Paraeducator Essay

Students with disabilities need to be physically, programmatically, and interactionally included in classroom activities that have been planned by a qualified teacher in conjunction with support staff as needed.

Currently, I am a Personal Care Instructional Aide for a nonverbal Down Syndrome student at West Hempfield Elementary. I work hand and hand with the special education teacher to devise lesson plans to suit the needs of my student. I am responsible for implementing the lesson plans one-on-one with my student in Language Arts, Mathematics, and social skills interactions daily. On a daily basis, I am also responsible for molding and shaping my student's behaviors and prompt when necessary. Working in the learning support room has taught me a variety of ways to incorporate differentiated instruction to suit the needs of all students. It has also shown me the type of teacher I should be, a teacher who adapts content to meet the needs of all learners and the importance of inclusion.

Time is passing and opportunities are opening for more students with special needs. Many students in college are getting more interested in Special Education as career that will allow more organization to have more workers with a big potential that will have an important impact on these kids with disabilities. However, this will require more training for the students that organizations around the country can give them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,“the career outlook for special education teachers should remain steady through 2024, with an increase of 6%, the national average for job growth in the United States. The median salary for this position is just over $55,000 annually,” (“Master in Special Education”) The approach the

Special education teachers no longer may identify themselves as teachers of just a specific category of students. Rather, they must identify themselves as teachers of all students and be willing to provide whatever support is needed to meet the varied needs of students. Likewise, students should not be identified as self-contained or resource, but as students needing specialized instruction and supports for specific skills/subject areas for specific amounts of time in either a special education setting or a general education setting.

In today’s world there are more and more children coming into the general education classes having a disability. More general education teachers have to take on a bigger responsibility than what they signed up for, but that is part of being a teacher. I feel as long as the teachers collaborate with each other they will be putting the student’s needs first.

New Zealand is an ongoing developing country, with the population continue to grow. This means that the health sector must improve to keep on top of the amount required to establish the care to the patients. In New Zealand, Paramedics respond to over 450,000 jobs a year (Tunnage, Swain, & Waters, 2015). A paramedic needs to carry out many assessments in different uncontrolled conditions in a minimal time to achieve the best results for the patient. Treating a vulnerable adult or a child in pre-hospital settings is always a possibility. Paramedics need to insure the keep an eye out for any signs like, bruises, fragile, lack of energy due to lack of food, etc (Phillips, 2013). Another study was conducted by Cohen, Levin, Gagin, & Friedman (2007) which indicates similar methods to identify different form of abuse, like emotional distress, low self-esteem, the feeling of not being believed when they speak.

Preparing regular education teachers to address the diverse needs of children with special needs in inclusive set up.

In this paper I will discuss what exactly is a Special Educator, what education is needed to become one, salary, job outlook, and work environment. I have also interviewed a Special Educator and I will discuss how she feels about being

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

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

This practical involves paraeducators reading a portion of the lesson plan describing support that are desired towards the objectives of the lesson. Using this practice in a classroom is not a practical thing that should happen, it is likely that most teachers will not use the application of the practice since they will feel as if the presence of paraeducators has made them loss the personal contact that they once had with students. If I were a teacher then I would not recommend the usage of the practice. Since the specifications in this practice may be to assist only a single child in a given lesson plan, then it is more sure that it can likely work with classroom of many children. A single child may be assigned with a single paraeducator but not all the children in elementary classrooms can be assigned a single paraeducator. The practice works effectively in progresses, for instance, those students who were not successful in Tier I, will be progressively taken to Tier II and Tier III program. Their help and intervention will actually take place outside the regular elementary classroom with the extended help from paraeducators (Cleovoulou,

The necessity of education for students throughout the United States and the world continues to grow, making it necessary for teachers in all areas. Though most special education teachers work in public school settings, the need for teachers in residential areas or as tutors in homes or hospital settings still remains ("Teachers-Special Education"). Within the school setting, special educators can take on different roles. Their role may include supporting the general education teacher in the regular education classroom or they may offer resources in a special education setting. The term “inclusion” is often used for special education services offered by supports and accommodations in a regular education classroom with grade level curriculum. “Pull out” services are often in a special education classroom in smaller group settings with academics adjusted to meet their needs. The duties of a special education teacher often combine these responsibilities by determining what will best meet the needs of students.

Today, under the provisions of IDEA many teachers must be prepared to help students at a variety of different levels including students with disabilities (14). More specifically the “Least Restrictive Environment,” provisions helps students with disabilities to receive time in general education classrooms with their peers (14). To learn more about this provision, special education in general, and to gain the perspective of a general education teacher working with children receiving special education, I spoke with a general education working at an inclusive school (22).

Special education teachers are trained to work with children who have a wide range of disabilities. One of the primary responsibilities of a special education teacher is to assess her students' cognitive abilities, and modifies the standard age-appropriate curriculum to create a custom plan for the student. This plan is called an individual education program(IEP). An IEP often includes a number of social and emotional development goals as well as specific academic areas to be taught. The special education teacher’s core task is to meet each of the goals established in the students’ IEPs. In some cases, the special education teacher is located in a separate classroom. When this is the case the teacher will creates lessons geared to meet the objectives of the students’ IEPs. In many instances, special education students are placed in regular classrooms. In that situation, the special education teacher attends classes with her students. She often will work with students on life skills and behavior modification techniques as well. Skills that special educational teachers should possess include, better than average stress management, great multi-tasking abilities, quick thinking, and creative problem solving. A special education teacher must be able to think outside the box and develop an array of teaching methods and techniques to meet the needs of each individual student. Special education requires a vast amount of detailed record keeping, so it is essential for these teachers

Collaboration in the world of education has become an increasingly popular method of addressing a variety of school issues, such as curriculum design, behavioral plans, professional development and management of resources. One of the areas in which collaboration is becoming more popular is co-teaching in special education, where special education teachers and general education teachers share the planning and instruction responsibilities for inclusion classrooms (Friend & Cook, 2010). As academic standards for the education of students with disabilities are held to the same standards as their typical peers due to the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the co-teaching model has been increasingly