By Anna Lou Pickett THE NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER IS CHANGING ITS NAME.During the latter half of the 20th century, several events took place that led to dramatic changes in our nation’s schools. To address critical shortages in the ranks of licensed teachers that began in the 1950s, a few schools began to employ “teacher aides” … Read more
The Demanding Classroom is a blog run by husband and wife team Sara and Richard Finegan and they have put together a great series of posts on paraprofessionals. You can view all of their paraeducator posts at this site, a few of which are highlighted below: What Are 10 Things a Paraeducator Can Do To … Read more
We recently came across a couple of stressful accounts from paras of their first day back from school: I’m a paraeducator for children. Today was our first day. I am praying for patience. Not with the kids. The kids are great. My stress levels are so high after this morning, that I have a horrible … Read more
One of the most popular posts on our site was a discussion started by a para from Sioux City, Iowa asking what paraeducators make in different states. The 100 replies to that question show that there is a lot of interest in that area. The entire article provides a great overview of the work that … Read more
Introduction to a great article by Richard Finegan:
I have a degree in journalism, a law degree, and am only a few hours short of being certified as a mild-moderate special education teacher. So why am I working as a para-educator/classroom aide?
His answer?
Wikipedia now has an entry titled Paraprofessional Educator that begins:
A paraprofessional educator, alternatively known as para-pros, instructional assistants, teacher’s aides or classroom assistants, is a teaching-related position within a school generally responsible for specialized or concentrated assistance for students in elementary and secondary schools.
Does this sound right? Sensitivity and patience are key assets. Watch the video below for more:
Linda Mariotti was our keynote speaker this morning and gave a wonderful presentation titled, “Educating the Whole Child with 21st Century Skills” Educating the Whole Child for the 21st Century She discussed the differences between digital immigrants and digital natives and contrasted the skills of 20th century educators with those needed by 21st century educators. … Read more
Meet Jessica Dai (parent of a child with autism), Larissa Feng (social worker) and Sophie Xie (special educator), pioneers in promoting the important work of paraprofessionals in China. Their presentation was highlight of the State Leadership Meeting last night. They told us about two organizations- the Childrens Palace and the Special Parents Club in Guangzhou … Read more
The conference had begun and last tonight leaders from all over the country and world gathered here in Salt Lake City to discuss successes and challenges in their own states and countries, including three visitors from China. The last half of the meeting was spent going around the room to hear about good things that … Read more