Paraprofessionals: What Would We Do Without Them?

There is an unsung group of individuals that work in our buildings every day, providing critical support for our students. We refer to them with a variety of titles, including associates, paras, and aides. Regardless of their title, they perform tasks that are designed to help students that need a little boost in order to learn. In many instances, they are absolutely crucial to the individual success of certain students. And, with the constant and increasing demands placed on the shoulders of special education teachers, the paraprofessionals are integral to the success of our program.

It troubles me from time to time that these folks are treated in a disrespectful manner because they aren’t “teachers.” As a building principal, I do not tolerate disrespectful behavior by anyone directed toward anyone. However, I confess that I get more agitated when that kind of behavior is directed toward a paraprofessional. I don’t know what possesses students to talk back to, or refuse a directive from one of these folks when all they are doing is their job. When a student comes into my office because of this kind of infraction, one of the first questions I generally ask is whether they would have done the same thing to their teacher, and more often than not, the answer I get is “no.” That is generally followed by the speech about treating people with respect for no other reason than they are a human being and deserve to be treated in that manner. However, I rarely get to the core reason that young people defy the authority of these folks, when they wouldn’t with others. Compounding that frustration is that we have some very good people working in these positions!

We are lucky at North Fayette High School that we have such high quality individuals working in this capacity. Believe me, I have been in situations much different than this and know what life is like on the other side, so to speak! Whether the “para” is working one-on-one with a student on an assignment, provide assistance in a math class, inputting data into progress monitoring charts, or doing one of any number of different things, we cannot function without them. I would hope that given the opportunity that you let these folks know that you appreciate the job that they do, and perhaps even have a conversation with your child to reinforce the idea of respecting all of the folks that work and learn at NFHS. I assure you that I will insist that it is returned!

How About A Longer School Year?

A blog or two ago I wrote about a longer school year. A farmer friend of mine told me that there just wasn’t any way something like that would work! A friend of mine that owns a boat told me that there just wasn’t any way that would work! Now, even though I have been an educator for over thirty years now, I have lived by the philosophy of “don’t let school get in the way of your education.” There is actually a very long explanation for what that means, but suffice to say that I believe that there are a lot of life lessons learned outside of the four walls of a school. Communities raise children, and a child’s first and most important teachers are the parents. But at the same time, conversation about a longer school year persists and now, after a series of town meetings to tout his blueprint for education, Governor Branstad is forming a task force to study the feasibility of a longer school year for students in Iowa.

For a number of years, I have been an advocate of a longer school year. But it has to be more than adding a few days for kids in the classroom. If the powers that be sincerely want to make a difference, then change needs to be substantial. Currently schools in Iowa are required to have 180 days of school, but we all know that we do not have 180 full days of schools. Late starts, early outs, a variety of special programs, releases for athletic teams, and other interruptions take time away from classroom instruction. I’m not saying all of it is bad, but what is the focus of school? We can argue about that later! Anyway, I would suggest that students in Iowa attend school for 200 days, and 190 of those school days must be protected with absolutely no interruptions or shortened days. And, I would suggest that if students miss more than 5% of those days for any reason, they must make up that time in a supportive, instructional environment.

On top of this, I believe that teachers should have 20 days of professional learning and curriculum development time. It is imperative that teachers have this time to prepare properly for instruction, and to further develop their teaching skills. The two or three hours a month that we currently have in place are simply not enough with the expectations we have on our shoulders.

So what about summer and all of the activities that families engage in during the warm weather months? A summer break could still be put in place, but it would be shorter. Families would still have weekends for boating and camping. County fairs could shift their livestock shows from the morning to the evening. We already play baseball games before school is out. Summer work would take on a different look, but it would not be impossible for students to hold part-time jobs. And, what is the priority for young people anyway?

If we are truly interested in making improvements in our education programs in public education, a longer school year can contribute to that. Out kids do not spend as much time in school as in many other countries. It is one important part of the change that needs to occur, and it is possible. Our school calendar no longer needs to be based on spring planting and fall harvest. Agriculture does not demand the manual labor that it once did. It will cost more money, thus the question is when are we going to step up and put the interests of our children at the top of our priority list?

Roads and Schools: Why Are Both Suffering in Iowa?

I was having a conversation a while back with a Libertarian friend of mine and over the course of our chat, he made a comment about the lottery and legalized gambling in the Great State of Iowa, and asked me if I recalled the promises that were made back when all of that was approved by our political leaders. I was quick to respond that we were “guaranteed” that we would be flush with money from gambling/lottery proceeds for education in our state. He quickly responded, “and we were promised that we would have great roads!” Kind of funny how both are short of funding today, yet when I read in the papers, the casinos in Iowa are still doing pretty good business, and it sure seems that I stand a long time in line waiting for people in front of me to purchase lottery tickets. So what gives? Honestly, I don’t know!

Maybe this is one of those things that flew under the radar, or at least mine. Perhaps the agreement that lottery proceeds would go to education was for only a few years, and that time has expired. Or it is possible that when casino licenses have been renewed or laws updated, it was changed. Regardless of the reason, my question is why did it happen? You know, taxes put on cigarettes and other tobacco products goes to subsidize anti-tobacco efforts and yet, some pretty effective programs, such as JEL, are seeing funding cut because the folks currently in power in the Des Moines don’t like them. Maybe that is what happened. Perhaps the powers that be don’t like public education in this state, and don’t see a need to keep our roads in good repair!

