A Brief Note On The And The Classroom

The authors went on to state that paraprofessionals “reported that they had some familiarity with the concept of self determined behavior for students with disabilities, with even lower levels of access to professional development opportunities pertaining to self-determined behaviors” (Lane, Carter, & Sisco, 2012, p. 246). Paraprofessionals are expected to play key roles in the education of students with severe disabilities, but they are not given the proper tools to complete this task successfully. Teachers, students and paraprofessionals would be greatly benefited if every person involved in the education of a child was properly trained.

Across Canada, increasing emphasis has been placed on including students with disabilities in regular classrooms. Typically, schools assign an Educational Assistant to support them in the classroom. Recent research into this model has pointed to potential damage to students when schools rely too much on Educational Assistants. Several studies have suggested that too much of a good thing (EA support) can have far-reaching effects. One study completed was published in the Exceptional Children magazine, by Michael F. Giangreco, et al, called “Helping or Hovering? Effects of Instructional Assistant Proximity on Students with Disabilities”

Without having a clear job description, it is hard not only for the paraprofessionals, but also the special education teacher, to find the right balance of what they can legally do with a student. Without these clear guidelines, it is extremely hard for either the paraprofessional or the special education teacher to figure out what they can do in the classroom, which can cause some ethical issues in that classroom. Since there are no strict rules and regulations for the paraprofessionals, then they could start to take matters of the classroom into their own hands, without the consent of the special education teacher, who is supposed to essentially be the boss over the paraprofessionals. Without this consent, the paraprofessional could accidentally

I interviewed several service providers in my school, Stephen Knight Center for Early Education, that included the psychologist, special education teacher and a general education teacher. I interviewed Ms. Iris, the school psychologist, Ms. Kathy, the special education teacher, and Ms. Hilary, a general education teacher. Ms. Iris’ responsibilities include working with students who have social emotional needs. This can include behavior challenges, learning new social skills, managing grief, etc. She works directly with parents and teachers to provide resources regarding the child’s well-being, and ensure good attendance by setting up plans. Ms. Iris works with children in general education, counseling groups, and one-on-one situations, including special education minutes. Ms. Hilary is a general education classroom teacher. She is responsible for the well-being of her students academically, socially, physically and developmentally. Ms. Hilary also advocates for families and students to receive the support that they need to feel successful in their first years of school. Finally, Ms. Kathy is the staffing

If paraprofessionals are able to lead small groups of students, teachers are able to address other students and work on a lesson that a faster or slower pace dependent upon the level of the group. The students are able to ask more questions, and feel more confident in asking

The classroom setting is kindergarten with a mixed environment of general education students and special education students. The child can do his work; however, he is resistant by saying he does not want to read or write because it is boring. Being WZ one-to-one paraprofessional is challenging since the child has behavioral issues that requires professional assistance for developmental support.

Teacher assistants, or teacher helpers, aides, instructional aides, paraprofessionals, education assistants, and para-educators are on the lower end of the job market in the educational field. There are different jobs in this area in the school systems. Persons working these jobs can consist of high school seniors, college undergraduates, teachers with previous experience but who are looking to work in a different area, and others. The qualifications for these positions begin with organization skills, an intelligent viewpoint, and an eagerness to assist. Some of the assistants are teachers who do not possess a teaching license but want to work in their selected field. The work is both physical and mental. Aids or assistants help students by giving additional attention and instruction. They can help with lesson plans and schedules for the class. They can also serve as a teacher when the teacher is out and may be able to supervise the students by enforcing the rules and policies that the teacher has previously set in place. In addition, the assistant is sometimes required to assist in grading papers. The working hours of aids are different from those of the teacher. They usually come in for a couple of hours during the workday. The work days are regular school days with just not as many hours.

I love this article and I think it brings up some good points. I love how the author Deb Leach, starts out by saying "I may upset a few parents with this post, but just know that I what I am about to say is in the best interest of your children". I agree with the author one of the worst things you can do is to assign a non-certified staff person to a shadow a child. Although, I have never worked in the school system as a paraprofessional my son had a professional in elementary school and he hated it. Everyday hew came home he complained about the paraprofessional that was assigned to him. I found out years later that she had no prior experience working with children with special needs. I was very hurtful to find out this several years later.

