It is important for paraprofessional's and students to establish a relationship. There are times however that students do not want the help of the paraprofessional. Discuss the best ways to handle this situation.
Small group instruction is where the majority of the paraprofessional's time is spent. Choose one of the types of small group instruction for the classroom and elaborate on how best to utilize this instruction with your para's and students.
Respond to 2 people.
I have noticed that most often older elementary students do not want the help of the paraprofessional as much or at all. I feel that they are becoming more and more conscientious of what others think of them at that age. And, they are experiencing the yearning for independence. With that said, when general education teachers utilizes small group instruction rather than the frontal teacher approach special needs students, English language learners (ELL), and at-risk students would all benefit. While the lone special needs student in the room would not be positioned alone with a para at elbow. On another note, often teachers present the material and then pair students with partners. Working with a partner has advantages. However, I do feel some struggling students need small group instruction to fill the gap. A peer partner does not always have the ability to diagnose comprehension difficulties and the intuitive knowledge to pin-point the skill deficit or missing concept.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I work with 4th and 5th grade students. They are becoming aware of the fact they don't learn like other students and are more leary of having an adult right beside them in class. I have one in particular that enjoys coming to my class, but has started making comments like, "When will I catch up with the other 5th graders?", etc. so I know he is starting to notice he is "different" than the other kids. I like the idea of small group work with the para in the classroom. How do you get your teachers to do this???
ReplyDeleteLarrilee,
DeleteI do not have a “magic” answer to your question. I believe that my answer from my experience parallels with comments found in special education graduate course textbooks. Here goes … There are teachers who are willing. Then, there are teachers who are not. Link up with a teacher who is willing. Give it a whirl. If it works well maybe the concept will spread throughout the school.
I personally have not had the opportunity to really team teach and offer a class within a class. Being fairly new to the SPED field my experiences have been that I may get to know a teacher well one year and then I may not have a student in that teacher’s room for two or three years. Just about the time we get used to working together the school year is almost over. I am thinking that maybe next go-around the teacher would already know me and trust me. Given the familiarity, we probably could begin co-teaching at the beginning of the school year. Again those efforts may only function for one year. Also, I am somewhat fearful of committing to co-teaching because I am already busy enough without adding more work. However, I am very comfortable with math so maybe I could teach and plan that subject easily???
Another train if thought is related to the fact that our school is going on a plan of improvement due to annual yearly progress (AYP). Part of our plan of assistance is to improve teaching strategies. Within the details of this plan I can foresee teachers being “gently nudged” into creating a classroom environment for a wider range of diverse learners. I assume this will include small group services and differentiated instruction. Perhaps SPED staff will be a resource in the area of “bodies” and “knowledge”. Sometimes the “gentle nudge” from an outside source speaks louder than a suggestion or request from an inside source. I am excitingly awaiting change!
At the middle school level sped students are more conscientious about receiving help from para's or TOR's. If they refuse help I do let them do the work on their own. At this age we are trying to build independence not reliance. I tell them if their work is passing, C's and above are my expectations, then I will leave them alone. However if their work starts to fail I will intervene and they will not have a choice. I have not had any problems using that approach. Often parents are aware and support the arrangement. In the classroom if helps if I not only work with my sped students but also the non sped students as well. All students usually have a question or two and moving around the room and helping anyone that asks takes the focus of my sped kids. Of course my sped kids are the important ones!
ReplyDeleteCooperative learning groups are the most common type of small group instruction at Kepley. My para's or I will work with them in the classroom setting or take them to a quieter place like the resource room or library to work. It depends on the assignment. There are times when the groups function independently from any outside support other than the regular teacher and that is great! Often sped students are more responsive to their peers than to the interrelated staff.
I love your suggestion to give the students your expectations for grades when they want to work independently. I have a 6th grade boy who will flat out refuse to accept help. He covers his paper so we can't see it, turns away, mumbles, etc. The book is right, you can't force a kid to let you help him. I think offering the option that as long as he is passing, then he can make that choice but if not, I will intervene.
DeleteI agree I love the expectations for kids that want to be independent. I notice the 3-4th students are showing me more independence. I often work with small groups and they have the choice of peer or independent. Most kids will agree to peer help, and few ask to be my peer. Actually gen ed kids will ask for me to be peer group.
DeleteCarol, I really like your choice of words “trying to build independence not reliance”. I am going to “bank” that into my memory to use during discussions with parents, students, teachers, paras, and administrators.
