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Welcome to our school and classroom,

You are amazing! You are welcome! You are needed! Your voice matters!

Welcome to our kookie, crazy, student loving classsroom. Your role as a paraprofessional is not an easy one, but a valued one. We will work together to colaborate and get to know eachother and our students.

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Special education has a mass amount of wording and acronyms, that can become very overwhelming. Here is a list of some of the most used. If you have any questions, feel free to discuss them with any of our team.

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The following is a list of terms used in special education. The definitions of these words are helpful to parents when reading reports, attending meetings, conferences, and/or talking with staff members who work with your child. Academic - Refers to subjects such as reading, writing, math, social studies, and science.…

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The Special Education Aide is responsible for providing support to students in a special education classroom environment. This role will assist teachers by providing individual and small group instruction, ensuring student safety, and helping to facilitate learning activities. The successful candidate promotes a positive learning environment and reports student progress to teachers and other school personnel as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Assist teachers by providing individual and small group instruction to special education students

Monitor student behavior to ensure safety and appropriate interactions

Facilitate learning activities, such as art, music, and physical education

Assist students with personal care needs, such as toileting, eating, and dressing

Support students with physical and medical needs

Report student progress to teachers and school personnel as needed

Provide positive and constructive feedback to students

Assist with classroom management and organization

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Important Proffessional Development trainings available to Parapros. Dates TBA

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Important Proffessional Development trainings available to Parapros. Dates TBA

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Basic CPR and First Aid

IEP Training

Professional Behavior

De-escalation Strategies

All About Disabilities

Lesson Modifications

Occupational Therapy Skills

Behavior Plans

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What time during your schedule is best for training opportunities? (all training(s) will be paid time in servince).

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Fridays between 9am and 4pm (4 day school week) 

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Internet available at my own time with a clear "finish by" date

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This Week's Article:

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Today's top tips we have outlined 10 ways teacher aides can make the most impact for students with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream classrooms.

How can I best support the student I work with?

1. Get to know the students

This sounds obvious, but it really is the most important thing! Get to know the specific students who you are supporting, and remember that no matter how much research you do into their disability or diagnosis, it will never tell you as much about them as just spending time with them and understanding their strengths and challenges will. Get to know the whole class too - you might be a 1:1 for a specific student , but make yourself part of the whole class - this can help the students feel more included in whole class activities, and support their independence and social development.

2. Find out more about the specific needs of the students you work with

Read the student's ILP ( Individual Learning Plan). Pay particular attention to what their individual targets are across all areas - they might not always be 'work' related, and your role is to support them with targets for things like communication or social and emotional development, just as much as the academic learning side. Make sure you are aware of any sensory needs, or things that may trigger them to become angry or upset. If there are other staff in school who have worked with the student before, then ask them for the advice of what they found worked well for that learner.

3. Build relationships with families

Students with a disability or diagnosis can find it more challenging to communicate about school with their families at home, and families may have more worries about their child. Ensure that there are good channels of communication with parents or carers - perhaps by filling in a daily diary or home school communication book. Always include something positive (even if it's been a difficult day!), and check each morning to see if there are any messages from parents or carers or the class teacher that you need to know about. Building up a positive relationship with families can help you to get to know the students better, and helps them to trust you.

4. Take the initiative

There may be times when the work seems to be too challenging for the student you are supporting. Remember that what is important is that they are learning, not that they 'get the work done. Don't be tempted to help them so much that it's not really their work anymore. If it's too hard, break it down into smaller steps. Visual aids are always a great way to support the child. Spending all of the lessons on the first step today might mean that they are more confident and able to have a go at a similar task next time. Don't be afraid to take the initiative and alter the task to make it accessible for the student if that's what is needed.

5. Encourage independence

This is really important

HOW TO ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO BECOME INDEPENDENT LEARNERS

Provide students with time to self-monitor. ...

Use questions to help steer students toward independent learning. ...

Be a model for your students. ...

Develop communication that focuses on learning. ...

Provide feedback on classwork and homework. ...

Encourage collaboration.

For older students with additional needs.. They'd all had 1:1 support at primary school, and although this is particularly important, with good clear instructions and visual aids so they can work towards independence. Some older students find it difficult to pay any attention to the whole class instructions, so use the visual prompts because they sometimes expect a Teacher Aide to come and tell them what to do. Some students (both younger and older learners) are extremely nervous about putting pen to paper without checking that it was right with an adult first. Some older learners miss the constant attention and will do whatever they can to get an adult to come and sit with them. None of these are good learning habits! They are also detrimental to self-esteem. Make sure that the students you support expect to be at least somewhat independent. If following whole class instructions is a challenge, then have visual prompts ready (e.g. for a now and next board), but don't put them in the right order. Get the student into the habit of listening to the teacher, and then ordering the prompts themselves.

Once you're sure that they understand the task, leave them to it! This might be just for a minute. Or, 10 minutes timer is great for these situations. Say that you will come back in 5 or 10 mins and then build the time up each day or week), depending on the student. It's important that they do at least some of the tasks themselves. If they really can't, then the task is too hard - break it down and make it easier.

