Summer was different this year. Renay was working on an early draft of her Master’s Project so we did not publish anything this summer, and while Renay was at a digital conference, she did not present this year. There is always next year.
While we were working though, things in education kept moving on. There seems to be a shortage of paraeducators and special education teachers, no matter who we have a conversation with.
The more things change…
Renay changed jobs again. Such is the life that occurs in education. Renay is working with an entirely new team and though the school year has begun in earnest, there is still a different rhythm that needs to be built with a brand-new year and a brand-new team in a brand new school district.
How to get on board
Be genuine with your thanks: Specific honest praise will go far not only with the students but with a large team of adults.
Be able to take feedback
Be able to give criticism in a professional manner
Celebrate being together.
Procedures
Knowing how things work and who to ask is always primary of any organization. Certainly, there are things that the school principal is responsible for, but knowing who to ask and not just running around asking the same person for all the questions is important. A new year has more questions than answers and those answers are important.
A new year has more questions than answers and those answers are important.
ParaEducate
Where are we heading?
This academic year is perhaps a first if not a second for Renay. Regular readers perhaps have noticed the changes that this blog has experienced in themes over the last few years and not just because of COVID. We continue to respond to what we see and hear from our followers. We thank all our readers and hope to continue to make a difference for all the paraeducators out there.
We have always started and ended our year reminding our original status, and this has reset all our lenses that have many other pressures.
ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
ParaEducate
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
It is the end of Teacher Appreciation Week. And we hope that everyone has had the opportunity to appreciate the fact that teachers on our sites and especially our special education teachers are working to make things work for all the students on campus.
It seems appropriate that we worked to end our annual blog this week. The world continues to move forward.
Unlike previous years Renay is on the edge of her own journey, one that will continue to inform ParaEducate’s practices and outreach.
One of the challenges is that it is also testing season. All those challenges that are driven into student’s minds can come forth during this time. There are multiple lists of traits that tests do not measure. Are there benefits to testing?
There are a few, but in the end, it is up to the student to find the parts of themselves that are worth sharing with the world. While this test is nothing like tests they may encounter other places in their lives, tests like the annual state test will take place.
Breakaway
The movement that is upon us. Some of the teachers and staff will be moving grades, others will be move campuses. And yet, still others will retire or resign.
But the focus is on summer and that break that comes from all the things one needs. This includes making sure the students keep moving forward. Especially students with disabilities, sometimes it feels like life is standing still for that student.
But the focus is on summer and that break that comes from all the things one needs. This includes making sure the students keep moving forward.
ParaEducate
Sharing what to focus on in the weeks away from the formal classroom is as important as welcoming students back in the next academic year.
The plans we have
Renay has placed a complete hold on our future texts at this point, focusing on creating more materials for our store right now. There are a few ready to go and will be made available over the summer.
We have been working for a few years now on some rather impactful lessons and Renay is ready to start to make those lessons available for public use.
On Mothers
Not every student has a mother. And that can make Mothers’ honoring challenging. But everyone has that special female in their lives.
If you have someone who you rely on please wish them the thanks they have lead you through parts of your life.
In Case you do not know
ParaEducate will return in September 2023 with our monthly blog. We are skipping the traditional summer blog this year.
We would not be the company we are if we did not end this academic year reminding folks that we are a company providing materials, information, and strategies for working with students in inclusive education settings in grades TK-12. We publish the blog and share our strategies at conferences, through our books, and our academic adaptations. We cannot wait to return to posting regularly.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
Renay has been spending March in that whole malaise that focuses on the sprint to Spring Break. There are things that still need to happen. Tests, academic progress, parent-teacher conferences.
But Renay has been noodling some different thoughts. Most recently it is about outside agencies hiring paraeducators. There are many thoughts and while these outside agencies have been a lifeline to many districts since the pandemic, the paraeducator hole that has occurred since the pandemic has not really improved even with the outside agency.
The first issue Renay is primarily concerned about is the outside agency hired paraeducators are not necessarily familiar with the school culture. They are not paid to attend campus meetings. The agency supplies a variety of supervisors who are not familiar with district protocols or the campus climate. Paraeducators who work for these agencies are not always commended for their development of understanding of any given classroom, students with and without disabilities, and the campus culture. The disconnect is a very huge concern because teachers depend on paraeducators to be a part of the community of the school.
