Renay has been bouncing between her home life, work life, and her extended family for the past few weeks, and it looks like it will be a few more weeks. But she just came back from a conference drawn by two individuals who are familiar faces. Renay is also preparing some proposals for conferences; she is getting back to the parts of ParaEducate that have always been successful.
But either way, the school year is underway and there are more pressing issues at hand for paraeducators and their teams.
Data collection
Data collection is taught annually for every team. But then again, data collection is unique to every student, subject, and collection of goals. Looking at the desired outcomes for each student helps shape that direction and understanding of how a student shares what they know to others.
Data collection is not a chore for every second of every day, although all the data any adult takes in serves a purpose. The last time a student held a pencil, the first words a student might have uttered, or a sequence of words that a student put together independently. All the data helps the rest of the IEP team know that the student is seen and is being recognized for all the things they are good at, and in some cases, the things the student is losing the ability to do.
But we’ve never talked about…
There are several disabilities that can cause a child to start losing skills. Academic, physical, and emotional. And all these disabilities take a toll on the student and their family, regardless of a loss of skill or an ability.
Running into a family after they have moved to another campus and seeing the changes that maybe you had not begun to see is hard. It is not the general expectation of most students with disabilities, but it does occur. Just having those memories and visuals of where an individual student had been was sometimes the best part of having memories of former students.
The same goes for a former student who is in cancer treatment. And yes, just seeing their journey and being willing to keep trying brings a smile to Renay’s day.
But back to the surprises…
Renay and Megan were once again in the same building. And while Renay soaked in the extras from the group sharing their experiences, it is not lost on how far the journeys have taken both Renay and Megan.
Additionally: Renay also happened to go see Amanda because Amanda Morin and Megan were on the same panel at the conference.
Time is not something that is a luxury in education. There is always one more diagnostic test to provide, there is always one more lesson to teach, and then there are the things that take away from that time. And not all interruptions take things away from the potential learning of students. But time is important. And it takes in so many forms: time to think, time to relax, time to try again. Keep trying. Keep giving in your time.
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, 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 through their academic adaptations.
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