Managing Paraprofessionals

above: A 'task bin' that is explained at the beginning of the year or joining the room.  Since you can expect the unexpected this tool helps get things done when multiple people have varying and unscheduled down time.  I typically put post it notes like, "8 copies front and back, laminate, cut".  That way items can be crossed off and placed in next section without being left somewhere around the room and find an easier bites sized route to completion.

So You Have Paraprofessionals and Had Limited Training on Utilizing them.  Now What?

When I completed my undergraduate degrees for education I came away with a lot of knowledge for how to bring others to my learning objectives.  Despite not having human resource classes I gradually learned that I could leverage my educating skills to help support paraprofessionals as well.

I have worked with so many lovely paraprofessionals.  Some years having only one, one year having 4, and many years having 3.  Sometimes I also had an observations student or student teacher.  Lots of adults can get messy so having some strategies for guidance and communication are imperative.

I would like to advocate for a few simple things here such as a running your room a bit like a project manager, coaching towards zone defense and building skills based on needs of students AND interests of paraprofessionals.

Firstly, if you have every worked in a self contained special needs classroom with high intensity students you are aware that stressors occur each moment.  Teachers, paras and probably students are always regulating.  So if you can reduce the stress in any way then that would be beneficial for your  team.  Having scheduled times where all of you are together at the start of your day can allow for important communication to be had rather than giving info 'on the fly'.  It is also an opportunity for everyone to hear the same message.  Most of us are familiar with the game of telephone and so having the messages directly reduces misunderstanding and potential conflict.  A short 10 minute time would be all that would be needed on the daily.  However also schedule some collaboration time (preferably all together to prevent misinformation and waste of the valuable resource of time) to review student goals and focus areas in the room.  When multiple adults work together we can all come in with our own goggles and filters.  By directly stating the focus and modeling concepts on specific actions you will see more student growth.  Especially if done all together so paras have time to pose thoughts, insights and questions.  This strategy of dedicated collaboration time (without students but with WHOLE team) is incredibly beneficial.  Get your admin on board.  I could write several posts on just this topic but for now I will end with making sure you have a good communication board as well.  A quick reference so everyone knows the game plan for the day and an area where written communication can be shared without interrupting others in their work (reducing attention shifts = less stress). 

Maintaining the zone.  I have always positioned my paras in a zone defense attitude.  This means that although yes some students may get along with one para better than others, but I do not only assign that para to them all day everyday.  This would set the student and the class team up for failure.  If that para is absent or has to quit it can be an extremely emotional experience that could have been reduced if we had built the student to be a bit more flexible.  With the zone defense philosophy it also means that any para can shift into a station, activity, student support and have the tools to feel competent.  Which again is why the above collaboration is important.  Time to coach and review practices is needed and it just makes so much more sense to teach everyone together (differentiate later if necessary, and in your career it will be necessary to differentiate for paras).  Once everyone can play all positions then the main repeating assignments are made with strengths in mind, but I always aim to rotate each para working with each student for some part of time in the week to keep rapport in tact.  This definitely reduces major break downs on days with absences.  If you have a paraprofessional that balks at an activity or a student, hear them and consider the information as formative assessment for what they can learn next but maintain your expectation of having them prepared to support the team when a leg is removed.  For this, that collaboration piece is imperative and perhaps you could work with admin to get a few days before school, or an inservice time here or there to support this.  In my recent district there was an early release day that made much sense to keep paras there and have a longer collaboration time at least once a month. 

Lastly, lets face it.  Paraprofessionals rarely come in with all necessary skills to start the job with absolute efficient and pertinent information.  How can they?  Each student is so unique. That means you have an opportunity to support them as well with new learning.  At the beginning of the year you can simply ask what they would be most interested in learning more about.  Possibly this question would be after reviewing students/processes.  Even though you'll be coaching all the students/processes this allows for you to attend to them as an individual and provide them resources to support their specific curiosity.  This may be by finding them an article, video or give them time to observe or meet with another person in the district.  As the year begins you'll be doing some formative assessments as well.  What strategies need more coaching, is there a student need that needs more understanding developed behind it?  You can add small learning moments (very small for your morning stand up) for your collaboration times.  I have recorded myself many times using a strategy and will share with others and have even offered to let the para record themselves for self reflection.  Basically it comes down to supporting the paras so they have the confidence to achieve and then the opportunity to be successful.  This will make a world of difference in your room.  It can even help with poor attitudes because they usually come down to an unconscious perceived ego attack or lack of confidence.

Paraprofessionals are great.  I cannot stress that enough so we need to take care of them.  They certainly are not paid enough in my opinion which I have laid in print or stated verbally so often.  We can work to take care of them by alleviating stress and building confidence.  Sprinkle on top of that genuine acts of appreciation, opportunities for humor and play and your team will see an amount of success that you may not have expected.