Reflection

A parent of a special education student attends the same aerobics class as you, the paraeducator, do. The parent repeatedly asks about the child's progress at school.

Parents have a right to obtain information about their child but paraeducators should refer parents to the supervising teacher for information about their children.

As a paraeducator in the classroom, you feel that the supervising teacher exhibits poor teaching skills and that the classroom lacks organization. You don't feel comfortable discussing this with the teacher so you want to go directly to the school administration with the concerns.

It is sometimes difficult to discuss classroom strategies with a supervising teacher. Before going to the school administration with concerns you should make every effort to discuss your concerns with the teacher. You may have to use some good communication skills to avoid a conflict. Remember, the overall responsibility for the classroom rests with the teacher.

A paraeducator has the responsibility of transporting and supervising three students doing work experience in a local home. In an effort to try to simulate some training in the classroom, the paraeducator writes an extensive task analyses of each students work. The paraeducator then plans and creates additional activities to be used for instruction.

This is not fair for the student, the paraeducator or the teacher. It is asking the paraeducator to carry out responsibilities which are reserved for the teacher. The teacher should take the responsibility to evaluate and plan the instructional activities. The paraeducator may contribute information and work with the teacher to develop and deliver activities, but these should be under the supervision of the teacher.

The paraeducator and the teacher need time to discuss the behavior problems that Tommy is having in the classroom. The paraeducator is scheduled and paid only to be there when the children are in the classroom.

In order to be effective and to have the necessary supervision the teacher and the para must have time for planning and discussion. The teacher and the para should make some arrangement to meet. This sometimes requires some creative ideas and shuffling of schedules. The teacher and the paraeducator should also work to make the school administration aware of the need for adequate planning time.

You work with a small group of paraeducators who always sit together during lunch. They usually discuss the problems and mistakes that their supervising teachers have made that morning.

This is not a good thing.

You feel that some of the strategies that the teacher is using with a student are doing more harm than good. The child seems to be coming to class very upset. You've heard the teacher say that the child just needs to be tougher.

Discuss your concerns with the teacher. Ask the teacher to explain why they think the strategy will work. Offer to help collect data to evaluate the strategy.

The teacher asks the paraeducator to contact parents about discipline problems that have occurred during the day.

Paraeducators should not be asked to contact parents about discipline problems that have occurred during the day. These should be discussed with the teacher or school administrator.

You have become a "good buddy" to several of the high school students. They ask you if you would like to party with them.

Although, you want to establish a positive rapport with students, you must maintain your professional role with students. You should be model and a representative of the school. You should never "party" with your students.

The school secretary seems to be a good source of information about many of the students in the school. He seems to have considerable information on their families as well. You and the secretary discuss a specific student's problems during lunch.

Information about students is protected by confidentiality laws. Unless you have a legitmate education purpose within the school you should not discuss individual students. You should rely only on documented verified information about students.

A student who in the ESL program (English as a Second Language) is having some problems in the math class. The teacher says she thinks the student is a gang member and that if the rules are strictly enforced the student might drop out of school, eliminating the problem.

The teacher's responsibility is to establish the classroom rules and the behavior management plan. You can assist the teacher by carrying out the plan and collecting information on its effectivenesss. You should not use behavior management as a tool to harass or discriminate against a student. You should let the teacher know that you do not wish to do this. If the problem continues you may need to talk to the school administrator.

The teacher asks you, the paraeducator, to go to the office to obtain a student's cumulative record folder.

Paraeducators, as employees of the school, may have access to confidential information about students and may have access to the student's cumulative folder. In Nebraska, school employees are required to have participated in training on confidentiality issues and follow proper procedures. You would become responsible for seeing that the information remained confidential.

The teacher asks you to help a student with their social studies assignment. After looking at the lesson you are not sure that you know enough about the subject to help the student.

Part of your job be include learning what the student's need to learn. The special education teacher may also be doing this if they are assisting a student in a content area class. You should feel free to ask the teacher for resources and assistance prior to when you need to work with the lesson.

You are attending a church social. One of the prominent members is sitting at your table. You hear them say: "I don't think that they should be wasting all that money on programs for those handicapped children, they won't amount to anything anyway. My child is in the gifted program and there is never enough money".

You should consider yourself a representative of the school and an advocate for students with disabilities. Let them know why you think the special education program is valuable. Do not discuss specific students, though.

The teacher is required to attend a professional meeting. The paraeducator is left in charge of the students rather than employing a substitute.

This is inappropriate. A teacher should always be responsible for the classroom. Sometimes paraeducators have a teachers certificate but are working as paraeducators. If this is the case, the paraeducators should be hired for the day as a substitute teacher