Many students with learning issues have great difficulty in math.  Not only does math have its own language, but it also uses reading, perceptual, memory and processing skills to complete tasks. In order to address students’ math needs, paraeducators need to have a wide range of knowledge covering multiple issues.

What people fear, they tend to avoid. Paraeducators, the majority of whom are females, are often less comfortable with math than with other subjects. When paraeducators  assist students, they often begin the session dealing with those subject areas with which they are more comfortable.  As a result, there may not be enough time to deal adequately with math.  Thus the area of greatest need may often get the least attention.

If paraeducators are to be effective in assisting students with math, it is imperative that they have additional training.  Paras need to fully understand the complexities of math disabilities. Moreover, they need to be taught practical, easy to use strategies which will address students’ math needs.  Only when paras feel more comfortable with math and have adequate resources at their fingertips, will they be able to maximize student achievement.

The problem might be exacerbated by the fact that you have the blahs too!  Best advice:  get over it?  No, communicate it!  When you recognize mid-year lethargy in your students, let them know that you get it.  Spend some time identifying the “symptoms” and do some brainstorming of the causes.  Knowing that other people feel the same goes a long way toward developing a coping strategy.

As is so often the case, the way you confront the issue sets the stage for your students who are always watching you.  Talking about the blahs is good, but in addition, you can model ways to fight them.   From having a mid-morning nutritional snack to planning something fun for the weekend or making plans for summer vacation, modeling proactive behaviors helps students develop their own strategy for beating the blahs.

Now might be a good time to revisit and renew September goals.  Assuming a guide-on-the-side role, steer students toward assessing and revising their goals for the school year. Working through goal assessment with peers gets students looking ahead and might motivate them to get back on track with schoolwork.  If your students never set goals for themselves in September, take advantage of the “blahs” to show how setting goals is a way of taking control of their lives!

Author:
Beth Sugg, Co-Founder
Literacy Education and Resource Network (LEARN)
Beth’s bio
email: bsugg@learnwebsite.com

Fortunately, resources abound for teachers: website articles, books, workshops, collegial groups.  But what about the support staff who work with students, often one-on-one? What resources exist for preparing paraprofessionals for the challenge of the Common Core Standards?

Paraprofessionals are important members of the educational team.  They support teachers by helping students. So it follows that paraeducators need professional development opportunities that teach them strategies to best help struggling students meet these high standards.

However, paras often receive less training than teachers and studies have shown that rich and interactive training provides them with strategies that  help improve student performance.

Paraeducators are the “guides on the side” who work closely with learning disabled students, and because of this working relationship, they can have  significant influence on student confidence and performance.

If students are to meet the Common Core Standards, districts must recognize the critical importance of ongoing training for these staff members who play an integral role in the educational community.

LEARN offers the following ten terrific tips for getting the 2012-2013 school year off to a strong start:

• Assume the role.  You are in charge; you are the leader.  Display positivity and enthusiasm and many students will catch it!
• Greet students at the door of the classroom every single day.  Greeting time is incredibly useful for setting a positive tome and giving reminders and encouragement.
• Learn students’ names and use them.  This simple habit works for people of all ages.  We feel more positive toward people who know our name.
• Show genuine interest in each student.  Listen and learn about their interests, likes and dislikes.  Often young people complain that adults don’t listen to them.  Be one who does.
• Share as much as you are comfortable sharing.   Family, pets, travels, sports, hobbies – this information makes you real…and interesting.  Students with similar interests will relate and you just might encourage a new interest in someone.
• Organize, organize, organize.  A place for everything from workbooks to supplies to announcements.”Everything in its place” provides structure and reliability to students.  A regular routine for starting the day or the class is the best way to train students and use time wisely.
• Decorate the room with significant and meaningful posters and signs and change them regularly.  Create a bulletin board for posting interesting and relevant articles and photos.
• Post a large calendar in full view and use it to show students how to plan ahead and budget time.  Mark test dates, school holidays, project due dates and other events of importance and interest.
• To make homework count, count homework!  From day one, send the message that homework is an important part of schoolwork.  It can be checked and corrected in a variety of ways from collecting, to pair-share checking to large group checking.
• Love what you do.  Kids know when a teacher really cares and your investment in them is a powerful motivator.

Always remember you are helping to shape the future, so be terrific from day one!

Parents may suddenly realize that their child’s behavior needs some work. What can parents do about it?  LEARN has a few suggestions that can help.

Not surprisingly, the parent- child relationship is one of the most important influences on behavior.  Unless parents have a solid connection with their children, it becomes impossible to successfully manage their behavior.  Children do what their parents say primarily because they care what they think.  Working on a strong relationship will have lasting and positive results.

When a child misbehaves, he is testing to see how far he can push.  A solution for this misbehavior is to offer consistent direction, discipline and consequences.  Patience, firm discipline and consistency prove to be some of the most effective strategies for behavior management.

Studies show that active listening sets a good example for children and makes them feel valued.  Parents ask their children to listen and must remember to model that behavior themselves.  Active listening means making eye contact, and genuinely engaging in the conversation by leaning in and nodding the head.  Parents should also avoid interrupting, and pay attention to their facial expression and tone of voice.  Listening actively models a behavior that parents should encourage in their children – one they will use in school and in life.  This is a skill that results in more effective communication and respect for one another, and therefore, improved behavior.

Parents may make the mistake of trying to negotiate with children.  Instead, it is better to make a clear and firm decision so that children will soon learn that haggling doesn’t work.

Assign children appropriate chores and keep clear guidelines as to who will do what and when. Select one or two chores and be prepared that it will also take time to explain how to complete the task and follow up with calm reminders until they are completed.  Parents who share duties and chores with their children help build self-discipline, motivation and a sense of responsibility.

These few strategies will encourage greater self-control and discipline in children. Over  time, patience, consistency, care and concern will improve behavior.

Raising the standards is an appropriate responsibility of educators.  The CCS raise expectations in terms of life-long learning skills as well as workplace skills:  literacy, technology, communication, critical thinking, and numeracy to identify a few.  It’s all good, as long as students with special needs receive the corresponding appropriate specialized instruction, accommodations and support they need to be successful.

In order for that to happen, the principal players must be equipped to ensure maximum participation of students with special education needs.  This requires the ongoing developing of skills and knowledge as well as reliable and constant support.  Teachers must be able to develop IEPs that accurately identify the grade-level standards and the instruction that will meet the stated IEP goals.  Assessment must be valid and ongoing and the skill to scaffold instruction effectively is crucial.

Paraeducators must be knowledgeable about the social and academic skills needed for success.  More focus must be placed on helping paras develop strategies for supporting students, particularly those standards in reading, math and communication.

Parents need to be knowledgeable about the standards confronting their children, grade-level goals and precisely how those goals are to be achieved.  They must be provided with specific strategies for helping with school work and understanding how instruction needs to be adjusted to reach the standard.

For special education, the most significant change of the Common Core Standards will be developing the knowledge and skills of teachers, parents and paraprofessionals so students with special needs will engage and succeed.

The primary interaction between parents and teachers occurs at parent-teacher conferences. For conferences to be effective, both parties must operate under the same rules.  They must come to the meeting prepared.  Teachers should bring grades, test data, and any other pertinent information they have about the student.  Parents need to plan for the meeting by talking with their children about any concerns, familiarizing themselves with the child’s work and developing a list of questions to ask the teacher.  Both teachers and parents need to make a conscious effort to listen to one another and truly understand what the other is saying.  They also must realize that each can learn from the other and each can teach the other something about the child.  Most importantly, parents must come to the conference with the belief that teachers are trained professionals and treat them as such.  And teachers need to understand that the parents want what is best for their child even if they go about the task inappropriately.  Too often teachers are blamed for the lack of their students’ success when, in fact, student success or failure depends on the partnership between parents and teachers.  Teachers tend to complain about the lack of support at home or grumble about parents not caring enough to help their children.

If parents love their children, why don’t they do more to help them by cooperating with and supporting teachers? One answer may be that many parents feel detached from the school and educational process.  Many others may be doing the best they can, but lack the skills needed to deal with issues which affect their children.

Both individual school districts and the Federal Government are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of parents in the educational equation.  Parent or Family Involvement Coordinators are now employed by a growing number of school districts with many positions being funded by Title I.  The involvement coordinator has many roles which may include developing a more family friendly environment in the school, educating staff to communicate with parents as equal partners, and implementing programs and activities designed to engage parents in improving student success.  The emergence of Parent Academies and Universities, and other parent education programs is also part of this trend.  Diverse topics such as parenting skills, helping children enjoy and improve reading, cyberbullying and conferencing skills are examples of parent program offerings.