I understand people that don’t want taxes raised. Some of them are a bit off the deep end, in my opinion, but one has to appreciate their perspective. However, roads are vital for commerce in our state. In recent weeks I have followed a lot of wagons and haulers full of grain headed to the elevator. We have semi tractors and trailers crisscrossing our state and we all know the shape some of our roads in this part of the state are like. And, as schools are looking ahead at budget projections, and many once again are going to have to reduce teachers because of a shortfall of funds. In my opinion, it would be well worth our time to revisit those promises made a number of years ago with those gambling proceeds. The time has come to reinvest in both our roads and our kids.

Did you hear the one about the doctor, the lawyer, and the dentist?

“If a doctor, lawyer or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job.” – Donald D. Quinn

In a previous blog I referenced a quote from Matt Damon, praising the influence that teachers had on his life, and took exception with the criticism that is directed way to often at teachers. When I came across this quote, it reminded me of a comment that I hear from a lot of non-teachers about our profession: “I couldn’t do the job that you do!” I am sure that many of our doctors, lawyers, dentists, accountants, and businessmen would be very frustrated if they actually faced the scenario above, yet day after day, our teachers do. No, we don’t have many classes at North Fayette with 40 kids in a class, but substitute 25 or 30, and I don’t think it would make a lot of difference in the dentist’s office!

What a lot of people are not aware of is the short amount of time that teachers actually have to do everything that is being asked of them. In fact, it is impossible. Between teaching class, grading work, meeting with students before and after school, attending faculty meetings, serving on committees, engaging in professional development, contacting parents, leading extracurricular activities, and working to implement the Iowa Core curriculum, what more can be asked? Did I mention having a personal life?

Okay, okay, okay. This isn’t a whine. It is a reality and I have a solution. We need more time. For years there has been conversation about extending the school year. I am all for that. Add twenty days of instruction and ten days for teachers to work. Let’s get innovative with our calendars and figure out ways to keep interruptions to a minimum and place a high value on instruction time. We need to be very protective of school time and the community has to understand that some of the things we do cannot be done during school time. We won’t have to have early dismissals for professional development if we have periodic full days for teachers to work.

I have a lot of faith in the abilities of our teachers. They work very hard and are committed to doing the best job they can. A lot has been thrown at them in recent years and they keep plugging away. There is talk about more pay, but they don’t do it for the money. Yes, if we have longer years, they will have to get paid more. But, I believe it is an investment that is worth it. American kids go to school less than those in other countries. We can do better if we would just give everyone a little more time.

Team Before Individual? Or Vice Versa?

When I was about seven years old, my dad taught me how to figure my batting average. I was obsessed with baseball as a kid, and even in the backyard games I would figure my average. I kept at it until I was in seventh or eighth grade, but then didn’t pay much attention to it anymore. Our coach would give us a statistics sheet at the end of the season, so I knew at the end of the year how I had done. Suffice to say, I was not really “stats conscious” as a high school athlete, whether it was on the baseball field or the wrestling mat. After all, there was only one statistic that mattered, and that was whether or not we won.

When I started coaching, I kept statistics but I never shared them with my athletes until the season was over. The game is not about how many hits some gets, or how many yards they rush for. The game is about the effort given and whether one is victorious. Whether it is a team sport, or an individual one like wrestling, you can have great statistics, but if you aren’t winning, what does it matter? I have worked with a number of coaches that share that opinion. But now, times have changed a bit and I cannot figure out why. Oh sure, there were guys in my day that seemed more concerned about how many points they had in a game than whether they did what was in the best interest of the team. But now, there seems to be almost an obsession with the numbers.

For years I have thought it was ridiculous when I would go to basketball games and moms (yes, usually the moms) would have a pencil and piece of paper out, keeping track of how many points their son or daughter had. Then when I actually found that there were some that kept track of other players on the team, I began to really question what kinds of conversations were taking place at home. Did they center on “doing your part for the team?” Or, “the heck with the team, make sure you get yours?” And then I even ran across parents that got into arguments with a coach because their numbers were different than the ones that he released to the newspaper. Now, as I have followed my daughter playing softball at tournaments called showcases – events designed for college coaches – I see fancy sheets with all kinds of statistical information put together by some parents to give to these coaches.

What troubles me the most about this is that in most high school sports, teams compete, not individuals. And when individuals put themselves above the team, generally the outcome is not positive. But then along came something called QuikStats, an online database used for high school sports in Iowa. A couple of years ago, I swear I saw pigs flying because both our boy’s and girl’s state organizations mandated that coaches post statistics on QuikStats! I couldn’t believe it! From organizations that profess to be about the high school athlete, and one that for years publicly stated that, “we’re not about making college athletes,” it amazed me that now coaches face being suspended from coaching in the state tournament series if they didn’t keep statistics updated. I have spoken to officials from both the IHSAA and the IGHSAU and both tell me that the media loves it, colleges can check it, and parents check it out all the time. Do you see a problem with this?