But this also provided Renay some time to think about the proximity of paraeducators. In Renay’s experience from time to time, there are two or three paraeducators in a given classroom. And that might be barely enough to cover the students with disabilities in a general education classroom and make sure all the students get what they need, behaviors are responded to based on the behavior intervention plan and supporting the classroom teacher in their selection of activities that are better for some students with disabilities.
In an SDC—special day class, however, there are often more adults because the need of the students can fluctuate so much. Getting on the same page when there are even more adults in a smaller space can be quite challenging. Building that professional eye catch and learning to step away from situations that one might be inadvertently escalating. Knowing that when someone speaks up, it is from a place of professionality and of respect for both the student and the adult is a great way to build that professionalism.
Getting on the same page when there are even more adults in a smaller space can be quite challenging.
ParaEducate
It takes some growing. And can be that challenge when one individual is challenged to see that they are contributing to the reason a student is acting out. And in the after-action follow-up activities, that should occur, framing away from accusations like “You are setting off the student.” Should be avoided.
Other snippets
Recognizing when students can be independent takes some skill. But if you make a habit of giving students an opportunity to try something just because you do not know what will occur, then you might find a student surprising you in positive ways. There are times that this backfires of course and even for students who almost never have that sort of freedom to make mistakes. And we all grow with mistakes. We learn what to fix when we see the mistakes.
Taking a part in the school spirit days works when the communication system is set up to be reliable for everyone involved. Inviting everyone on campus to participate is important not just the students. When you participate, it helps the parents see that there is a community surrounding their students, both with and without disabilities. This little in road helps students build those social connections, especially for students who might not know how to those connections as naturally as the average of their classmates.
When you participate, it helps the parents see that there is a community surrounding their students, both with and without disabilities.
ParaEducate
National Paraeducator Day
On Wednesday, April 5, 2023, it will be National Paraeducator Day! Thank you to all who have worked alongside students with disabilities.
It is Autism Acceptance Month
For all the students who have taught us what Autism looks like, we thank you. For all the professionals who have Autism, we thank you for being a role model to the students you support.
For the students who do not have Autism and are curious, we implore you to ask those who can share their experiences as individuals who are Autistic.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
Renay was taking in the words of a multicultural conference this weekend when the news came across that Judith Heumann had passed. Immediately Renay, ParaEducate, and Inclusion From Square One, joined in the growing choir of people who wanted to digitally honor Judith Heumann.
It is March, we are normally thinking about what steps we could possibly be using to support students on campuses to see peers with disabilities as peers. So it is somehow highly appropriate to connect to Judith’s work from Section 504 and her entire career of advocacy.
To be clear, Renay never met Judith Heumann; only conferences, through Judith’s book Being Heumann: A Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, online videos, and then her role in Section 504 during CripCamp. Without Heumann, the United States would be less progressive for people with disabilities. Without her, the rights for employment, access to the communities, and just self-advocacy would not have reached the complete range we have today. And without her work, ParaEducate and dozens of other advocates for education for children with disabilities would not have had the opportunity to reach more people.
But when we thought about the world moving forward without her, Renay had a moment, those of us who are able to should take the time to thank Judith for the energy she brought to each moment of history for disabilities rights. And that is the job of those of us who are here to carry on her legacy and continue to champion for the rights of those with disabilities, as an ally for those with disabilities.
May your memory be a blessing.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
Our anniversaries in the past have been a reminder of all that we have done. Whether it was encapsulated within a year or a promise to keep working through the steps necessary to reach other paraeducators. With a dozen of years under our belt, how else do we continue to reach out?
The Books
We have had for a few years a workbook to parallel with ParaEducate in progress. While it has been eleven years since the initial publication, this workbook has been the most requested item for us to finish and to be honest, it is almost ready.
There have been several requests to update ParaEducate itself. To be fair to those who have asked, outside of the Every Student Succeeds Act, we have been stalling hoping for a new authorization of IDEA last reached in 2004.
The Curriculum
We are currently testing and preparing over three dozen individual lessons. Striking the balance between complexity and interesting topics has been a hard balance to provide the wide range of educational experiences we want to continue to provide students. We continue to address the “the student will never get this” from both teachers (special education, general educators) and paraeducators alike. Our curricular pieces are both in books and online for download. We are in process of expanding our library for more history, science topics, ELA experiences, and will be introducing art topics very soon.