Parent education and involvement programs give parents the knowledge and skills necessary to provide more effective guidance and support for their children.  The education of staff and parents facilitates the development of an effective parent-teacher partnership by fostering mutual respect and understanding, and improving the quality of communication between school and home.  As a result, both teacher and parent frustrations decrease, attention focuses solely on the student, and student achievement climbs.

It is also important that parents communicate honestly with their children about their strengths and interests, along with their weaknesses and areas of less interest.  This open dialogue helps parents adjust their academic expectations accordingly.  A flair for art should be encouraged, while disinterest in math may require a tutor along the way.

Helping students set goals can be a motivator for kids.  As adults, we have learned that goal-setting turns expectations from ideas into reality.  Sitting together and developing a plan for accomplishing a goal can be a rewarding experience for both parent and child.  It’s advisable to begin with short-term goals.  Raising the score on a spelling test is achievable and measurable.  Work out a step-by-step plan of practice and study to raise the test score.  When a child sees results, goal-setting becomes a powerful tool!

Parents should be encouraged to discuss a child’s learning style with the classroom teacher.  Understanding whether a child is an auditory, kinesthetic or visual learner can make a significant difference in achievement.  Children are motivated when parents and teachers understand and support their individual learning styles.

A final word about praise and encouragement.  While it is important to acknowledge a job well done, it is not necessary, nor is it advisable to lay on the praise for every small achievement.  Research studies demonstrate that it can even have a negative reaction.  Use praise in moderation when it is genuinely deserved.

How did we come to this current movement for reform? In 1996, U.S. governors and corporate leaders founded Achieve, INC., a bi-partisan organization with goals to raise academic standards and graduation requirements, to improve assessments, and to strengthen accountability in all 50 states.

In 2002, No Child Left Behind became the response to this call for education reform. However, a decade later, this movement seems to have become stuck in assessment paperwork and an overall failure to thrive.

The initial motivation for the development of the Common Core State Standards was part of the American Diploma Project (ADP) sponsored by The Education Trust, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, and Achieve, Inc. In 2004, the ADP released new graduation benchmarks in response to statistical analysis of employment data and extensive research involving faculty members postsecondary institutions, front-line managers, and high school educators. In a nutshell, the analysis clearly indicated that students are not entering the world of college and career with the knowledge base and skills needed to compete and succeed. The 2004 benchmarks clearly identified the English and math that graduates must master to succeed in credit-bearing college courses and high-performance, high-growth jobs.

Fast forward to 2012. Charged with the responsibility to prepare our students, educators throughout the country are deciphering and responding. Some are wary of the Common Core Standards having been disappointed by assessment trumping reforms with No Child Left Behind. Others are confused about what needs to change and what needs to be continued. And still others are simply not convinced that the Common Core Standards will create the outcomes needed.

Regardless of how we weigh in on current reforms, the bottom line is the same for one and all. In common, we must establish education standards that will develop the core skills required for successful competition in the 21st century global marketplace!

We welcome your thoughts on the subject.

For students who need more support, include:
- less difficult independent reading
- materials based on the average reading level of the participants
- sparse text, graphic aids
- low level of abstraction, as concrete as possible
- fewer steps to complete the assignment
- convergence on right answers to solve problems
- knowledge and comprehension levels of thinking for independent work
- supportive strategies (graphic organizers or teacher prompting) to help students infer and draw conclusions

For average students, include:
- independent reading materials from the textbook or other on-grade level sources
- concrete concepts to help students transition to more abstract concepts
- questions or problems that are a mix of open-minded and “right answers”
- more steps
- opportunities to infer and draw conclusions with less teacher support; teacher should count on being on hand if necessary to prompt students in this area.
- assurance that students can be successful with knowledge, comprehension and application on their own, and that with help, they can address some of the high levels of thinking

For advanced learners, include:
- reading materials from more complex and lengthy sources
- abstract concepts as much as possible and use of open-ended questions exclusively
- opportunities for students to infer and evaluate
- the assumption that students have knowledge, comprehension and application abilities, and that they will be challenged only if you ask them to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate.

While these tasks take some time to develop, the results allow learners to be challenged at their own readiness levels which increase motivation and engagement in the classroom.

Author:
Christina Fenton
Literacy Education and Resource Network (LEARN)
Christina’s bio