DeleteI, too, have had a fifth grade student who was very disgruntle about services. He had improved his reading level and utilized extremely high-end coping skills because his grades were mostly B’s and C’s. His parents, teachers, the principal, and I explained to him that his reading level qualified him to receive services and continue to receive services. I showed him his state assessment scores by indicator. I showed him how I had designed his goal and checklist directly off of his low percentages on indicators. In our conversation I told him that he could be eligible for exit if he raised his reading level and showed progress on the low reading indicators, as well as had more A’s and B’s than C’s. I added the higher grade expectation because I knew he had the ability to achieve those grades. This conversation took place his fifth grade year. This year he is in sixth grade. He has improved his attitude, core subject grades, and willingness to learn how to read better. He was very stubborn and would not yield to proven reading strategies. Now that he decided to open his mind to receiving help he is decoding words when he reads. It has been a tough haul. I think that his stubborn nature held him back from learning. He would not shut off the stubbornness and listen until he had a major investment that motivated him to stop and learn. I am aware that labeling a child with learning disabilities as “stubborn or lazy” is normally totally inaccurate and off-base. However, I truly believe that his mental nature was one of his disabilities.
Another major factor I should add is that our school began Multi-Tiered Support Systems (MTSS) in reading when he was in fourth grade. Even though his reading level was low enough to qualify him for SPED services his general intelligence skills and adaptive skills were so high that he really “fit” into the mold of a Tier II student rather than a special education student. But, until our school offered multi-Tiered support SPED was his only option. He functioned high in math. He was truly almost a gifted student with a low reading ability. I know he must have felt better when he went to “Tiers” rather than the SPED room for reading pull-out. When Tier II time occurs in our building all students move to some room for Tiered support. SPED identity is somewhat disguised during transitions to Tiers. But, we are a small school so no matter what adults devise people know who is in SPED. I think the notion of labeling was internalized within himself. The Tier splits helped because he most likely did not feel as different. He, as many students (regular ed and SPED), had been and are the target of bullies. He just wanted to be on a lower radar than a SPED kid. Plus, his awareness and reasoning abilities “told” him that he did not belong in SPED. I think we have to give him credit for his self-advocacy. Sometimes adults and organizations can learn from students if they just take notice and listen. And, sometimes organizations and processes move slower than students needs. All things considered I think his story is primarily positive. However, probably, if our school offered multi-tiered support when he was in the lower elementary grades he would have not needed SPED services. I say, PROBABLY, because his stubbornness may have held him back even if MTSS had been available. Thinking just a little farther … maybe he would not have been as stubborn and bitter if his educational world had more appropriate services at a younger age. His mental state could have developed because of self-inflicted images and the image his peers had of him based on the fact that he was a “SPED” kid.
Carol - This puts the responsibility on the student which is what middle school students so need experience with but in a controlled environment. Good job!
DeleteI think the best approach for students that don't like assistance during class is to work with all of the students in the room, as Carol stated. That way, the targeted student doesn't really feel singled out. I tell my paras to make sure the targeted students are getting the support they need, but not to hover over them. Of course, there are those kiddos that like the para right beside them!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of small group work. I think students on IEP's feel more comfortable when they are getting the attention they need, but not really getting singled out as much.
I don't care that much for cooperative learning groups, although I know that is the "ideal" way for students on IEP's to be part of the group. What I tend to see is one or two students doing all the work and the others just sitting back and watching. I just don't think all kids benefit from this type of small group. I do like the idea of the para and/or teacher working with a small group of students with similar ability levels while the other adult monitors the students who require less help. I think some teachers are very comfortable with this and other aren't quite sure. A lot of the time it depends on teaching style.
I think I will visit with my regular ed. teachers and see if they feel like small group work is something we could incorporate more in their classrooms. I think both my paras would be capable of this type of support, but tend to get focused on the target student's needs and get too busy with them to work with other students.
Larrilee, I agree with you about not favoring the cooperative groups. In most of my experience the student in SPED learns bad habits of copying and not engaging during cooperative work. I also have found that if a child needs CONSIDERABLE support in the classroom that you must remain fairly close or very little learning occurs. I move away and around as much as possible. However, “Quantity of Time” and “Quality of Instruction” really speak to me. I think we should capitalize on every minute. Our students have gaps; we need to help fill those gaps. At the same time, I am a strong advocate of independence not reliance. I try my best to strike a balance while being very conscientious of learning time and quality of engagement.