Other Professionals
We have a vast network of professionals—other educators, support providers, and professional connections– we have been honored to work within classrooms and in conferences. We have not leveraged the range of professional connections we have before. And it’s about time we start doing this. This means more blog posts, more interviews, and more sharing of materials between more locations across the United States, and the globe. We are not the only voice in the pursuit of inclusion for students with disabilities.
Advocates and their family
Like our professional connections: we know many advocates who are working on their voices. It has been a long time since we connected with advocates at all age levels to make sure that the world they are seeing becomes as inclusive as possible.
Our Story is still being written
We continue to connect educators with resources. For eleven years our reach has been this world that we have not just spoken about, not just advocated, and worked within. Inclusive education for students with disabilities is for everyone.
We thank all our supporters for the days, weeks, months, and in most cases, years of support. company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in Special Education Inclusive settings for grades K-12, specifically Paraeducators, Instructional Assistants, or Paraprofessionals. We publish the blog during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their work at conferences and online.
Do you have any comments about this anniversary blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
One of the unique qualities of some of the best paraeducators is knowing when to step in and run at full capacity anticipating the needs of all the individuals in a classroom in any given situation. However, that skill, for most paraeducators takes time to understand the results of hitting the ground running and getting all the parts together.
Being present in a class, with a student, with a group of students, can be taxing hour after hour. But for those who are not there just yet, making sure that one reaches out to connect to students or staff is just as important. Reminders to show gratitude for connection and how students connect to you.
The world continues to astound us all with the way our students ask to connect in the world and their community. The world that students inherit is changing and the students are much more aware than when we may have been that youthful. How we respond and how we take care of ourselves after responding and helping students navigate their emotions and inputting knowledge are as important as helping students navigate those challenges.
Gathering support and knowing how to support other staff is just as important. Learning when a birthday, a significant anniversary, or other momentous occasion is part of reaching out and helping to build that adult community.
We are sincere that the little tries and the little movements continue to build the roads for students, teachers, and for administrators. Professional trust is built as familiar patterns become understandable by everyone working for a student or group of students.
The little things really just begin with making the professional promise: I will be here. Renay was recently laughed at for saying this to someone else professionally, but that promise carries so much weight when one is dedicating the school year to a group of students. That promise does not mean that sick days will not be taken, family events do not come first. That promise is the minimum we make daily no matter the task at hand.
The little things really just begin with making the professional promise: I will be here.
ParaEducate
Professionalism for some comes easily. For others, it requires time to learn and grow. Students grow, and so should their paraeducator. Partnering with other more senior staff helps make sense of the roles in school as an adult. Balancing between finding your strengths and finding how to navigate the campus where you are assigned.
The Parts of Inclusion
We are reminded that some things need to be advocated for. Sitting at a table in the middle of a sea of students does not always work for all students with disabilities. However, to be a member of the class, it is important to have a student have a spot to work that is consistent and puts the student within arm’s reach of their peers and not in full view as a curiosity or to be treated as a guest.
February is our anniversary month. Stay tuned for our anniversary blog post.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
Renay called in a favor because she had some ideas that were going unchecked. Renay met up with a familiar face—the person who taught Renay how to be a paraeducator over eighteen years ago. Today, that individual is now a special education teacher who works with adults—students who are 18 to 22 years of age.
Working with adults is a slightly different skill set than working in a traditional inclusive classroom. At this point, there are not likely to be many non-disabled peers nearby in general (this is a wholly different conversation). Adults who are in programs like these are also still following their IEPs and are taking significant parts of their IEPs and managing the skills that they want to enrich. Adults are given direct help with things like work skills, understanding the things necessary to apply for a job, and more skills budgeting. Some are working on self-care like making food, connecting in their communities, and navigating public transit.
Professionalism is of utmost importance. Being present with the students might be more of a challenge, but it is critical because you could easily lose a group of students on a topic, in a community outing, or even in a 1:1 situation because you were not emotionally, physically, and mentally present with the adults. The model of professionalism becomes more important: this is what some of the students will use when they go forth in any job they have during and after leaving adult program.
