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Paraprofessionals

Teacher aides, or paraprofessionals, are helpers in a classroom. Usually they're in mainstream classes that have students with disabilities or limited English speaking abilities, or in special education classes. They help teachers in assisting with teaching students.

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I think it's wonderful that people dedicate their lives to helping students who have difficulty in learning. I remember when I was doing an observation for a couple of weeks there was a teacher assistant who would come in for an hour every day. She would be given worksheets that students had completed if they showed a lack of knowledge for whatever the work was about. She would then take a student aside and work with them one on one to help them through the worksheet, and learn what he/she should have learned.

The two weeks I was there, the teacher told her not to worry about coming in and she let me take over in doing that. It was such a blessing! Reading about the story of the teacher assistant with the child who learned to recognize his birthday reminded me of how I had the opportunity to help a few students learn a subject they had been struggling with, and a couple of them I was able to help them in a way that it stuck with them.

Paraprofessionals deserve so much respect because they do a lot of work, and they teach a lot of students in a way that a teacher may not be able to. They have the ability to work one on one with a student, or take a group so that a teacher can work one on one.

Paraprofessionals

I know that some parents also volunteer their time to assist teachers in the same way. When my daughter was in the third grade, and my wife was working part time, she would regularly volunteer in my daughter's classroom. While she wasn't a 'trained' assistant, she would still take certain individuals and work with them on reading or math, or even the last spelling test that she helped grade. She even felt sorry for one of the kids who was really hurting in class, and offered to have her come to our home to study with our daughter. It was very fulfilling for her, and it also helped our daughter in studying and in socializing outside the classroom.