Thelma Fisher
Personal
SUBJECT: Math, Social Studies, Social Skills
Grade Level: 10, 11, 12
INSTRUCTIONAL AIDE INTRODUCTION:
My education background is a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from University of Phoenix,
M.A in Christian Counseling from Colorado Theological Seminary and, Pursing a doctor of Philosophy in
Clinical Christian Counseling from Colorado Theological. I am an individual of value, trust, care, and
commitment. These combinations bring out the teacher that is within me. I am always interested in the
opportunity to reach out and find new ways to help students to learn and grow.
PHILOSOPHY ON EDUCATION: Committed to success for today’s students in which they shall function
as a learner and explorer. Therefore, we approach the learning process by providing highly qualified
teacher and paraprofessionals into the classroom. This approach moves the students to the center of the
learning process. In this context, the student’s role is that of a learner. In addition to mastering the
three Rs, the student now has to master the new basics: critical thinking, speaking and listening skills,
technology as a tool, applied reasoning, information literacy, the effective use of failure and resilience and
the new human skills, which include emotional intelligence, cooperation, networking and building bridges.
STUDENT BEHAVIOR PHILOSOPHY: As a paraprofessional the first approach to creating an
atmosphere of fun, success, and learning with less misbehavior is to begin and end with a positive
expectation. When the students walk in, I will give them a handshake and ask "How are you today?" At
the end of the day, I will give them a handshake and say "Have a good day and see you on tomorrow!"
Along with that very important strategy, I will have a whole-class discussion that allows students to
recommend some ideas for our rules. I will emphasize on how important is to follow these rules in our
classroom and remind them that these are their own rules. During an incident where a student is
misbehaving, I will stop it quickly and may handle it in several ways: eye contact and redirecting them to
their activity or work by asking questions, "What are you doing now?" or "Are you working on your
assignment?" or "How are you going to finish this activity." This leads to more steps that I would take
with behavioral problems with an individual student:
 Use eye contact to “cue the student to stop.”
 Behavior still continues, *I will ask the student which rule is he/she breaking.
 Behavior still continues, I will conference with student and we will come up with a plan to follow
the rules.
I will have a daily behavior log that will be used to monitor behavior wither good or not well. This will
assist with feedback from parent conferences in the future. In the “Managerial Approaches…” handout
given in Classroom Management, the authoritative approach would be the most effective for my students.
This gives both my students and me an open door of good communication, respect for the classroom and
each other. I will have many group projects in class as it is proven to be a reward in itself for each
student.
Group work will allow the students to feel responsible for their part in the activity and that will decrease
misbehavior as well. Another way to reinforce positive behavior is rewarding them lunch with the teacher
in the classroom. This is a simple, yet huge reward for the students. They don’t have to eat in the
cafeteria and they get to eat with their teacher. I will focus more on the class as a whole as I want them
to see as a team effort. Of course some of our team members may stand out for misbehaving and there
will be consequences for that. He/She would have to just sit in the cafeteria with another class when
they cannot follow rules.
Warm ups is a great plan for students. They are working on something that can keep their minds going,
they may be familiar with it, and are a good strategy for them to remember it. Journal Writing is another
great plan. Students may write about a topic the teacher will provide daily in their journal. If they choose
to, they wound receive a computer time for going over and beyond. Reading Time will give the students
opportunity to read their books. The teacher and I would encourage them to write down words they
struggle within their "NSIK" (Not Sure I Know) notebook and later look them up in the dictionary. I will
also have at least two major engaged projects on hand in the classroom. One would be the one that we all
work on together in the classroom. The other, they work during free time in class. This strategy prevents
misbehaviors in class and the teacher may have the opportunity to review or make changes in the lesson if
need be.
WHAT YOU BRING TO THE CLASSROOM:
As paraprofessional I can bring in to the classroom my positive and energetic attitude, caring spirit,
tenacity, and high expectation daily. As a classroom paraprofessional with 28 years of experience it allow me
to make a difference in student’s life by depositing seeds of knowledge and by enabling them to become
responsible, accountable self- disciplined members of society and the world. I believe that all students can
achieve excellence with the right guide and tools. I will illustrate that is by being a leader in the classroom.
As rules are in place that will increase a student’s awareness of his or her responsibilities. Those rules will
evolve around respect, assisting friends, and working their best. Respecting one another in the classroom
allows students to communicate well with one another as well as the teacher. Assisting friends will capture
the bond that we have a family. We are looking out for one another in a helpful way. Completing
I agree with Lu Morris of Barrett Primary when she says,” Getting to know who your students are the
key to success”.