Effective Communication

1
Effective Communication
Credential of Competency Standard 6 Language

• Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance
  Network (PaTTAN)
• October 16, 2008

2

• Pennsylvanias Commitment to
• Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
• Recognizing that the placement decision is an
  Individualized Education Program (IEP) team
  decision, our goal for each child is to ensure
  IEP teams begin with the general education
  setting with the use of Supplementary Aids and
  Services before considering a more restrictive
  environment.

3
District, IU, Preschool Agency Policy
Your local districts policies regarding
paraeducator job descriptions, duties, and
responsibilities provide the final word!
4
Agenda

• Effective communication
• With adults in school
• In the community
• With students
• Resolving conflict in the work setting
• Working with students who have communication or
  language disorders

5
Learner Outcomes

• Participants will
• Describe basic elements of communication
• List strategies for communicating effectively
  with adults and students.
• Describe specific ways to respond to difficult
  people and situations within the work setting.
• Describe the types of communication and language
  difficulties that students with disabilities may
  experience in school.
• Learn strategies to support students who have
  challenges with communication or language.

6
How do you communicate?

• With a partner or your table group, brainstorm
  ways in which you communicate throughout a
  typical day.
• Jot down your ideas
• We will share out

7
What is Communication?

• Communication is a process by
• which information is exchanged between
  individuals through a common system of symbols,
  signs or behavior.

8
Effective Communication

• Comprehension of spoken messages
• 7 from the meaning of words
• 38 from voice pitch, emphasis, timing
• 55 from facial expression, body language
• Mehrabian, A. Nonverbal Betrayal of
  Feelings Journal of Experimental Research in
  Personality 5, (1971)64-73

9
Effective Communication

• Four possibilities
• Speaker says what he means
• A student says, This assignment looks really
  hard and I dont think I can do it.
• Speaker says something other than what he
  means
• A students says, This is a dumb assignment and
  Im not going to do it.

10
Effective Communication

• Four possibilities
• Listener may not accurately hear what is said
• The teacher may feel that this student is lazy
  and just does not want to make the effort to
  complete the assignment.
• Listener accurately hears what is said
• The teacher understands that the student needs
  extra help with the assignment.

11
Activity How well do you communicate?

• Take the Communication Skills Inventory from your
  handouts.
• Read each item and circle the number that best
  describes how well you use each skill.
• After you are through, choose 1 or 2 skills you
  would like to improve.

12
Effective Communication

• As members of the education team, good
  communication and problem-solving skills are
  essential
• To your job success and satisfaction
• To support student success

13
Effective Communication With Adults In School

• Styles of Communication
• Passive / Non-assertive
• Aggressive
• Positive / Assertive ?

14
Effective Communication With Adults In School

• Use effective communication strategies
• Active listener
• Be aware of filters
• Use people first language

15
Effective Communication With Adults In School

• Communicate in a professional manner
• Report objectively
• Recognize roles and authority
• Follow communication policies
• Respect others perspectives

16
Effective Communication with Adults and the
Community

• Maintaining Confidentiality

17
Effective Communication with Adults and the
Community

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
  1974
• Paraprofessionals may have access to student
• Testing results
• Behavior plans
• Ability levels
• Family information
• Paraprofessionals must
• maintain students privacy, giving out student
  information according to district policy

18
Activity - Confidentiality- Do or Dont?

• Work with a partner
• Read over the confidentiality worksheet
• Mark each statement as Do or Dont

19
Confidentiality - Do or Dont?

• You tell a parent of one of your students that
  the reason the childs P.T. has been out is
  because she had a miscarriage. Shell make up the
  sessions when she returns.
• You are asked by a students stepfather to let
  you know if the childs father acts funny in
  any way when he comes to pick up the child. The
  mother and he are worried the father may be
  drinking again and are concerned for the
  boys safety.

20
Confidentiality - Do or Dont?

• Before leaving for your two-week honeymoon, you
  lock students files in your desk drawer.
• A general education teacher who taught Reilly two
  years ago asks you how Reilly is doing in math.
  She struggled in his class, and he wanted to know
  if her math aptitude had improved.

21
Confidentiality - Do or Dont?

• You are at a school baseball game as a spectator.
  A mother of one of your students tells you she
  was considering putting her daughter on ADD
  medicine. She knows her neighbor recently started
  her son, Brandon, (who is also your class) on it.
  Off the record, do you see a big improvement in
  his behavior in school? You tell her, Yes, hes
  definitely benefitted from it.

22
Confidentiality - Do or Dont?

• When questioned about a students disability by a
  substitute teacher filling in for the day, you
  provide specific information on the child and the
  teachers notes concerning his behavior.

23
Effective CommunicationWith Students

• Treat students with respect
• Give clear directions
• Use humor, not sarcasm
• Look for opportunities to praise students
• Tell students what it is they did right!
• Be genuine

24
Resolving Conflict in the Work Setting

• Dealing with Negativity and Difficult People
• Resolving Conflict

25
Dealing with Negativity and Difficult People
Is it getting to you?
Physical Symptoms
Cant function
Short-tempered
Want revenge
Make mistakes
Hold back ideas
Feel like quitting
Irritable
26
Dealing with Negativity and Difficult People

• What you can do about negativity
• Get specific
• Let it go
• Choose to be positive

27
Dealing with Negativity and Difficult People

• What you can do about verbal assault
• Do not argue
• Silent refocus
• Respond in a professional manner
• Caring comeback
• Write it down

28
Activity - Resolving Conflict

• How do you respond to conflict?
• Think of your work setting and people with whom
  you occasionally may have conflict
• Place a check in the box next to each statement
  on the form that best describes how you respond
  when conflicts arise

29
Resolving Conflict

• Use I messages
• the feeling
• the situation
• the reason
• I feel__________when________ because____________.
  

30
Resolving Conflict

• I Message Scenario
• You are allotted a ½ hour duty-free lunch each
  day. Your partner teacher takes lunch first and
  then you go to lunch. Lately, the teacher has
  been stretching it and arriving back to class 5
  or 10 minutes late. You must escort students to
  their general education class directly following
  your lunch so you must be on time. You are being
  shorted on your lunch time.

31
Resolving Conflict

• Find a good time to talk
• Listen carefully, speak carefully
• Take the time to get at the real problem
• Focus on what you can do to solve the conflict
• Take action and evaluate the situation over time

32
Working with students who have communication
disorders
33
A communication disorder is

• An impairment in the ability to receive, send,
  process, and comprehend concepts, or verbal,
  nonverbal, and graphic symbol systems.
• www.asha.org

34
Who has communication disorders?

• Students who receive special education may have
  communication disorders.
• Impairments range from mild to severe

35
What types of speech and language disorders
affect school-age children?

• Speech sound disorders
• Language disorders
• Cognitive-communication disorders
• Stuttering (fluency) disorders
• Voice disorders

36

• