Strategies for Students in Inclusive Settings

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Strategies for Students in Inclusive Settings

• PaTTAN Paraeducator Training Videoconference
• October 14, 2004

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Email Your Questions to

• Para_at_pattan.k12.pa.us

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Technical Difficulties

• If you are having technical difficulties call
• 1-814-542-2501
• extension 133

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Local Policy

• Your local districts policies regarding
  paraeducator job descriptions, duties, and
  responsibilities provide the final word!

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Paraeducator Development Plan Menu(to be used in
conjunction with Paraeducators Personal
Development Plan)
Directions This menu is a tool for you to use as
you progress through the Paraeducator Course.
Whenever you come across topics about which you
would like more information, place a checkmark
next to the topic and indicate in the Notes
column any specifics (for example, in 1 indicate
which disability). For each topic checked make an
entry in the Paraeducator Personal Development
Plan.
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Paraeducator Development Plan
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Agenda

• Review of learner outcomes
• Inclusion why and where
• Role of paraeducator in inclusive settings
• Strategies for paraeducators in inclusive
  settings

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Learner Outcomes

• Participants will
• List the benefits of including students with
  disabilities in general education classes and
  activities.
• Discuss the various roles of paraeducators.
• List practical strategies for successful
  inclusion of students with disabilities.

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Inclusive Settings Why?

• Education
• Not a place, but a process
• Occurs in and out of classrooms
• Designed to benefit all students
• Inclusive education
• Welcomes all students, regardless of ability
• Provides the supports needed to succeed

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Inclusive Settings Where?

• Preschool classrooms
• K-12
• Schoolwide locations
• Core academic classes
• Art, Music, Library, Computer class
• Cafeteria, Recess, etc.,
• Related community locations

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Inclusive Settings Legal Basis

• Requirements of IDEA 97 (Individuals with
  Disabilities Act)
• Access to the general education curriculum
• Least restrictive environment to the maximum
  extent appropriate, children with
  disabilitiesare educated with children who are
  not disabled
• May require supplementary aids and services

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Inclusive SettingsBenefits/Research

• Gains in academic and social skills
• Improved attendance
• Increased comfort with and awareness of human
  differences
• Higher post-secondary employment rate
• Cost effectiveness of educational program

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About Inclusive Settings

• Varied settings and types of support
• Access to the general education curriculum
• Decision making by team, including regular and
  special education teachers and others
• Roles that might differ from other settings

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Paraeducators Rolesin Inclusive Settings

• Be familiar with individual programs
• Facilitate interaction with peers
• Facilitate learning and participation
• Promote increased independence
• Communicate with team regarding student

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For the Paraeducators Bag of Tricks
Roles and Strategies

• Ten Tips from Paraeducator Training
• Use it to jot down strategies you hear today.

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Fulfilling these roles Strategies for
Paraeducators

• Be familiar with individual programs
• Facilitate interaction with peers
• Facilitate learning and participation
• Promote increased independence
• Communicate with team regarding student

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Be familiar with students individual programs
Paraeducator role 1

• IEP goals
• Supports and specially designed instruction
• General education curriculum

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Becoming familiar with students individual
programs
Paraeducator role 1

• Find out about the IEP
• Goals/objectives
• Specially designed instruction
• Behavior plan
• Ask questions of special education teacher and
  others
• What works best? When? What doesnt work?

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Activity Becoming familiar with students
individual programs

• Think about one student
• How much do you know about each of these
  components of your students plan?
• How important is this information to you in your
  job?
• How will you obtain this information?

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Components of the IEP

• Present levels of educational performance based
  on assessment results and team input, skill
  levels (e.g in reading, in math)
• Annual goals/objectives the student will in
  measurable terms
• Specially designed instruction Adaptations to
  the content or delivery of instruction.
• Supports for school personnel training for staff
• Behavior support plan goals, consequences

Thoroughly familiar .. Completely unfamiliar
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Becoming familiar with the General Education
Curriculum
Paraeducator role 1

• What is content?
• Are accommodations made for your student?
• Are modifications made for your student?
• Instructional activities are developed by general
  education and/or special education teacher.

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CurriculumWorksheet for Teams

• Planning tool for adapting concepts from the
  general curriculum
• Facilitates team agreement on language used in
  teaching
• Enhances opportunity for repetition, engagement,
  and correct responses from student by making the
  target learning explicit.

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Facilitate interaction with peers
Paraeducator role 2

• Arrange environment
• Child-specific intervention
• Peer-mediated intervention

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Facilitate interaction with peers
Paraeducator role 2

• Arrange environment
• Placement of desk/materials/locker
• Shared jobs/responsibilities
• Appealing task in proximity of peers.

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Interaction with peers
Paraeducator role 2

• Child-specific intervention
• Use of visual strategy or reminder that
  encourages child to ask for help
• Use of script What you can do when

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More interaction with peers
Paraeducator role 2

• Peer-mediated intervention
• Ask three then me
• Cooperative use of materials
• Group projects with roles
• Distribute materials. Brainstorm. Illustrate

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Facilitate student learning and participation
Paraeducator role 3

• Maximize time on task
• Encourage partnerships with peers
• Provide organizational supports

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Facilitate learning and participation
Paraeducator role 3

• Maximize useful time on task
• Its Not About MORE Time! Its About How We Use
  The Time We Have

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What we know about time on task
Paraeducator role 3

• Students learn when they are engaged actively in
  an instructional task
• The more responses students make, the more they
  learn.
• The more CORRECT responses they make, the more
  they learn.

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Engaging materials increase time on task!
Paraeducator role 3

• On reading materials
• Post-its, flags, arrows
• Erasable hi-liter, hi-liter tape
• On worksheets, workbooks
• Sheet protectors and wipe-off marker
• Colored transparencies
• Other ideas to enhance work
• Small white boards,
• Cool pens and pencils

Study this part!!!!
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Time engaged in learning
Paraeducator role 3

• An alternative to time off task
• Opportunities for breaks
• Expectation to return to task or related work
• Modified expectations
• Sequence of unrelated tasks.
• Building as classroom

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Encourage partnerships with peers
Paraeducator role 3

• Group success depends on members helping each
  other
• Games
• Learning jigsaw
• Peer editing/feedback

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Organizational supports
Paraeducator role 3

• Many students need structure and reminders to be
  successful
• Some strategies
• Assignment books
• Color coding
• Materials monitoring
• Timelines for completion of assignments

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Organizational Supports
Paraeducator role 3

• Schedules
• Structure the students day
• Provide predictability and clear expectations
• Can use pictures, symbols, text
• Use post its, white board, Boardmaker symbols

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Recognizing Key Points
Paraeducator role 3

• Preview important vocabulary before a lesson
• Provide discussion questions prior to the lesson
  so the student is focused on the important points
• Make the student aware of the teachers style for
  emphasizing important content

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Note Taking
Paraeducator role 3

• If a student has difficulty, you may want to try
• Giving the student a partial outline to complete
• Dividing the page, with key words written by the
  student on the left and details on the right
• Supplementing incomplete notes with a completed
  copy (photocopied from another student)
• Making reference to textbook pages in the
  students notes

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Test Taking
Paraeducator role 3

• To improve student access to the test, you may
  make accommodations such as
• Spacing the questions out on the test paper
• Putting the vocabulary term on a matching test in
  the column on the right, with the wordier
  definition on the left
• Breaking long lists of matching items into
  shorter lists

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Promote increased independence
Paraeducator role 4

• Allow students to create their own responses and
  academic work
• Allow time to respond/perform
• Fade supports
• Paraeducator videoconference
• Strategies for Helping Children Become
  Independent, January 25, 2005

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Communicate effectively with team
Paraeducator role 5

• Seek input/feedback
• Share concerns and observations
• Collect data

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More for the Paraeducators Bag of Tricks

• Ten Tips from Paraeducator Training
• Ten Tips for Paraeducators from Project
  Participate

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Wrap Up

• Complete the Paraeducator Development Plan

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Upcoming Paraeducator Trainings

• Videoconferences for 2004-2005
• Paraeducators Role in Mathematics Instruction
  December 14
• Paraeducators Role in Setting the Stage for
  Independence January 25
• Paraeducators Role in Reading and Language Arts
  Instruction April 27
• Videoconferences are presented at sites across PA
  and are scheduled from 4 to 530

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Upcoming Paraeducator Trainings

• Paraeducator Spring Seminar at a Hotel
• Location to be Determined
• April 1 and 2, 2005
• Topic Progress Monitoring
• PaTTAN Website www.pattan.k12.pa.us