Effective Strategies for Classroom Support Staff

Support staff have a significant impact on the success of the students they work with. One of the challenges educational teams and particularly educational assistants (i.e., teaching assistants, paraprofessionals) face as they support their students in working towards independence is determining how best to provide assistance during a lesson. This includes how and when to decrease or eliminate this help in order to empower their students’ skill development and autonomy.

In this workshop, we introduce essential strategies educational assistants can use to effectively support their students, from before a lesson begins, up until success. Through lecture, video example, discussion, and activities, participants will learn practical questions to ask to better understand how to help every student learn, and ideas for how to improve direct teaching interactions with their learners.

What you will learn

• How to identify practical information to gather about the learner
• How to implement strategies to set up the school day for success
• How to identify strategies for introducing non-preferred tasks
• How to identify ways to achieve greater independence for the learner