Even the most amazing special education teacher can’t do their job without the support of a super paraprofessional. Most paraprofessionals are deeply committed to the work they do. They are always eager to learn and support students. That said, they rarely have the necessary support for their professional development. In this blog post, I share five ways to support paraprofessionals at the start of the school year.
1. Start of the School Year Meeting
The start of the school year is pivotal to reviewing procedures and setting clear expectations, laying the foundation for a successful year ahead. By getting the nuts and bolts out of the way, you and your team can focus the school year on supporting your students. This is also an excellent opportunity to get to know your paraprofessionals more personally. This meeting will build rapport within your team, align team values, and help you understand what support everyone needs.
2. Meet Regularly
A consistent meeting schedule is critical to maintaining momentum for a successful school year. These meetings provide opportunities for the team to remain up-to-date on student performance and changes in IEPs or at home, and they also give paraprofessionals space to air any grudges and ask questions.
3. Visuals & Cheatsheets
The same way presenting information in multiple modalities supports student learning is the same way we can support paraprofessionals in your classroom. I keep written documentation of all the information covered in our meetings. This includes paraprofessional expectations, schedules, student/diagnosis cheatsheets, and a copy of my emergency sub plan. This documentation is housed in the paraprofessional binder and is available for my paraprofessionals to access whenever needed. Additionally, this binder comes in handy when there is a change in staff or even a substitute paraprofessional.
4. Co-run Stations with Each of Your Paraprofessionals
Paraprofessionals are part of the instructional team in effective special education classrooms. They run supplementary stations alongside the classroom teacher for a small group of students. However, paraprofessionals need training to run the stations and collect data with fidelity. At the start of the school year, I co-run stations with each of my paraprofessionals. This way, I can show and train them on how to use the interventions and collect data. To set your paraprofessionals up for success, spend a day or two to model how to run the station to your expectations, and then watch them for another day or two while they fine-tune their skills. This process may take a couple of weeks, depending on how many paraprofessionals you have in your classroom. But trust me, your future self will thank you!
5. Training for Paraprofessionals
Your school district’s Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) often offers training or even training series for special education paraprofessionals. Work with your site administrator at the start of the school year to identify these training opportunities so paraprofessionals can find coverage to attend them. From personal experience, site administrators are often willing to work with you on safeguarding these learning opportunities for paraprofesionals to grow their toolbox. Additionally, various free resources are available online to support paraprofessionals’ learning. I have used articles and videos from Understood.org when developing training for paraprofessionals in my classroom and at the district level.
Simply Special Ed also offers a training binder for special education classrooms. You can find the paraprofessional binder here and edit it with your classroom information to make it customized to your caseload, this allows a new para or substitute to have something to review when they first come to your classroom.
Learn more about the Paraprofessional Binder here.
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