Before I get too far into this week’s post, I want to piggy back onto last week’s post from Megan. When I agreed to ParaEducate (the company), it solved a few things. Firstly, it solved how to address publishing ParaEducate and it introduced something near and dear to my heart: academic modifications. ParaEducate is going to continue providing academic modifications, providing systems for paraeducators around the country to use, and continue its book publishing for the general public. With these three veins to focus on, ParaEducate will continue to reach out to schools to help make inclusion possible for students of all abilities.
It is the New Year, albeit nearly halfway through the first month. And there are things that I think need to be addressed. And resolutions have never been about “will do every day” but more about, “will see if I can attempt at least once a week.” But why such a low bar? Because I am looking for opportunities, not making them. Which sounds funny until you see the resolution list.
- Verbally make contact with parents.
This sounds counter intuitive. After all, shouldn’t the case manager be doing this? Yes, the case manager should be doing this in addition to you. But this isn’t about how the student is doing. Just doing a friendly check in, “How are you?”, “Did you see the game this weekend?” Now, there are parents to every exception to the rule, who are just exhausted by the energy it took to get their kid ready and out the door to school, the parents who do not know when to stop sharing their weekend events, and the parents who do not respond to boundaries. But I’m talking about the parents of your students anyway. Just letting them know they are a part of the equation, that you recognize them for more than the worried face at the beginning and end of every school day.
Just letting them know they are a part of the equation, that you recognize them for more than the worried face at the beginning and end of every school day.
ParaEducate
- Spend more time to educate the student teachers on my campus.
There is something a little cruel about the way student teachers are nearly boiled to death by the system of academics preparing them for the classroom. They still have to adapt and manage systems that are entirely foreign to them. And one of many of those systems may just be students with disabilities. And this is a good way to get them acquainted with systems that may be out there for them especially as they work in general education. I will revisit student teachers soon in their own blog entry, but every student teacher, no matter general education or special education, deserves to have a really good inclusion story.
- Have administrators recognize paraeducators’ involvement on their campuses.
What I want is administrators to realize that paraeducators see more, know more, and are easily the most invisible adult on campus. Paraeducators should have the flexibility to be that bridge of communication for questionable behavior for students, and be kept in the loop for events and issues on campus. Administrators who realize their paraeducators are giving all they can (and sometimes more) have a gold mine on their campus. Tapping into this as a resource and knowing that this is valuable long term to the health and climate of the campus is important.
Administrators who realize their paraeducators are giving all they can (and sometimes more) have a gold mine on their campus. Tapping into this as a resource and knowing that this is valuable long term to the health and climate of the campus is important.
ParaEducate
- Help everyone realize every day is a new day.
Behaviors are fickle in nature. Some are chemically controlled like the student who falls asleep every day between one and two because they have a medication that saps their energy. Some are just expected like the student who threw a tantrum because they were asked to share. And some are just unavoidable like the student who ran off campus because they felt someone looked at them strangely. There are consequences for behavior, especially unsafe behaviors, but that next day back, I assure the student, that all is mostly forgotten and this is the time to make things better.
- Remember that not all successes are academic.
Making friends, playing a game with a classmate, asking the cute boy to the senior prom, being able to say, “Okay, next time,” or finally tying the shoe while wearing the shoe is equally important to all the academic material in the world. And those are moments paraeducators can easily have a significant role in or even no role at all. We just got to share and watch that moment unfold for someone else. And yes, some of us may have trauma from being rejected that first time we asked someone out, and we might be waiting nervously around a corner watching the students play four square, and we might be tapping our fingers on the table waiting for the student to finish tying their shoe just outside of the classroom. But our students are entitled to their life. And those moments are just as important to them as they were to us around that same age.
- Recognize natural leadership and encourage it.
There is a fine line in leadership. Every level of academics has a leader. Some are chosen and some are natural. Natural leaders inspire people, provide moments to teach their fellow co-workers, and give others a sense of calm. Leaders aren’t necessarily making decisions with regards to how a student is serviced, but leaders are reminding everyone that the student is valued, the student deserves to be on that campus, and the student is making progress. But all of those things aren’t good enough if I don’t encourage that behavior among my peers. I want my co-workers to know I support them as they learn to make those hard calls in the moment.
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