In their efforts to support these educators and their students with disabilities, teacher assistants are asked to play many roles. Responsibilities include behavioral support, adapting/modifying materials, personal care assistance, and the facilitation of daily interactions. As stated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), paraprofessional’s roles consist of providing lesson reinforcement, ensuring rule adherence, preparing materials, and the supervision of students. Also, the United States Department of Education (2001) provides a set of responsibilities involving one-on-one tutoring, classroom management assistance, and the provision of instructional services under teacher supervision (Ramos, 2017). When asked to identify their own roles, paraprofessionals cited making sure students with disabilities were not a distraction to the general education teacher, providing immediate modifications to academic content, and the expectation of expansive instructional knowledge. According to survey response, teacher assistant’s most commonly performed actions include the reteaching of general education curriculum and the monitoring of student behaviors in and out of the classroom (Harris, 2012). As a result of primary responsibilities including lesson reinforcement, one-on-one tutoring, and reteaching curriculum, teacher assistants have become the primary educators of

Research shows that TA’s are heavily relied on by teachers for supporting the needs of SEN students. The role of the TA has evolved from being seen as a “helper” in the classroom to being viewed more as a professional because there has been an increase in responsibility given to TA’s in many aspects but particularly in regards to supporting SEN students. (Woods, Hammersley-Fletcher, and Cole, 2009). In fact, the “Professional Standards for Teaching Assistants” (2016) states that teaching assistants are expected to utilise relevant intervention strategies to support teachers and to help ensure the academic progression of all students including those with SEN (NAHT et al. 2016). Moreover, studies show that teachers assign TA’s to work with SEN students to ensure the needs of the student are met and to alleviate themselves of the stress and workload of routine tasks (Webster et al., 2010).

Last semester was exceptionally challenging; however, it was extremely beneficial because I had to work harder than any of my other classes before. I think various elements contributed to me being unsuccessful in Nursing 204. My aunt died in March with Lupus and that affected me in a huge on the grounds that she played a big role in my life, since I was a child. I was still in the denial stage and my emotions took over, which caused me to become less motivated in school. I just felt like I had no inspiration last semester and I should not have let my emotions hindered my education. In high school, I generally experienced difficulty taking tests that were not seeking the direct answers, and the Nursing 204 tests were not quite the same as the tests I would regularly take. My procrastination last semester played an enormous role in failing the course. When I initially

I was then able to interview the general teachers, she is a substitute teacher in the classroom covering a maternity leave, and was recently graduated from college. As I mentioned before there is no special education teacher in the classroom. I was able to ask her several questions and to my understanding most of the help she get is from the school team support, she said there is always someone around to answer any of her questions and doubts about the students who have an IEP. She has learned to use a lot of verbal prompt with those students, to maintained order among the students she said she remind them about the classroom rules. To explore learning opportunities she stated that like to do open lesson where most of the times students communicate

I would handle the different issues separately. First, I would praise the paraprofessional for a job well done and their knowledge about the students. Then l would let the paraprofessional know that I would be observing her relationship with the students and only major concerns would be addressed at our next meeting, a couple days later and at a convenient time for the general education teacher. At that meeting, I would start by acknowledging the paraprofessionals love for our students, but they must be mindful of their role in the inclusion classroom. Then I would introduce the concept of fading and its importance in helping students to become independent. Their love for the students should translate into wanting them to become self-sufficient in the

It’s common to observe teachers and parapeducators working together in an educational setting. Paparaeducators are tasked with numerous roles, which includes spending 47% of their time instructing (Carter, O’Rourke, Sisco, & Pelsue, D, 2009). However, paraeducators remain inadequately trained and supervised to perform many of these tasks, whereas teachers have not received any training on how to supervise paraeducators working in their classroom (Dettmer, Knackendoffel, Thurston, 2013). After several informal conversations and one formal interview with a teacher and paraeducator, I was able to explore each role’s perspective of school and responsibilities. The interview participants were working at a low-income alternative high school, with 90-95% of the students being Hispanic males, and 30-50% having documented special needs. During reflection, I researched strategies to improve teacher and paraeducator relationships, as well as possible solutions to the problems they identified with their school function.

Before any changes are made, a common understanding amongst all teachers, whether they have been teaching for thirty years or are fresh in the field, must be established. As an instructor you must be willing to adapt to the role, which best suits your curriculum and students needs, as well as, always be one step ahead of your children. It is also important for administrative persons as well as the boards of education, to understand that if success is what we want for our children and we believe individual success can be reached through the ability to freely explore many pathways, we must also make these conveniences available to our teachers. Teachers need freedom to convey freedom and the option to explore different pathways in the classroom, to meet the needs of every individual. A unique idea was proposed by Ted Kolderie, who was associated with the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota Center for Policy studies. He stated, “what if you didn’t have employees? What if you owned the enterprise as a professional practice, much like a law firm or medical practice?” (153) This suggestion challenged the idea of teaching in itself, by presenting the assumption that teaching while under restrictions, is not actually teaching. It related teaching to a practice, such as a law firm or a medical position, which require constant change of execution and procedure depending on the case at hand. This idea also related to the beliefs and concerns of