Renay was working on scheduling the other day. Processing both student and adult schedules and trying to make the complexities work of work. She was comparing student needs and personality against adult personalities and skills. While this is the real work that helps provide success in the classroom, this is also about knowing that students and paraeducators need to feel successful together to be successful.
While scheduling is retooled to be more successful at that time, Renay also wants to point out that there are things in the world that need to not continue. Again, the headlines focus on yet another school shooting. While the events have slowed in recent years, one shooting is one shooting too many. The loss of life of staff, children, and teachers is unacceptable. The United States cannot afford to continue to have “a plan” each time this happens. Compounding this issue: students with disabilities may not have the ability to leave the classrooms with law enforcement in the same manners as peers. Not just mobility, but silently, hands where law enforcement can see. The environment during crisis is not friendly to students who are already stressed, add in inability to communicate and the situation becomes even more challenging.
While scheduling is retooled to be more successful at that time, Renay also wants to point out that there are things in the world that need to not continue. Again, the headlines focus on yet another school shooting. While the events have slowed in recent years, one shooting is one shooting too many. The loss of life of staff, children, and teachers is unacceptable. The United States cannot afford to continue to have “a plan” each time this happens. Compounding this issue: students with disabilities may not have the ability to leave the classrooms with law enforcement in the same manners as peers. Not just mobility, but silently, hands where law enforcement can see. The environment during crisis is not friendly to students who are already stressed, add in inability to communicate and the situation becomes even more challenging.- ParaEducate
The Things That Are Unseen
It has been a few years, and certain many things are much more important, but remembering biases exist is important when working with students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who are also students of color might be subjected to more challenges due to social expectations and cultural expectations.
The biases might shift your perspective in working with students. Biases are our internal reactions that we were taught. Even when we know that culture has changed and those reactions are wrong or without merit.
How do biases come up? Do you find yourself disciplining or ignoring a specific student more than other students? Do you let certain students have activities that others are not? Not just because a certain student needs this one activity more, but because that student is not your preferred student to work with.
Do you let certain students have activities that others are not? Not just because a certain student needs this one activity more, but because that student is not your preferred student to work with.
ParaEducate
Just like our students, yes, adults do not always have to get along with the students.
Authentic Work
This actually isn’t about students for once. As many may or may not know, Renay is a participant in NaNoWriMo as a hobby that occupies her November free time. But this raises an important point to our integrity as a company—we do not use Artificial Intelligence to write our monthly blog posts. Our posts have always been a combination of our experiences and themes we have seen in working with a variety of paraeducators across the country. While themes may feel repetitive, they are also representative of the work that is faced by paraeducators daily.
And things that change…
Not the only reason the blog was late, but Renay said goodbye to a young man who went off to college recently. One of her godsons went off to try his hand at living separately and navigating a whole new city. There were many feelings by both of this young man’s parents, and equally important that there were feelings not expressed directly by any of the three individuals. The world keeps moving on, and that is what makes the challenges of preparing students with disabilities for the community they live in so challenging. There will always be something new to figure out—the challenge lies in whether the individual with a disability has a system of support to learn to approach those challenges.
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.
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