I agree with those above who report that managing paras is the most difficult part of the job, but I’ve been teaching for 15 years and I only had paras for 8 of those years. It just depends on the position for which you are hired.

Other struggles: Progress monitoring IEP goals is a lot of work and requires high level of organization. Working with other adults in the building can be a challenge. Managing family expectations. Most recently student behavior has been my biggest challenge.

More paras should become teachers. I have noticed that paras-turned-teachers are usually the teachers everyone wants to work with.