Maggie Kearns Phase 3 Professional Development Goal

After creating an instructional program focusing on my student gaining independence at her vocational placement at Panera, I will work with the paraprofessional that attends Panera with her for each work shift in order to effectively implement the program, even on days that I am not there. This will occur through short training sessions on different elements of the program, as well as debriefing after each visit to Panera to determine if changes must be made to the program or if it is successful as is. This goal will be measured through a survey that that paraprofessional will fill out every other week, indicating my abilities in different areas including training her on how to implement the program, communicating throughout the course of the program problems or successes, and making changes to the program according to the needs of the student, as relayed by the paraprofessional. Working with paraprofessionals is an essential skill to have as a special education teacher for many reasons. First off, as a special education teacher I will be regularly working with paraprofessionals. Maintaining strong relationships is key in being as successful as possible in instructing students throughout different settings that they may be part of. As a special education teacher, I will have to delegate tasks to and train paraprofessionals on many different types of instruction. If I am not successful in training the paraprofessionals, then the paraprofessionals will not be able to successfully instruct the students in order to make them as successful as possible throughout their education. Additionally, as a new teacher I will likely be much younger than many paraprofessionals and will have to be comfortable instructing those that are older than me. Working with a paraprofessional to implement my instructional program will be a great way

for me to practice these skills and gain feedback that will allow me to more successfully work with paraprofessionals in the future. Working on this goal will run throughout the entire course of the instructional program, which will likely be the entire length of the semester. I will receive feedback every other week from the paraprofessional that will allow me to further develop my skills and improve on any deficits in working with paraprofessionals that I may have.