W1 Discussion: What is a Paraprofessional?

Context: If more than one question, please respond to EACH of the following discussion topics and submit
them to the discussion forum as a single post.

Please introduce yourself in our discussion topic. Include your hobbies, professional experience, interests
and any other information you want us to know about you. In addition to introducing yourself, discuss one
area from the syllabus that either you are looking forward to learning more about or that you are familiar with
already.

In your own words why is there a need for paraprofessionals in the classroom?

Important Message: this is just a preview of the week one discussion. The
real discussion will be available for you to post the first day of class.

Week 2-8 Discussion Questions

W2 Discussion: Legal Considerations for Paraprofessionals

Context: Tying your responses back to the required readings is essential and implies that you are grasping
the information covered. If more than one question, please respond to EACH of the following discussion
topics and submit them to the discussion forum as a single post.

There are many laws that have shaped the educational system within the United States. With that being
said understanding the needs of children across the spectrum from talented and gifted to those with
disabilities that may require service to assist in their educational attainment. There are many different types
of learning styles federal funding is given to support Title I programs. Within Title I paraprofessionals
provides the guidelines for instructional staff.

What are your thoughts on the different disabilities covered under IDEA?
In your opinion, do you feel this law hit or missed the mark when identifying exceptional learners?
(Be sure to look at intellectual, physical, emotional, psychosocial needs as well as society factors)
Pick one of the laws mentioned in chapter 10 and describe how it has helped the paraprofessional
community.

Follow up postsRespond to a peer that picked a different law than you.

W3 Discussion: Effective Instruction

Context: There is an effective instructional cycle that talks about the need for students to have the
prerequisite skills prior to learning a new task. This includes students being able to answer questions who
have different instructional needs. Ability versus performance looks different across the country. There are
many reasons for this, including resources, curriculum, and community/school expectations.

From your experience is there are a gap between Ability and Performance as it relates to common core
instruction if so, where is the disconnection? (Be sure to look at diversity).

Follow up posts: Make at least two thoughtful responses to your fellow students posts.

W4 Discussion: Making Classroom Time Count

Context: Many say time is the most valuable resource; this is especially true in the classroom. Students
normally spend 1,080 hours per year in school. This might sound like a lot but there are 8760 hours in a
year. Not all 1,080 hours are spent in the classroom receiving direct instruction. With this being said it is
important that students who have an IEP receive the attentional assistance throughout the day.

In your initial post, review the following IEP. Post your thoughts on each IEP as it relates to being strong on
weak goals. Remember classroom time is a factor in order to achieve these goals.

Third grade reading IEP for student A who has modifications for a SLD. This is a mid-year review. As a
paraprofessional you spend about 2.5 hours with this student a day.

Goal #1 A will increase reading skills.

Goal #2 A will be reading on 3.1 level independently and understand with 75% accuracy sample reading.
This will be achieved by working on word recognition, phonics, and decoding.
Goal #3 A will point and match given picture to words within the book and produce sentences with the
meaning. This would be achieved by following instruction, outing, and labeling. Use a balance of the cueing
strategies to construct meaning with the picture.

Goal #4 Identify letters within words and distinguish between numbers and letters within a sentence.

Goal #5 A will increase reading and fluency on collected sample work.

Follow up posts: Adjust the goals in the IEP to make them better for the student.

W5 Discussion: Behavior and Discipline

Context: There are normally rules established in the class by teachers early in the school year. Classroom
rules should be age appropriate and presented in a manner that the majority of the students understand.
Rules are used to guide a positive learning environment. In the classroom as a paraprofessional you directly
or indirectly will deal with different types of behaviors from students.

How would you handle inappropriate behavior? How would you handle good behavior? How do these
expectations/strategies change in a testing situation? Use the text to support your answers.

W6 Discussion: Supervision and Self-Reflection

Context: Assessments, testing, and evaluations are all part of education. This is true for students,
paraprofessionals, and teachers. There are formative and summative evaluations. This assures all are able
to meet the mark. In-services allow for professionals to get trained in order to better assist students. Many
time this training is mandatory for teachers and optional for paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals are
normally supervised by teachers or administrators. There are some basic traits needed to be a staffer in the
classroom.

In your initial post: What are at least four characteristics of the excellent paraprofessional as listed? What
are your thoughts/opinions on the characteristics as to why they are important to have as a
paraprofessional?

Follow up posts: Think about yourself...what are your strongest characteristics?

W7 Discussion: Paraprofessional Exam

Context: There are different sections of the ParaPro exam: reading, writing, and math. It is a timed test
with 90 multiple choice questions, heavily focused on basic skills. These sections help assess the
paraprofessional knowledge on skills needed to assist in classroom instruction.

Find a job description for a paraprofessional in your area. What are the requirements? Would you apply to
this position; why or why not? Include the job description by copy/pasting the link to the listing or the text of
the posting itself.
Follow up posts: How did you score on the practice test? Are there areas you need to brush up on before
taking the real exam?

W8 Discussion: Review and Reflection

Context: Hello Class! It has been a great eight weeks. Hopefully you learn a lot about expectations, laws
that guides, and role of a paraprofessional within the classroom.

For this discussion please respond to both questions:

Question A: Review and reflect on what you learned in the past 8 weeks. What is the most practical or
helpful lesson you learned?

Question B: What type of paraprofessional do you want to be?