Effective Scheduling of Para-Educators

Hey there friends! Today we are tackling a toughie, scheduling of all of those adults in your room. If you have followed my blog for a while you probably know that when I signed up for my teaching program in special education, I had NO IDEA para-educator management was such a HUGE part of my job!  Seriously why haven’t teacher programs added this class yet!?   One of the biggest issues I have come across is scheduling all of those adults in your room to best utilize their talents and support your students.

Some of you are blessed with many paras (instructional assistants, aides, 1-1’s etc, I am including them all under the term para here).   Some of you are limited to 1 or 2 (if you have 0 and you are in special education please call your admin ASAP because something is not right!) and either way, scheduling is hard!

As you probably know, I would in an S/P class, K-6 with 5 using wheelchairs, 2 with behaviors, and 3 other significantly impacted students.  All of my students need hygiene support, and 6 needs eating support. This year I have 3 permanent paraprofessionals (2 from my County and 1 as a 1:1)  and one 1:1 provided by the district to support one of their students. When I started at this school 3 years ago, two of my paras had been in the same classroom for 20 years! That puts a lot of pressure on a relatively new teacher!  It took me a while to overcome my insecurities about being a young teacher, and I soon realized that a good relationship with your paras is more important than making sure everything is perfect with academics or data collection. I try to listen and be flexible, and if there is a project or activity they want to do or create I give them free reign.

schedule

This picture is an example of my schedule.  I try to keep One staff with 1 – 3 students (depending on needs) for two ‘shifts’; Before Lunch and After Lunch.
My Reasoning for this type of schedule (I call it, Man on Man Defense if you follow sports) :  Some students have significant behavioral, medical, or academic needs and need 1:1 support during certain aspects of the day.  Some students can be paired with Like students if they are at similar levels.  Staying with one student for a larger chunk of time helps reduce confusion of “who has Johnny right now?”, and also allows us to really focus on that student and learn more about them and their goals.

Every 3-4 months we switch up the schedule. Switching it up helps the students learn how to handle change as well as prevent staff burnout with certain more challenging students.

Our philosophy is “flexible structure”.  We try to keep to the picture schedule with our students as much as possible.  But my staff  they are observant enough to jump in and help each other and me with behaviors or transitions when needed! For example, if I have Megan and Johnny, and Johnny is refusing to come in from the bus, one of my para’s will jump in an take over Megan so she is not just sitting around doing nothing.

If something happens that throws off our schedule such as a behaviors, bathroom incidents, or random school events, we don’t let it stress us out! Things happen and schedules can flux.  If Johnny is targeting me, my staff and I are great about switching out to help alleviate any problem behaviors (Future Blog Post coming!)   This is the schedule I would recommend if you have multiple aides and multiple levels of students.
The best way I have found to start creating your schedule is to write it out! it can be messy, gross, scratched out in pencil.  But it works! Write out a grid of your schedule, aides on top and a list of your kids.  Match the tougher kids with the correct para.  Add in the kids that match up with their levels.  Put in groups, depending on the time of day.
When you’re done, put it up somewhere super VISIBLE! If the staff doesn’t know who they have they should be able to look up and quickly see it!
Another option is the “Zone Defense”.  This is best for a less structured day or if you have less paras or less significant behavioral needs.  Set up “zones” in your class, this can be table groups, rotations, or physical areas and rotate the kids throughout the day.  If they are in your “Zone”, they are your kid!  This can be a little more difficult if something crazy comes up.
The best schedule is the one that works for your class!  I would recommend ALWAYS getting your paras input on what they like/don’t like, who they prefer to work with (you can’t always guarantee it, but it is good for you to know!), and what they think will work. And remember to be FLEXIBLE! A perfect schedule can be derailed in an instant with absences, sick paras, events, or big behaviors (or blowouts!). Just survive the day and try again tomorrow!
How do you schedule??
scheduling

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