Successful Supervision of Paraeducators in Special Education

I attended this session presented by Dr. Laura Mohr of Mohr Educational Associates at the SC Council for Exceptional Children conference this past weekend and really thought this was an awesome presentation. I don’t think teachers get enough training about supervising Paraeducators. I’m not sure that there is a course in college that covers this at all. When I was a brand new teacher, I was hired for a self contained class and suddenly had a paraeducator. Not only didn’t I have any clue about being a teacher, but all of a sudden I’m a supervisor! I’m really glad to see presentations like this because I see a real need for them.

Here are my notes from this session:

Para means “along side of.”

A paraeducator is one who works with and under the supervision of a professional educator.

Research on Teacher’s Supervision and Training of Paraeducators:
1. “Frequency of meetings” is single indicator of quality supervision.
2. Length of teaching experience did not predict supervisory skills.
3. Formal education plus inservice training predicted supervisory skills.
4. Teachers didn’t want to supervise even though they valued help of Paraeducators.
5. Teachers were reluctant to supervise because they didn’t do written plans or hold sit-down meetings, yet were dissatisfied with communication between Paraeducators and themselves.
6. Teachers reported they had scheduled no time to plan.
7. 30% of teachers reported they never had “face to face” with Paraeducators.

Supervision requires “face to face” contact, planning for and with the paraeducator.

Teacher Competencies for Paraeducator Supervision:
1. Communicating with Paraeducators
2. Planning and scheduling with Paraeducators
3. Providing instructional support
4. Managing the work of Paraeducators
5. Providing on-the-job training
6. Delegating appropriate tasks

Professional Roles of the Teacher
1. Assessment
2. Planning
3. Instructing/Managing
4. Collaborating and Consulting
5. Supervising Paraeducators

Paraeducator Roles
1. Assist and contribute in these ways:
2. Collect student data/chart frequency of behaviors for teacher to use in assessment and decision making
3. Provide instructional support as directed by teacher
4. Manage student behavior according to teacher plans
5. Modify and adapt instructional materials based on directions from special and/or general ed teachers
6. Assist with clerical/housekeeping tasks, organizing and maintaining the environment and personal care

Paraeducator Competencies:
Council for Exceptional Children has a CEC Knowledge and Skill Base for All Beginning Special Education Paraeducators
1. Foundations of Exceptional Children
2. Development and Characteristics of Learners
3. Individual Learning Differences
4. Instructional Strategies
5. Learning Environments and Social Interactions
6. Language
7. Instructional Planning
8. Assessment

Handouts included:
1. Educator and Paraeducator Communication Inventory
2. Schedule and information Planning for the paraeducator
3. Educator/Paraeducator Planning (Duties for staff)
4. Work Style Preferences
5. Problem Solving Vignette
6. Educator and Paraeducator: Complementary Roles
7. Paraeducator - Student Support Plan

My thoughts:

I thought this was an excellent session! I will use this information to share with others and also use it in my graduate class. I think the more training given to teachers, the more successful the students will be.

What suggestions do you have with working with a paraeducator? Please share!

Original Image by Pat Hensley

South Carolina Council for Exceptional Children Conference 2012

South Carolina Council for Exceptional Children Conference 2012
This past weekend I attended the South Carolina Council for Exceptional Children Conference 2012 in Columbia, SC.

 If you would like to see the pictures I took, please click HERE.

The theme for the conference was “Meet Us in the Middle.”

I was very excited that the person I nominated, Amanda Walkup, won the 2012 Exceptional Educator of the Year award.

The sessions I attended were:
· Successful Supervision of Paraeducators for Teachers and Administrators
· Developing Leadership Skills in Special Education for Current or Aspiring Leaders
· Self Advocacy and Student Led IEPs
· Legal Resources in Special Education
· Virtual High School Programs: What are they and how do they work?

During the next 2 weeks, I will be sharing my notes from these sessions. I hope you will find them useful.
I had a good time at the conference seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Attending conferences like this help me get new ideas, learn new strategies, and network with other educators. If at all possible, I encourage others to attend conferences like this to get re-energized. I believe the more I do these things, the more successful I will be in the classroom.

What conferences do you attend that help you be more successful? Please share.

Original Image by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 2/17/12

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

The Space Place - Lots of great learning fun about space. There is information and games to play. There is also a parent and educator page. (L: E; SA: S)

Virtual Keyboard - Make your own music with this keyboard (L: A; SA: FA)

Online Geography Game - ‘Online games and simulations for use in the geography classroom” (L: M, H; SA: SS)

Interactive Biology - Making learning biology fun with videos, lecture videos and quizzes (L: H; SA: S)

MeeGenius - free ebooks for kids (L: E; SA: LA)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

Let the Sunshine In

In I Like Teaching You from siobhan curious: classroom as microcosm, Siobhan Curious shares,

“Whenever I’m writing final notes to students, I need to acknowledge the enjoyment those students have given me.”

