Throughout the two Co-op terms I worked at Greater Heights Learning Academy as a Special Education Assistant I was exposed to several situations that allowed me to show some of my already acquired skills and to strengthen others. Throughout my first two Co-op terms, I worked with high school students (Grade 8 and 9) and I was put in different situations, giving me the opportunity to make mistakes, learn from them and also improve my work skills. I am really grateful for this opportunity to work with different people and in a different setting. The following table shows some of the skills I worked on as a SEA. (If the content of the table is difficult to read there will also be a typed version under each table).
Skill: Communication
Situation:
A big part of our responsibilities as EAs is to be able to communicate with the teachers and OTs efficiently. Not only to be able to report them about the students but also be able to know how to provide feedback and suggestions in an appropriate manner. For instance, I noticed that the students were having inappropriate conversations during the lunchroom. I considered that implementing a sexual education workshop for these students would be highly beneficial.
There are many other situations where I have to practice efficient communication with other staff members and students too.
Task:
My task as break and lunchroom supervisor is to ensure that all the students are socializing in an appropriate and safe way. When the situation seems to be getting increasingly out of hand, I have to be able to deescalate the situation and apply measures of safety for everyone in the room.
It is challenging to address conversations about sexual health and education because I do not have the appropriate training or knowledge to be teaching them about those topics. So I knew I had to communicate this to the teachers and principal in order to consider implementing a set program in their schedules.
Action:
- Organize my notes about the incidents that have been happening in the lunchroom
- Arrange a meeting with the teachers and principal to discuss the issue possible solution
- Communicate the incidents and the suggestion I had come up with
The challenging part for me was that, as someone who is new to the job and position, and also as someone who is just a student, it was quite intimidating to have to communicate some negative feedback and also suggest some changes.
Result:
In the end, the feedback and suggestion I provided were taken into consideration and the school sent a consent email to the parents asking if they would like their students to be part of sex ed workshops. Due to the sensitivity of the topic and the type of students we have, the sessions will be given by the school counsellor.
Suggestions, at least in our workplace, have always been allowed and encouraged, but it is really important to know how you are going to be delivering
Relevance: It is important to know and get some more practice talking with supervisors and other staff members. The information needs to be concise and clear when delivering it. Having good communication skills will help in many different work environments because there will mostly always be times where you have to provide constructive feedback and suggest solutions to possible problems.
Skill: Task Identification
Situation: There are several situations in which students are getting distracted or acting strangely during class time. The SEAs have to make sure they are on task and help them with any questions they may have about the assignment. However, there is usually a reason why they are acting the way they are, and we have to be able to evaluate the situation and switch between tasks. While my first task was to not allow the student to fall asleep, now my task is to ensure that they are in a good place physically and mentally. For instance, if a student seems to be getting too stressed or agitated, I should recognize that the student’s safety always comes first and follow appropriate steps.
Task:
As a SEA we have many different roles and tasks we have to perform and we have to be able to be quick to identify the current task at hand and act on it. While our job is largely to encourage the students throughout the day and make sure they are doing the work, we also have to make sure they are safe.
I am a general SEA, meaning that I work with a group of students as opposed to one. This means that I have to be able to switch the tasks around depending on which student I am working with.
Action:
- Evaluate the current situation and identify the priority task
- If the task is not urgent, I brainstorm ideas as to how I want to complete the task
- If the task is urgent, it is important for me to remain calm and make sure I think of the best possible way to tackle the task at hand.
The challenging part of applying this skill is that sometimes we might not be able to identify the task we should be working on. It comes with practice and knowledge. For instance, it might not always be clear when a student is having a seizure, because they are all different. If I am not able to identify the immediate tasks appropriately it might put someone in danger.
Result: It is very easy to just focus on one task and sometimes forget about our other roles in the position. This happens quite often because as SEAs we are so passionate to want to help the students in their academic journey. However, being able to recognize a student’s state of agitation, or low mental health is crucial in our jobs. As time passed, I was able to recognize several of the student’s triggers, patterns and moods and I am able to switch tasks more quickly when needed.
Relevance:
Being able to be flexible and adapt to different situations is very important. Especially when the workplace environment is so diverse.
Task identification was an important part of my job because I had to be able to concentrate on different students with different needs. This is applicable in other jobs such as customer service positions, for instance.
This skill applies to many other situations outside of the context of education and should be a skill that is talked more about in order to create better and safer work environments for everyone.
Skill: creative problem solving
Situation: One of the challenges we the teachers and the OTs were having with our students, is that they sometimes lack the appropriate skills to socialize with other peers and make new friends. Some students are also known to not get along with each other and get into constant arguments.
Task:
As a SEA, I have to think of creative ways to solve or help alleviate some of the problems that arise. I can also come up with ideas that will help with the situation.
After realizing that the one thing most of the students had in common was their enjoyment of video games, I decided to start a video game club during lunch hours.
Action:
- Evaluate the current problem and brainstorm immediate solutions that can be applied
- Plan the solution to be implemented, taking into consideration the expected outcomes of that solution
- Implemented a lunchroom activity for the students to take part in.
- Set up lunchtime rules for the students to follow
- Ensure that the rules are being followed
- Evaluate activity progress. If the newly im[plemented activity is not working or is having a lot of negative results then I have to terminate it and/or replace it with another solution
Result: This new idea I suggested and facilitated encouraged students to come together and enjoy an activity that they could all be part of. It taught them good social skills as they all had to work together to choose the teams, set up the games and so on. We noticed that even students who are usually shy started to want to participate in the group activity and were able to create new friendships.
Relevance: Problem-solving has always been an essential skill to have in many different settings. I consider creative problem solving to be a more specific skill that applies to contexts such as working with children but it can also be applied to other situations. For this skill, we have to be active thinkers and be quick to evaluate current situations in order to come up with appropriate solutions that will efficiently tackle the problem or conflict.
Learning Significance