Area E: Providing Instructional Support for Paraprofessionals
Activities and Discussion Questions
Activity #1:
Helping vs. Hovering - One of the most difficult aspects of supporting students is recognizing and understanding the problem of developing a dependent relationship and this can be especially difficult for paraprofessionals when little guidance is provided for how they should spend their time. Discuss some strategies for working with paraprofessionals to identify this situation.
Instructions for discussion with paraprofessionals -
Discuss the concept of fostering independence in students. Explain that it is not easy to identify when it is best to step back and allow natural consequences to occur and when to step in and support the student. This is especially true in social situations. Give personal examples of situations you have encountered as a teacher.
Reinforcement activity
- List skills the teacher wants students to learn in this grade level which will increase their independence.
- List the social skills students learn from other children in this grade level.
- List ways these skills can be supported through the work of the paraprofessional.
Scenarios for discussion
Fourth Grade
Tim is a student with ADD. He has difficulty remembering his homework assignments as well as taking his books home. The teacher has Tim using a planner. The paraprofessional writes down Tim's assignments and reminds him to take his books home. The goal is to have Tim write down his assignments himself by Christmas.
Is this an example of empowering or enabling?
Develop additional examples as appropriate to level of students assigned.
Activity #2:
A time for feedback and discussion. The role of teachers and others who direct the work of paraprofessionals in the evaluation process is usually determined by the school principal, special education director/coordinator or another administrator. However, in terms of providing day-to-day feedback on how the paraprofessional is doing with students – that is the role of the teacher. The teacher can ensure the paraprofessional is carrying out tasks as the teacher expects. It can be difficult to find the time for providing feedback. Discuss the importance of this with participants and share the A "Standing Appointment" and "Quick Encounters" ideas as two possible strategies they might use with paraprofessionals.
A Standing Appointment
Instructions
Set up a standing appointment once a week (or more often) to discuss the various aspects of the paraprofessionals work. A prepared agenda with allowance for flexibility will help with the feedback process.
Agenda items may include:
- Start with the positives.
- What has worked well? What successes have been experienced?
- What student successes have been observed?
- Address the challenges.
- What activities did not go well?
- If behavioral issues occurred, how were they handled?
- What was the outcome?
- Reinforce support needed to perform assigned tasks successfully.
- Keep the discussion open to all aspects of the job including any of the competencies involved in the position.
- Most importantly, use this time to validate and affirm the work of the paraprofessional. Listen carefully and provide positive and useful feedback. Stress the importance of her/his role on the IEP team with specific comments on work done well.
- Finally, whenever possible, support the paraprofessional in taking an active role within the paraprofessional group. Growth and understanding of the paraprofessional is often enhanced by leadership activities.
Quick Encounters Tip
Set up a system with the paraprofessional for brief updates as needed. The teacher/paraprofessional team may develop a short-hand for relaying information that would be unknown to students in the room. This will help to maintain confidentiality regarding specific student updates while enabling the teaching team to exchange information.
Discussion #1:
This area provides many opportunities for discussion. Again, we would encourage you to identify an article to read and discuss but there are also many open-ended questions you might pose to the whole group or small groups. Some of these might include:
- What are effective ways to provide instructional guidance and direction to paraprofessionals? In writing? Lesson plans? Meeting times?
- How could/do you provide feedback to paraprofessionals?
- When could/do you create the time to meet with the paraprofessionals with whom you work?
- What are some ideas for providing support and guidance to paraprofessionals working in community settings or in classrooms not connected to yours?
- How can you involve paraprofessionals in goal setting, instructional planning, and other aspects when they often only work when the students are present?
- How might you help the paraprofessional to collaborate with other professionals? How might you work together to meet the needs of the student? Are there natural or scheduled times when planning can occur?
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