Educational
Support Professionals, also known as paraprofessionals, are a necessary part of
the educational staff. Though not licensed to teach, they provide support in
all areas of our school. There are ESPs that work in
the office, answering phones and doing clerical work, ESPs
that monitor the hallways and the lunchroom, ESPs
that work in Special Education, ESPs that work in the
media center, ESPs that attend the parking lot, ESPs who greet people at the entrances, and ESPs who work in the CRC, the ELL rooms, and literacy lab,
among others. They do a wide variety of work in order to help teachers and
administrators do their jobs. Without the Educational Support Professionals,
the school would be chaotic. They are involved in many of the daily
housekeeping functions for the 1500 students that go to
ESPs aren’t necessarily educated to
teach students, but require a High School Diploma, an in-school orientation,
and on the job training. This is because the ESPs
don’t teach classes, but help others to learn and do their best. Some ESPs need extra training, like those who work in healthcare
for example, but mostly they just need to have a good rapport with the students
and know what its like to work in a high school. Sometimes a new ESP finds that
the school environment is not for them and they leave. But many of
On Thursday, May 11th one of Park Centers own
"Para-Educators" took part in a Paraprofessional conference. Her name
being Ms. Barbara Pickett. The conference titled “Building the Future: One Student
at a Time” the 25th National Conference for Paraprofessionals. The conference
attendees totaled over 800 people from every state including
The conference was 3 full days starting on the 11th
of May. The conference activities included “key note” speakers, classes and in
depth group sessions. The reason Ms. Pickett attended was simply because she
saw the information about the event on the internet and felt called to attend.
Also, because she felt she had better attend while it’s being hosted locally.
Next year the event is scheduled to be hosted in
The information taught and discussed at the event
was focused on how to work better with students and teachers. One of the quotes
that stuck out for Ms. Pickett was “Be able to see the positive when the
person is at their worst.” One of the best aspects of this quote it is not
applicable only for paraprofessionals to use in their work. It can be used by
anyone in any situation.
One of the “key note” speakers that stood out to
Ms. Pickett was Dr. Jane Bluestein. Her session entitled “My Brain Doesn’t
Work Like That!” talked about how adults all learn and take in information
differently and how that is the same for students. Her session was a session on
how paraprofessionals can “help non-traditional learners”. The session went
into detail on learning styles and included tips on making accommodations to
student’s unique way of processing information.
Some methods or learning styles include “making
your consequences positive” and keeping the classroom new and interesting by
changing the seating chart and having physical lessons with objects. Motivation and follow-through by the ParaEducator keeps the focus on the positive by encouraging students to build on their strengths, thereby making learning personally meaningful. Dr. Jane Bluestein has a book also (that should be in the school
library next year) called "High School's Not Forever". It’s a book
aimed for students but teachers can certainly find helpful information also.
For
more information on this conference you can visit the NRCP (