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Invisible Disabilities Are Real

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[Image Description: My First Former Buddy Club President logo is in the bottom left corner and a sunflower is in the bottom center of a dark green graphic. "Spreading awareness and acceptance of invisible disabilities is suicide prevention" is in center-aligned white bubble text. ]     Supporting the whole disability community matters online and offline all year round. Saying that people "don't look disabled" is harmful because it sends ableist and discriminatory messages even when people in the disability community say it. There are many people who constantly normalize saying "don't look disabled" for some reason. It is so annoying. Please. Stop. Doing. That. I am serious. Not all disabilities are obvious just by looking at or watching people. These are called invisible disabilities. Normalizing this biased remark leaves many individuals with invisible disabilities questioning their own lived experiences, fear of judgment and stigma, reluctance to...
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19 Affirmations for First Year Teachers

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                              [Image Description: The graphic is cream colored with a violet grid pattern and my First Former Buddy Club President logo in the bottom left corner. "First Year Teacher Affirmations" is in center-aligned violet text in a light pink text box with a red apple center-aligned below it.]      Here are 19 affirmations that helped me when I was a first year teacher. I hope that they help other first year teachers as well 🍎✨ 1.  🏫 You are worthy of new beginnings.  It is no coincidence that you are here. 2.  ♾️ Presume competence in yourself first . We teachers are ethically responsible for advocating for presuming competence in students of all differences. Why not advocate for presuming competence in all first year teachers as well? Give all first year teachers chances to show what they are capable of before assuming what they are incapable of. 3. 🌠Set reali...
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World Mental Health Day 2026: How 16 Teachers Prioritize Their Own Mental Health and Self-Care

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                       [Image Description: The graphic is light green with my First Former Buddy Club President logo in the bottom left corner. "Circle of what Teachers Can and Cannot Control" is in center-aligned italicized bright teal text.  "Our contributions to staff morale", "Our instructional preparation and strategies", "How much we work outside of classroom hours", "Our willingness to continue learning", "How we show up as role models", "How we advocate for our students", "How we act in and outside of work", "How we stand up to workplace bullies", "Our purpose", "How we respond to students' behaviors, challenges, crises, stress, and unexpected disruptions", "How we take care of ourselves", "Following job responsibilities, policies, and laws especially the Professional Code of Conduct for Educators", "Boundary setting", "Our phi...
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How 17 Paraprofessionals Prioritize Their Own Mental Health and Self-Care

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[Image Description: The graphic is purple with A Para Pro's bright green and black logo and my First Former Buddy Club President logo from top to bottom in the bottom left corner. There is a brown desk with 4 gray legs attached to it. A mint green mug filled with steaming coffee, a pencil, an orange notebook, a pink affirmation card that says "You can do hard things" in left-aligned italicized dark red text on it, a light blue affirmation card that says, "Mistakes are how we learn" in left-aligned italicized dark blue text on it, a lavender affirmation card that says, "Be kind to yourself" on it, and a lime green affirmation card that says, "Every expert started as a beginner" on it are on top of the desk. ]     I worked as a paraeducator, specifically a Personal Care Assistant (PCA), in 4th-6th grade Life Skills Support in Lower Moreland Township School District in Hunting don Valley, Pennsylvania  where I am an alumnus in the 2024-2025 scho...
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