DeleteThis reminds me of my first teaching assignment. I taught fourth grade general ed. and decided to do cooperative groups. They got one paper for the assignment and the four of them had to do it together and would all get the same grade. The groups were heterogeneous with one high achieving student, one low achieving student and two average achieving students. Rather than one or two students doing all of the work while the others sat and watched, the students all had their own opinion of how the paper should be completed. The lesson I learned as a new teacher was that cooperative learning works for some, but not all. Education is not a "cookie cutter" one size fits all process.
DeleteEvery day our paras run into students who do not want help from adults. One way they deal with it is to help the "group" or table. This will sometimes help. Other times, if the student is persistent, I tell my paras to back off and let them try. Sometimes we're surprised and sometimes students realize they DO need help.
DeleteThe best way I've found to handle a student who refuses help is to give them choices. Sometimes I just say, ok, let me know if you need any help, then I go around the classroom. I have one student in particular who really hates to be singled out and does not like to be forced in to anything. One day, I put a sticky note on his desk that told him I was going across the hall to help another student with the study guide and asked if he would like to come. I put the note on his desk and walked away. He answered by saying he didn't know but probably not. He motioned for me to come over, I picked up the note and moved on. I wrote back that if he changed his mind he was more than welcome to come over. A few minutes later, I was at the printer and he came over and said, "so, I have to go with you?" I said, no, of course not, but you are more than welcome to come. The next thing you know, he was more than happy to come with us. Another day, the same kid was starting to write his notes wrong (because he wasn't listening to instructions!) I bent down to whisper that he needed to be sure and skip lines, when he got mad, bent over and covered up his paper. I walked around to the kid across the table from him and said, Hey could you remind him that he needs to skip lines so he has room to write his definitions? The kid kind of looked at me funny, but he leaned over and reminded my student. My student said ok, erased what he had and started over.
ReplyDeleteThose are some examples of how I give choices. They seem to work but you have to come up with them as the situation arises. Neither of those were planned in advance but I've told my para to think of situations and how she could give choices that really sound like choices, not punishments.
The note approach was first introduced to me in one of Mike Burnett's presentations. The note empowers the student, provides a choice, draws less attention, and is less intimidating. Thanks for the reminder of this strategy.
DeleteI like cooperative learning activities most of the time. A few that I think work well are Numbered Heads Together and Think, Pair, Share. I like the number heads together, because every student must be ready with an answer, so they at least have to listen to the groups discussion. If his number is called, he needs to be ready to answer the question. This keeps them engaged and listening, at least most of the time. Think, pair, share allows them to get up and move around, listen to other answers and practice speaking. I don't really do much except monitor while these groups are going on. For para purposes, I like the multilevel instruction. I like the way the book has two forms for two different level of students. This darn book makes everything look so easy. Why can't I think of any of these things?
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention Think, Pair, Share I would agree that I like that cooperative learning strategy. I used it when I taught in regular education. I have not seen any teachers use it in our elementary building. The core standards require higher level thinking and problem solving. Therefore, maybe the cooperative learning strategy Think, Pair, Share will relive popularity with the new standards.
DeleteRae Lynn,
DeleteI have not heard of Numbered Heads Together. What exactly is this and how does that work? I like where every student has to be ready to give an answer part. I think it would keep kids on their toes.
Small,cooperative groups are a great place for paras to make modifications for our students. I am going to share the learning groups example from page 55 with my paras over lunch this week. Every week our students participate in cooperative group acitivites during science or social studies. My paras often help groups of students in think, pair, share activities. Most of the students can get involed with the paras guiding them as well as keeping them on topic/task. With the paras leadership, the activities can function at every kids level.
DeleteHow would you make the multilevel instruction work in the regular classroom? I have to work with 6 different teachers and there is only one of me and two paras. How do you get that going in the classroom and keep it going without spending a ton of hours after work modifying assignments? What do you do when the teacher is not cooperative or doesn't give your her plans or assignments? Just curious--I like the concept, but need help getting it to work!