Being present with the students might be more of a challenge, but it is critical because you could easily lose a group of students on a topic, in a community outing, or even in a 1:1 situation because you were not emotionally, physically, and mentally present with the adults.
ParaEducate
We want to mention we keep saying ‘adults’ and not ‘students’. There is a certain level of autonomy that needs to be provided at the programs that do not exist prior to this age group. Certainly, the groundwork for autonomy in previous years of their lives should be evident, but there is a need for more independence.
There is a certain level of autonomy that needs to be provided at the programs that do not exist prior to this age group. Certainly, the groundwork for autonomy in previous years of their lives should be evident, but there is a need for more independence.
ParaEducate
So when the group goes into the community, the motivation should be based on the individual needs of the adult students. Things to look for:
How do they handle large crowds?
How do they navigate public transportation?
How do they communicate with unfamiliar individuals?
What things are they able to do independently?
Can they step away from an activity when they are truly stressed?
What tasks within a job do they like? Which tasks within a job they do not like?
Can they cross a street? This breaks down further, looking both ways, pushing a crosswalk button, and waiting for friends/peers to join up at the corners.
What tools do they use when they are lost or in an unfamiliar situation? This will include technology.
What goals do they have for their lives after they finish their program?
What do they care about? What leadership opportunities have they taken/can take within the adult education program?
What activities do they like to do?
What is truly important to the adult? How do they go about doing those things? (is this religious, cultural, or entertainment? And how do you support that individual doing those activities?)
What skills do they need to continue to hold a job?
How do they handle money? Can they budget?
This is only a partial list, however, unlike in the prior fifteen years of education (Preschool through high school), paraeducators should be helping the case manager constantly evaluate these parts for every student. Keep in mind how many times one might have had to redirect an individual and what circumstances were they under. Have a focus on understanding the adult that is there learning and finishing their last attempts at getting skills they might not have had time to focus on previously. Finding ways for the adults to be more independent in small groups and alone.
The takeaway here, the relationship between a paraeducator and adult students is very different than the paraeducator-student relationship in the Preschool to twelfth-grade age group. If nothing else: you have to be more together and focused to help the adults connect to the pieces of their future they might need the most help with.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
We had a moment a week ago, where we were discussing what inclusion could be with someone who was in an entirely different district. We know that inclusion feels like it is stalled. That for every child, inclusion looks different, and for some students this is appropriate. For most students, this is not what they are experiencing in their entire education process.
We know that inclusion is viewed as a challenge in many districts. And for all our friends who keep pointing it out: we are now forty years away from the original research that has pointed out that for both students with disabilities and students without disabilities, there are long-term and short-term benefits for their education. And that those benefits show up again in the lives of people with disabilities.
What makes inclusion possible thought? Professors and parents who have firsthand experience might tell you that inclusion is a mindset. Students who can tell you inclusion is ‘belonging’. Teachers who work in inclusive environments may tell you its about having all the players together working together (special education, special education services, administration, students). And certainly, every single workshop on inclusion starts with a definition, whether brought by the presenter or created by the workshop. Inclusion is advocacy by both self-advocates and allies. And it is not the cacophony of voices but one single voice going in one direction.
And it is not the cacophony of voices but one single voice going in one direction.
ParaEducate
What we know is that not every experience is inclusive. Whether or not it is certain classes, certain educators, or certain schools.
Does it need to stay ‘small’ to be successful?
There are pockets of inclusive schools all around the country. And the predominant age group tends to be elementary. This is why secondary is where Renay focuses much of her time. And these schools historically are under five hundred students. Sometimes as much as seven hundred. But is it possible to keep scaling the image? We know of entire districts of more than two thousand students are inclusive. We know it just takes a ‘yes’ if we borrow from Beth Foraker. It does not take much to have success.
What can we do?
If you are not working in an inclusive environment, ask why.
If you are not working in an inclusive environment and the answer is ‘we tried it and it didn’t work.’ Ask about what was not working.
Look at the average age of the staff. Newer teachers are often being educated in inclusive practices and want support to be that change. However, the nuances of newer teachers: they do not always have enough emotional space to take on change, especially in their first two years. It is not that they do not care. The demands on a new teacher are many.
Is the whole campus inclusive or just the little ways that are involved with certain subjects or certain teachers?