6. Be conscious of your language use

It is extremely common for learners who have difficulties with working memory they can only store a small amount of information in their minds at one time. If you talk a lot, then this is going to make it challenging for them to remember the key bits of information that they need. Be conscious of your own speech. When you're giving an instruction, keep it short and clear.

Many learners with additional needs can only manage one or two step instructions. If you are asking questions, think about how abstract they are. Some students will only be able to understand your questions if they are concrete (e.g. 'what' or 'where' questions). This doesn't mean you can't practise understanding more complex language with them - it's great to try and develop this skill, but it needs to be done gradually and in a structured way, not in the middle of a lesson when you really need them to just understand the task that they are doing then and there. If the student you work with has input from a speech therapist, speak to them about the type of language and questions that you should be using.

7. Communicate with the class teacher

As a Teacher Aide you may well have a better idea of how well your child /children you support is progressing, what small steps they are making, and how independently (or not) they are able to complete the tasks they are being given in lessons than the class teacher does. It's important that you communicate this information. Perhaps you have a regular chance to meet with them - but time can be limited, so finding quick and easy ways to get this across can be essential.

This might be by scribbling a quick sticky note onto a piece of work to let the teacher know which bits they achieved and which bits they found challenging or having a marking system that indicates this. The best system I've seen for this was a stamp and ticks system - the Teacher Aide would put either 1, 2, or 3 ticks in the top corner of a piece of work - one for needed support throughout, 2 for limited support, and 3 for independent. This was aimed at communicating with the teacher, not the student. The students then received either 1,2 or 3 stamps for effort, which was a great motivator.

8. Be flexible

As a Teacher Aide, your role is to support the school and teacher in meeting the needs of students and sometimes for students whose needs might be different to those of the rest of their peers. Be creative, be flexible, and keep that in mind as your priority. If their behaviour becomes challenging in the afternoon, suggest to the teacher that you take them outside for a quick daily physical activity or short brain break before joining the rest of the class. If they are easily distracted, try using fidget toys during listening times. Remember that schools are required to make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of students with a disability or diagnosis so although being in the class joining in and following the rules and routines as peers is important, if being creative with routines and provisions can help them to access their learning, then it's to be encouraged!

9. Visuals, visuals, visuals!

I don't think I've ever worked with a student who didn't benefit from using visual prompts, and they can be adapted for any age and any need. A visual timetable is a must, and for many students breaking down each lesson into smaller chunks using a now and next board is also a must-do. This benefits the learner in lots of ways: firstly by getting around any potential difficulties with working memory, as the instructions are right there in a clear simple form; secondly by reducing anxiety for students who like to know what is going to happen next; thirdly by encouraging independence - using a list or planner is a great learning habit to get into for anyone, and reduces reliance on adult support, and finally as a motivator - you can often use something rewarding at the end to motivate the learner.

You can make timetables, now and next boards, or task planners using images or symbols (the Twinkl Symbols app is a great way to make them for free), or if your learners are confident readers then a simple written checklist can work just as well, as long as it is straightforward to understand. If you're trying to increase independence, then assigning each step of the task a time can be really effective - make sure they have adult time in the beginning to clarify the task and ensure understanding, then a set amount of time to work independently before an adult comes to check their work, give feedback, and make sure they know what to do next.

10. Show learning in lots of ways

Lessons in mainstream schools will often involve lots of writing, and writing can often be a big challenge for learners with additional needs. If this is the case with students you work with, then you might need to get creative about showing their learning in different ways. Of course sometimes writing is necessary, and it's a skill that should be practised frequently, but over reliance on writing to demonstrate learning can make some students feel like they 'can't do it', when really they can!

Not everything needs to be written - if they're coming up with ideas, try using other ways of recording them - use a voice recorder, scribe as the student talks, or get a group of students working together, with a confident writer assigned the role of scribe. Use drawings to make story maps to remember information (story maps aren't just for stories - try them in other topics too), and photograph and video practical activities - these can be used as a discussion prompt later and to remind them of previous learning while other students might be writing about it.

Write in short bursts, using sticky notes, mini whiteboards or other non-permanent methods - they take the pressure off. And alternate between using handwriting and a computer for longer written tasks - handwriting is an important skill but if fine motor skills are a challenge then a computer can ease the pressure on neatness, and students can focus on other aspects of their writing for a while.
We have a whole range of blogs to support Teacher Aides in thie roles
You can view our full range of Teacher Aide Resources here. To join our Twinkl Australia Teacher Aide Resources community, click here .

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Top 10 Tips for Teacher Aides: For Inclusion in the Classroom

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Teacher Aide Talk articles for TAs will provide top tips for a range of situations. Top 10 tips for inclusion in the classroom.

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Adaptations are a big part of helping our students reach thier goals. We have many tools available for your and student(s) use. If you do not see what you need, please let us know. We will do our best to make available these tools to help with success.