Relationship and Collaboration TA Training

Student Independence is Everyone’s Goal!  Here’s what Abraham Lincoln had to say about it: “The worst thing you can do for those you love is the things they could and should do for themselves.”

Independence for our students:  Teach to use their supports all by themselves.  Teach to navigate a building by themselves.  At times of struggle, teach problem solving process vs. doing it for them (This is hard!).

Think about how much help a student REALLY needs…  Can they do it themselves (maybe not perfectly)?  Can a peer help instead of me?  Do I need to do something?

Your achievement is… Sitting back and watching a student complete a task or activity alone!

Support Teacher Vision Itinerant Occupational Therapist Nurse Psychologist Administrator Hearing Itinerant GenEd Teacher ParentsAdapted PE Teacher Assistant Social Worker Private Therapist Physical Therapist Speech Lang. Path Student Serv. Coor. Student You are part of a TEAM!

TEAMS foster SUCCESS for STUDENT!  Everyone involved with the student should view themselves as a team.  Form a team “relationship”…  Teams allow for a variety of resources…allows for personal growth  Teams reduce feelings of isolation.  Teams allow for unique, creative, & flexible problem solving.

Teams work best when:  Roles are defined (including to student)  A schedule for daily activities/responsibilities is developed  Teacher/TA understand instructional methodologies  All team members know student characteristics  Share observations/experiences with each other  All team members share responsibilities

Teams should be built on: Good communication Trust Respect Recognition

Professionalism …It is my person approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. …I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized. Haim Ginnot

Professionalism  We are the role models for our students.  If we cannot model appropriate behavior for the students, how can we expect them to demonstrate appropriate behavior.  As professionals, we need to stay in control of our own behavior and not take a student’s acting out behavior personally.

Rapport: Relation; connection, especially harmonious or sympathetic relation: a teacher trying to establish close rapport with students.

Rapport  Building a true rapport will take you a long way  Take time to understand your student’s quirks  Take time to understand your student’s communication (i.e. behavior)  Know and use your student’s reinforcers Your student should know that you still like them after a tough day!

Confidentiality: It’s the law! Federal law, state regulations, and district policies require that the confidentiality of all personal information and educational records concerning students and their families be strictly protected. Information specific to a student is considered confidential. Confidential information should only be discussed with other members of the student’s IEP team.

Confidentiality Before giving out information about a student, ask yourself:  Is this person directly involved with the student’s education?  Will the student benefit if this person has the information?

Confidentiality Guidelines:  When outside of school, don’t point out or label children as “your” students.  If someone asks about a student, suggest that he/she direct questions to the classroom teacher, case manager, or program coordinator.  Be careful not to distort, exaggerate, or confuse information, and never use student information as gossip or as a joke.  Always be positive, and focus any comments you make on students’ strengths.  Teacher’s lounge, parking lot, playground, out in the community are not places to talk about confidential information.

Keeping Confidentiality 1. Imagine a classroom near the end of the school day. Parents are picking up their children. You are at the desk writing in a file. The parent of another child asks you a question. As you respond, you notice the parent looking at the open file.  This violates the confidentiality provisions of FERPA. You can easily prevent this type of violation by handling educational records properly.  Simply close or cover the file to maintain confidentiality which lets the parent know you protect records carefully.

Keeping Confidentiality 2. A few minutes later, a parent asks you why a particular child flaps his hands constantly. Her child has begun imitating the behavior, and she is concerned.  Refer these types of questions to the teacher, who will address the parent’s concern for her own child.  Do not discuss or explain the other child’s behavior.

Keeping Confidentiality 3. Later you overhear other parents discussing another child in the class. Their conversation shows they misunderstand the child’s disability and her family’s response to it. You believe they are being unfair to the child and her family.  Although you may be tempted to enter the conversation and correct their misstatements, it would be better to redirect the conversation to another subject.  You can later discuss with the teacher ways you can help parents better understand other children’s disabilities without violating their privacy or the confidentiality requirements.

Keeping Confidentiality 4. On the way to your car, a school employee who does not work directly with children who have disabilities asks you what is wrong with a child in your classroom.  All school employees should be aware of their duty to maintain confidentiality.  Remind your coworker you cannot disclose personal information about a child to school employees unless they need it to further the child’s education.  Ask the teacher to help you develop some ideas on how to appropriately educate other school staff.

Keeping Confidentiality 5.A parent starts to express concerns about the teacher or classroom.  Discussion of student performance and problems should only be discussed with staff members working with that student, never with parents or outsiders.  Parent questions should be directed to the teacher who may or may not request your input.  An appropriate response would be, “I can see you have some concerns, please call the teacher and talk with her.” OR “I can see that you are really frustrated. Can I have the teacher give you a call?”

Role and Responsibilities:  Primary role is to assist educational team in helping student have a successful education experience  Support learning social skills  Support expanding communication skills  Support learning & coaching to use appropriate behaviors  Support learning academics  Individual responsibilities will be outlined by your supervising teacher  Roles & responsibilities should be clear to all team members

CELEBRATE!!  Baby steps are still progress & worth celebrating.  All students have a different rate of learning.  Prioritize your focus.  Keep trying…remember to go to your team.

HAVE FUN!