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| Written by Alice Knotts | |
| Monday, 03 May 2010 | |
 What do good paraeducators do? This question lay at the heart of GEAR UP’s Developing Academic Excellence through Paraeducators’ workshop series directed by Sue Weber. The workshops are a valuable investment of GEAR UP's resources, and Sue Weber plays an important part in Walla Walla GEAR UP's mission to create a school environment in which access to academic guidence is readily available for all students. The workshops’ primary goal was to help paraeducators maximize their effectiveness in the classroom by teaching them how to implement specific effective learning strategies. All strategies were AVID based, and focused on four major topics: planning and organization, Cornell note taking, inquiry, and collaboration.  In addition to teaching techniques, paraprofessionals discussed how they can use their position to challenge students to reach beyond their ordinary classwork and venture into the realm of extraordinary scholarship. In order to ensure the practical application of the strategies they learned, in the final session each paraprofessional was encouraged to create a list of plans and goals for utilizing effective learning strategies in their classes next year. Sue believes paraeducators can play an important part in all students’ learning. “Every student, from special needs to our highest achieving students, benefits from the interaction they have with our paraeducators," said Sue, underscoring the importance of the paraeducator workshops. "All students can challenge themselves to be better learners.” | |
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 May 2010 ) |
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