Paraprofessional Reflection

I was fortunate to be placed in Ms. Gohil’s classroom because her classroom was dedicated to students with special needs. This allowed me to experience first hand what an actual special education teacher does during a typical class day. I also was able to see paraprofessional work with the students on constant bases, not like my previous experience where the paraprofessional would only visit the child for approximately 20 - 30 mins per class period. What I also like was that I witnessed various behavioral changes from students and was able to see in real time how the teacher and paraprofessional handled these behaviors. At first, I did not understand some of the techniques that were being used, but then I would ask Ms. Gohil questions and she

For example, in the military, I worked with aircrew by using a system of sequences that would enable the aircrew to go from paperwork (weather conditions, airport information, flight planning etc.) to boarding the airplane and help them launch their flight via radio communications. Due to unforeseen situations, such as weather, airport closure or mechanical malfunction, you must automatically adjust your previous thoughts about the mission and seamlessly veer off in a different direction to find ways to successfully complete the mission. As a team, whether it is on the ground or up in the air, a cohesion needs to exist for the mission to be considered a success. In the military we dubbed this “changes to the changes,” there is no such thing as a perfect plan; one must always be prepared and accept adjustments. This same concept goes for teaching in general. As a future teacher, I understand that planning should be used a benchmark of what lies ahead, however one must also be prepared for the unpredictability of the situation and children as well. My beliefs that teacher entering this career must be willing to adjust on a moment's notice to include accepting that their plans may not always go as planned. There needs to be a certain level of comfort with the idea that even