Renay is filing away taxes for the businesses, writing partial drafts of multiple blog posts, checking an update on some book drafts, and making an outline of material for upcoming discussions. But in the back of her mind, she’s thinking a lot about what Hybrid might look like for the students. This is pretty normal for things that happen in ParaEducate.
One of the most unique things we tap into ParaEducate is the simple fact that there are so many things going on in our world trying to teach folks how to be better paraeducators, we do not have a lot of time to pause and be bored. If we aren’t thinking about an observation of a student, we’re trying to quickly prepare a modification for a student in a matter of minutes.
Some Things On Hybrid
If you have students who follow the Resource Model, or are perhaps fall in the less extensive support needs category of special education, perhaps the best use of your time in hybrid is to help with the chat for students who are asking questions. Why? Because this allows students to get help without you identifying the students who need the most support.
…perhaps the best use of your time in hybrid is to help with the chat for students who are asking questions.
ParaEducate
Those who work with students who fall in the category of inclusion or Extensive Support Needs (sometimes also called low incidence disabilities), your time is more about trying to get students to follow the school patterns and getting used to those patterns in specific rounds of skills because they are re-experiencing school, some at new campuses. And being consistent with those expectations will help students feel at peace.
Knowing all students are re-experiencing school and their adults on campus is very important. Whatever this stage of distance learning looks like at your site, please take time to take care of yourself. There will be rises and falls as more and more students return to school. Keep trying and it will be all right.
Knowing all students are re-experiencing school and their adults on campus is very important.
ParaEducate
What We Don’t Know We Don’t Know
Paraeducators as a whole are not necessarily known for their ability to ask questions. A lot of the job is only about what is right in front of us and how to address those questions that arise from how we interact with those students.
Sometimes the pathways in addressing student needs seems pathless. For example, Reading skills are not this jumble of tasks. There are specific activities needed by students to help reinforce good pre-reading skills before students can just start reading. For some students, this comes very easily, for others there are a lot of scaffolds that some students need to follow specifically prescribed by years of research to get students to reading independently. However, most paraeducators simply by their place in the hierarchy of school literally are not taught the pathways through reading. It is more likely that elementary paraeducators are taught informally, but secondary paraeducators who are working with students who are still learning to read and write often do not know this information. And it is important to get that information. This goes also to math—another pathway to specific skill learning. And then how to determine when it is time to abandon certain tasks in favor of reaching for a calculator and giving the students that time to learn those higher level skills that are otherwise limited.
We know this is very initial, but we will get to this in more detail soon.
Before we leave…
ParaEducate will be off the next two weeks. Mostly for Spring Break and Spring Holiday, but during this time, Renay will be working on Inclusion From Square One. This Spring Quarter issue will be a great span of information. ParaEducate will return for publishing April 5, 2021.
Do you have any comments about this week’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 during the academic school year on Mondays, unless a holiday or announced day off. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
