: 21:44

It's definitely always a learning opportunity. I would say most people manage it well. Something that we always encourage, especially out in the general public, is you know just because an adult is standing next to the student at the checkout line doesn't mean that you're just talking to the adult. Like, talk to the student. We're there to support. You know, but like to my knowledge and understanding and experience, like no one's ever offended. You literally just don't know what you don't know.

Dan: 22:11

Yeah.

Sierra: 22:12

And I think our students going out into the community benefits more than just our students going out into the community.

Dan: 22:22

What are your feelings when it's time for your students to leave you?

Sierra: 22:28

It is so incredibly bittersweet, mainly because you build this relationship with this student, and you're like, I don't think I can imagine a classroom without this student here. And some students are incredibly blessed with an amazing support system at home that is ready, willing, and able to keep carrying the torch for their kid. And some students, unfortunately, don't have that access to a support system at home. And the future beyond school looks very different between the two.

Dan: 23:10

And the ones where they've kind of aged out and they don't have a great support system. I mean, do you have a sense of like what fills the void that was left by you know the fact they used to come to school for seven eight hours a day?

Sierra: 23:28

Sometimes it's just a really big question mark, and it's it's really difficult to think about.

Dan: 23:35

Yeah.

Sierra: 23:37

And again, this is not to negate the family. I I don't at all because some people walk stories and lives and circumstances that I'll never be able to understand, and it's just so sad to know that that would have an effect on that student, and you want to ensure that everyone has supports in place. Because that planning for support after high school really actually needs to start at the latest when that student's in middle school. There are a lot of great organizations that will take students or young adults after they age out of school, but sometimes those waiting lists are years, years long. And so, if if there ever were to be an instance that a family could not support their student after school, there are options like in-resident support, which essentially is you know they would be depending on the scenario a ward of the state and live within like a state mandated supportive housing. There are programs out there that the students can, similar to school, get dropped off at these day programs and do things like gardening and community activities, and return home and feel like they lived a very full life that day. But sadly, those programs are very far and few between.

Dan: 25:13

So Sierra, we always end our episodes with a quick lightning round of questions. Here we go. What is the most insulting thing you could say about a special education teacher's work?

Sierra: 25:25

Ugh, I'm trying to say this kindly. Ugh, I do not like when people assume that because a student is in self-contained, that means that they're not learning. Oh, like your kids are coloring, or oh, are they? Are they playing with Play-Doh? Like, no, this is not a daycare. Yeah, it looks different from your stuff, but I have to meet them with where they're at. Sometimes that means fun textures and colors. We just have a very brighter world, is all.

Dan: 26:05

And what's your response when you get stuff like that?

Sierra: 26:08

Like, oh, I wish I could just, you know, sing songs all day long. And I'm like, I honestly, I wish you two can sing songs all day long too, because this is the funnest way to learn.

Dan: 26:26

What's a tool specific to your profession that you really like using?

Sierra: 26:31

Um. Honestly, give me a colored printer. I know that sounds so... That sounds so simple. But I could I could print something off in black and white, which is what you know all the students in general education see. Or I can print something off in color, and colors just click and make sense. They make sense for my students. I mean, as the adult in the room, I'm juggling many balls, and seeing things in color helps to keep me organized. So yeah, the eye gazing tracker is cool. The adaptive desk for students in wheelchairs are really cool. The most valuable tool and amazing piece of technology that I pray everybody has access to in special education is a colored printer.

Dan: 27:28

What is a sound specific to your profession that you're likely to hear?

Sierra: 27:33

Um, all of them. So, and I say I say that to say I will have people call my classroom just to ask me a general question, and they hear the background in my classroom, and they're like, "Hey, are you all okay?" And I'm like, "Yeah, why?" They're just like, oh, there's just a lot of noise back there, and I'm like, oh, that's just Tuesday.

Dan: 28:00

So it it tends to be pretty noisy.

Sierra: 28:03

It is like, again, like non-speaking does not mean that you cannot communicate because it comes out in all forms, and sometimes it might be squealing. I've had some friends who find, or students rather, I call them friends. I have students rather that find comfort in humming. It's just a very comforting thing to them, and so I never want to stop something that's helping them to regulate their emotions. But in doing that, I have to allow that for everybody, and everybody has their thing. And sometimes it simultaneously happens all at once.