It is winter time here, and cold, and sometimes the skies are dreary. Valentine’s Day is now over and many are either experiencing the sugar rush from all the candy or dealing with the disappointment of a lonely day past.

This is a good time to think about the positive. No matter what anyone says, everyone loves to be on the receiving end of a positive thing.

I need to bring a little sunshine in the classroom and there are any ways that I can do this. Here are some things that I can do:

1. Start each class with a smile. It helps create the tone for the class that day.

2. Greet each student at the door with a handshake. I think this helps both of us feel good about ourselves.

3. Tell students how much I enjoy being there and teaching them. (I need to forget about the most annoying student or the things that aren’t going right in my classroom at this time. I need to remember why I went into teaching to begin with and share my gladness.)

4. Find something positive to say to each student at some point during the week. I can find at least one thing if not more to say to someone that is positive.

5. Decide not to be negative and say negative things that day. This is a conscious effort and can also be a great model for the students. Sometimes I even let them know that is my goal.

6. I will think of ways that I can help someone else even though they didn’t ask for my help. Sometimes just by helping others, I feel better.

7. Write positive statements on papers that I grade and return.

8. Call parents and brag about the student. This really gets a lot of mileage and the return is exponential!

9. Let colleagues know how much I enjoy working with them. Give an example of how they inspire or motivate me to be a better teacher.

10. Share positive stories that have impacted my life. Hopefully one of these stories will impact others too.

What suggestions do you have to bring sunshine into the classroom? Please share!

Image: 'El sol!'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44126975@N00/420415554

How to Handle Success

In It Seems Easier to Be a Great Person After Death Than Before. from PrincipalsPage The Blog, Michael Smith talks about the death of Whitney Houston and mentions,

“An adult’s life (for a variety of reasons) has a traumatic effect on their children.  You can just see the kids being set up for a more complicated life than any of us can imagine.”

I remember hearing her songs and watching her in the movie The Bodyguard and I loved her. She was beautiful and had a beautiful voice. As she went through the trouble of her marriage to Bobby Brown and her fight with drugs, I felt sorry for her. Here was someone who, in my eyes, had the world, and she didn’t seem happy. What a waste of a wonderful career and magnificent talent. Now she is dead and what good was all that fame and fortune?

Maybe that is something we need to teach our students. Fame and fortune isn’t all cracked up to what it seems to be.

The head varsity basketball coach used to be my paraprofessional for a few years. I was able to listen in as he talked to many of the basketball players during the day. It impressed me that he was trying to get them to realize that basketball fame did not happen to every basketball player so it was important not to put all their eggs in one basket. He encouraged them to study and work hard in their classes. After talking about possible injuries in the future, he mentioned how important it was to have a backup plan. Some parents even got upset about this because of course, they wanted their child to be a famous star!

I realize now that we prepare our students to some of the what-ifs for the future but we never prepare them for the what-if if they do well. Here are some of the things I think I need to do better:

· Learn to say no. When you are tired or overwhelmed, it is time to stop and reflect. You might choose to go forward or you might not but don’t rush into decision making. I have always felt that rush decisions don’t get me anywhere.

· Learn to make wise decisions. Look at the pros and cons to your options. Choose the best one that meets your needs but don’t let others talk you into something. Many people are looking out for their own best interests and not yours. If necessary, find an impartial person who won’t benefit from your decision one way or the other and ask for their input.

Learn how to invest money. Too many famous people seem to squander their money or trust the wrong people who squander their money. They need to learn and understand investments so that they can be in control.

· Learn how to spend money wisely. Too many famous people don’t budget their money so that it lasts longer. I have read of many movie stars who go bankrupt because their agents or family have spent all their money.

· Learn to manage time. When I watch interviews with successful people, it seems like the ones with the problems are usually the ones who can’t seem to manage their time. They let others control their time and it is important that a person is in charge of their own time and not others.

· Learn to plan for the what-ifs. What if they are no longer successful? What if they are injured? Who will take care of them? How will they pay their bills when money isn’t coming in?

· Be a real person. Don’t let popularity or fame go to your head. I know that some of the successful people that I have had contact with and remember are the ones who were real people. They didn’t put on airs or act like they were better than me. They didn’t seem to brag or show off because they had a lot of money.

· Watch out for those people who offer you drugs and other things to help you get through the day. That leads to nowhere but a dead-end. There are many examples of people who died to early in their promising career.

What advice would you give your students about achieving success in the future? Please share.

Image: 'Whitney Houston in New Jersey 1986'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55734758@N00/2309670833