We need to have a brief but pointed fact that inclusion is not some new-age philosophy. It is what we want in our communities. It is what we want for our future. Not just people with disabilities, but this is the main purpose of ParaEducate to bring that awareness of who is not at the table. Who is not being educated? When we do not see what is going on, we do not understand what might truly be experienced or expected. Our collective change can bring attention to someone else who takes those questions of inclusion of people with disabilities to work environments, to college environments, to our religious institutions and many others.
We need to have a brief but pointed fact that inclusion is not some new-age philosophy.
ParaEducate
All The Hands?
So often we speak in this blog about an idealized world and we know that paraeducators are doing a lot of different things for a variety of students who all have different needs. And some of those needs are not the result of a disability.
To be all the things, an ally, an educator, a confidant, an authority figure, a compassionate being, a contract of wisdom, and a fellow human, it just might be too much for some. So how do you balance all the things that are expected? Sometimes we focus on one or two of these skills. Some folks only demonstrate a handful of these skills ever. And it is entirely all right. Asking for those individuals when they are ready to step forward makes all the difference.
What We Bring
Renay was recently asked what might make a paraeducator flexible enough to work in the different demanding environments of inclusion across an entire campus. And one of the points Renay thought about was a small percentage of Renay’s experience: general education teachers who have disabilities or have a family member with a disability. It does not matter the type of disability or the experiences of that disability. But that distinction makes for an interesting population helping students with disabilities. Knowing that exclusion within disability is a step into the side of students with disabilities as an ally. Just like the importance of being ethnically diverse. These silent traits we bring with us affect how we interact with each other and our knowledge of what a student might see within the world.
The world will need us to keep waiting. And the world will change. We can still be that advocate for our students. For our families we serve. We can see those moments and celebrate those moments in our school communities.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
It is now officially the point in the academic year where there is no turning back. Hopefully your campus is constantly addressing the rules and holding those students accountable to get them back on track for the entire campus.
Struggling
There is something simply beautiful about ‘struggle’. And it would sound painful otherwise. Struggle for students, and especially with students with disabilities, is just the whole school experience. There are limits to that school experience, and how much barrier honestly is too much struggle for students before they are not learning anything. But that middle ground, it is a beautiful place. The confidence students gain, the belief that the student is a contributing member, the reassurances that the students get from their peers as a contributing member of the class. All those moments matter.
Certainly, there are students who are unable to have those moments because of other personal barriers. But all the struggles, all the little steps every single day are little things that are won.
Just a reminder…
Student teachers. We have spoken about them before, but the nuances of what a student teacher needs to learn and what they are putting together is usually very trying. Some student teachers never know anything than what they are taught and shown by the program they are pursuing.
Intern teachers are a separate matter and another time we will discuss their progress and their knowledge. Student Teachers, however, and especially student teachers within the realm of special education bring a different world together.
There are things to know about student teachers though
Student teachers are under enormous pressure. They are there on site with you for a specific number of hours. They are weeding through nuances of students, adults, and supporting the students in their progress. And they probably are holding down three or four other jobs to cover their tuition and other life needs.
Student teacher’s assignments also require several steps and asking a paraeducator to help is part of the assignment.
Student teachers are often viewed little more than a guest at a site. Realize that Student Teachers, regardless of chronological age and place in the program, probably are not making money at all. Including the weekly donuts for the staff with the student teacher, even if they are unable to eat a donut, means the world to that student teacher—that inclusion we want for our students with disabilities matters.
Student teachers are a necessary lifeline to the process of education. Supporting our student teachers helps keep the process of education going forward. Giving student teachers the opportunity to train in an inclusive setting and meeting a variety of students and their families helps to make those bridge in the education much easier. While their direction will is dictated by their program, their supervisors, and their mentor teachers. Your collaboration with a student teacher can make or break their understanding of the little steps necessary to become the successful educators we need for all our students.
Your collaboration with a student teacher can make or break their understanding of the little steps necessary to become the successful educators we need for all our students.