Dan: 28:43

You've got the squeal and the talking and the humming and the desk scooting and everything else happening simultaneously.

Sierra: 28:50

Yeah, sometimes students might be bouncing on an exercise ball to regulate, and so I mean, like there's a lot of commotion. But I will say that doing it long enough, that background noise is unrecognizable until someone calls you and they start asking you questions about what they hear in the background, and then your brain like readjusts and focuses. Oh, that's just. You know Billy Bob, that's his thing. He likes to hum, and as as long as I'm not talking or teaching, he can hum.

Dan: 29:25

I think the thing that you've changed my mind about the most is is I think that I was probably like those people that imagined you as as almost a martyr. You know that you've got this incredibly hard job, and it's you know pushing the boulder up the hill every day and. And you've helped me see, like that. This is a job that actually has a lot of joy and happiness baked into it.

Sierra: 29:54

A hundred percent. And like, because there's so many levels of special education, I don't want to paint this picture that it is all rainbows and butterflies and and sweet little student moments. Because there are days that are very difficult to walk through with a student.

Dan: 30:17

Yeah.

Sierra: 30:17

Like you really do have to meet the students where they are at. And I do think I have one of the most joyous jobs in the world, and I also want to recognize that this can very easily be one of the most difficult jobs in the world. And I hate to say this, but probably one of the most unwanted jobs in the world because of how difficult it can be within the classroom setting.

Dan: 30:44

Yeah.

Sierra: 30:45

Depending on the supports that you have, and I'm not just saying like. The people that you have in your classroom, the administrators at the schools that you work at, can make or break your classroom experience. the The family supports that you have like it's very difficult to walk through these different dynamics, and it's so incredibly heartbreaking to see a student struggle. And so, I just want to recognize like as a special educator like you get to see the classroom that I teach. There are classrooms that don't have these opportunities, and it's not because those teachers don't want those opportunities for those students. At the end of the day, we have to prioritize the student, and sometimes that just looks like keeping that student safe for the day.

Dan: 31:41

Sierra Patrick is a special ed teacher in South Carolina. I want to come back to Sierra's quote.

Sierra: 31:49

I do think I have one of the most joyous jobs in the world, and I also want to recognize that this can very easily be one of the most difficult jobs in the world.

Dan: 32:02

It might be easy to think these are counterbalancing factors. Like on one side of the scale you have joy, and on the other you have struggle. But what if they're actually intertwined? That joy and meaning and struggle are all one package deal. There's a psychology paper published back in 2013 that says the following "People with very meaningful lives worry more and have more stress than people with less meaningful lives." End quote. And I guess that's intuitive. If you care deeply about something or someone, it's both a source of meaning and a source of anxiety. Parenting is the obvious association here. Jennifer Senior wrote a book about being a parent, and the title was All Joy and No Fun. If you measure a parent's happiness level while they're doing childcare, it's not that high. In one famous study, childcare made people about as happy as housework. But for a parent, raising a child is one of life's most profound sources of meaning. Now, curiously, Sierra seems to break the pattern here because she does seem to be having fun. I mean, what other special ed teacher makes prank calls? So joy and fun, but neither one is detachable from the struggle. And that's not to romanticize struggle. It's just to say what Sierra already told us about her students. She said

Sierra: 33:47

Struggling's okay. Struggling is actually necessary.

Dan: 33:52

She was talking about opening a milk carton, but in a way, it might be true of the whole job. Meeting students where they are, creating a safe place for big feelings, taking students into the community to practice life skills, and helping students live fuller lives on their own terms. Folks, that's what it's like to be a special ed teacher. Thank you to Sierra's husband Matthew, who has listened to every episode of the show, and who convinced his wife that she should come on the show. Thanks, Matthew, and a shout out to recent Spotify commenters, including Ellie Conley, Mitzi44, Black Rain Frog Revolution, Darren E, Christie H, and World Traveler. This episode was produced by Matt Purdy. I'm Dan Heath. See you next time.

Prank Caller: 34:54

So, I drive kids to school and home. It is fun. Heh, heh.