ReplyDeleteOur multi-leveled tier approach was initiated and coordinated through our principal. A brief explanation is that first grade has Tier II time at 9:00 for thirty minutes. This team of people are available as “teachers “ of a small group: as many as three district paras, Title I teacher, At-Risk/ELL teacher, two first grade teachers, and a SPED and maybe a SPED para. The SPED teacher is only on the team if there are SPED students in that grade. I am responsible for K-6 SPED and I have one para. Some years our building had a SPED population that required four paras and two SPED teachers! To continue the example, maybe second grade has Tiers at 9:30. So… the team rolls out the red carpet and the students “walk about” to the rooms where the group meets. SPED students are not the only students walking to another learning location. How nice! They “look” like everyone else.
DeleteI think paras and IR teachers need to establish themselves as part of a classroom. In the early primary levels this is easy. Usually we are involved in center activities and may have one or two we are responsible to complete. The sped students go from center to center and get assistance from teacher if she is close or by para/IR, if she is close. We are part of the room. We back off when center time is something that is independent, house center for example. We work with speds in small groups when needed and back off, but watch and monitor to keep speds going. This early establishment helps later for students to feel we are just part of the class. The teachers I work with have overall done a great job of wanting and helping. IF a child wants the teacher, the teacher will do so. By not always being the delivery man, students are more willing to get assistance. Teacher assistance is helpful because our kiddos feel more part of the world. I don't get upset. If a students only wants me or
ReplyDeleteI like small group. Our school does reading through levels and that helps them be on track. But even non-leveled groups can offer each child a job that is on their level. Our classrooms have 16-24 in them. So really not too big, especially the 16-18 group. I agree with all that small groups are helpful for most of our kiddos.
Dot,
DeleteI agree that small groups are helpful for most our kiddos. I think that it allows them to be in a comfortable place where they can ask questions when they don't understand and lets the teacher/para help them without those kids feeling awkward for asking questions.
The best way we have noticed to help students in the upper elementary level is to help all students in the classroom not just the sped kids. We have has to several times tell the students that we can not help them until they have at least tried the problem or read the paragraph on their own. After several times of telling them they need to try first then they do and wqe help. Some times if my para has had to help the kids with the same problem she lets the classroom teacher know so that the classroom teacher can go over the problem or adjust lesson plans to match the student needs.
ReplyDeleteI like do cooperative groups the best. This way every student has to do something and participate. Yet if the students is not sure what to do they have guidance from other students and the teacher/para. However things are different this year and we are doing a lot of small ability level groups within the classrooms in reading. So we are doing less cooperative groups and more focus on skills learning by direction of the teacher/para.
I agree that the best way to help older kids is by helping everyone in the classroom and not singling one particular student out or doing their work for them. When you do that other kids notice. One day my son came home from school and wanted to know how he could get a para like one boy in his class had. It seems the para was only helping that student and was basically doing his work for him. He thought that this looked like a pretty good deal. Paras have to be mindful when they are in the classroom not to enable kids to be too dependent on them.
DeleteThere have been several times when students say they don't want any help from the paras. They are in middle school and they may feel like they are being judged or labeled if they're getting extra help. So, like Carol, they are given a chance to work independently, and I won't intervene unless their work is suffering. Some of them may want the help for certain assignments/tests, but not for others. I leave it up to them and the teacher as long as they are doing okay on their own. It is good for the students to learn self-advocacy.
ReplyDeleteSome teachers will do CWC (class within a class) where the para pulls a small group to the back, but some teachers like more control. I think it's good when it can happen.
ReplyDeleteOn page 60, the book discusses skill reinforcement. I assign paras to this type of small group instruction often. Within my class, I can't teach every lesson at once because I have 6 kids doing 4 different lessons within a class time. I will often teach one lesson while my paras are doing skill reinforcement. My students that are in class for math, but have difficulty with some abstract concepts get extra drill and practice with activities that reinforce the skills that are more dificult and may put them behind the other kids in math class. At the same time, another para will reinforce spelling rules the kids are learning this week (and not studying at home) by doing activities like vocabulary and dictation or Thinking Maps. This frees me up to concentrate on teacning skills and utilizes the paras to help the kids acquire skills they need more time to master.
ReplyDeleteOther times, my paras are in the regular classroom with a small group at the back table helping our kids (and maybe one or two others) drill and practice math facts if they are stuck on a certain level. They will take the Addition or Times Table the Fun Way stories to the classroom and use it there. The kids like that others are back there with them, however sometimes they still don't like being pulled to the back. Sometimes being pulled to the back can be an incentive to study math facts a little more so they don't have to go to the back table with the para.