ParaEducate
Stepping Into the World
We were reminded this last week of Hurricane Katrina (2005). And while Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath is traumatizing to some, Renay recalled the school she was working at and the students who gathered new and slightly used items to send over to a school of like aged students. Every item came with a handwritten note from students sending well wishes for a student who had experienced unimaginable loss. CDs, CD players, handheld video games, a new jacket, in general it was a variety of things for folks who have woken up one morning having to relocate on a moment’s notice and it was not always about the things they just needed. And returning up to this last week—Hurricane Ian that crossed over Puerto Rico, Florida, and now heading into the Carolinas, reminds us of the importance of connectivity, even simple ones for a world that seems like it has been torn to shreds. It will take a while for the world to be ‘righted’. And for some students, doing this little bit of connecting to the world, be it nationally, locally, or even on the world stage, this makes all the difference.
Supporting folks at every stage of their life and their needs is a part of what a school can do. And there are limits to how to support, however, remembering that everyone has access to their human needs that helps make everyone more connected.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
The world keeps moving and school is making demands. But before we really get started with students, we need to know what they know and do not know of how to be in school. For the youngest students, that is pretty easy to continue to review and build that pattern of skills to know where they will go and how they will act for each place they are at. For the older students, it is a reminder that school has boundaries.
For paraeducators in the classroom, the world shifts just a little bit. It is about responding to both the teacher’s frame of expectations and where students, especially students with disabilities, need to have patterns.
However, that is not to say that the students do not need a hook, especially the youngest students—they are looking for “fun”. Work does not connect to students, particularly young students, without play. If you happen to be from secondary, this is quite a challenge. But there is an element of fun
While students testing the boundaries are common throughout the year, work with the teachers you support to identify how best to help students get back in line. Many teachers do want the attention to be on them and how they treat behaviors, big and small, will be very different for every student and their situation. There will be times you might not know that there is a student to be handled with care.
Where is the Inclusion?
We have not spoken a lot about inclusive practices for a while. And inclusion in its most idealized form is not always available in every district, though it should be.
Inclusion is about really accepting the students as they are. And then providing those supports so the student can grow. Growth takes more than just hope and goodwill. And certainly, more than just teaching the other students about growth mindset and that everyone has a unique brain. Inclusion is the reminder we all belong. It is the calm an individual feels knowing that even if nothing is certain, they will feel supported.
Growth takes more than just hope and goodwill.
ParaEducate
Inclusion needs to be in the way staff treat each other. The way folks are welcomed into the room is a great indicator. And it needs to be with students. Students need to be assisted to stay in class, and students need to believe they are welcome in the rooms where they are assigned.
What we missed from Distance Learning
Wait…there was something to be missed?
We know there was a large majority of students, especially students who fell into the achievement gap, even without disabilities, that Distance Learning was more than a challenge, it was simply just a barrier to education. But there were some beneficial things that happened during distance learning.
Renay was in the middle of coteaching last week in a school and it was evident that the class had not formed a personal connection to a specific vocabulary concept that is pretty important. In Distance Learning, it was a quick switch for Renay to interject and provide that information. However, in person, in a decorated classroom, getting to just provide that information was itself a barrier for something that would have been a thirty-second detour of information for students. There was a partial argument after the fact that the information provided was truly designed for the top ten percent of the class that the actual need of the lesson was to identify key facts. But if the idea was how to teach to identify key facts, understanding what was written as a concept was actually as important. While there was a rabbit hole conversation–Distance Learning allowed those multiple transitions to provide the students access to more information and provide the students who were not ready a few moments to come down and then be ready to tackle the next ‘ask’ in class.
How Are We School Ready?
One of the brilliant things about education is that in the United States education is viewed as the equalizer. Though there can be quibbles about enrichment in different schools, even within blocks of each other, one could argue that if one selected three fifth graders from several different schools, they could come to general consensus that they know five facts about every topic taught in school and know that well. But when you go down to Kindergarten or to first grade, that general consensus might be much further apart. Watching students attempt early screenings for reading readiness just to have an idea where the classes are is always an act in true patience. Not because the students struggle—many certainly will—but to deny yourself the laughter and smiles for the most unique answers from students. And just a question: how many of your students successfully identified letter ‘O’ as “circle”?
And just a question: how many of your students successfully identified letter ‘O’ as “circle”?
ParaEducate
One more thing before we go…
Enjoy celebrating the little wins with your staff this month. You made it to Friday. You saw a student climb the stairs on the bus independently. You finally figured out the names of all the students in a class. The student returned a paper from the first day of school. Find that reason to celebrate.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
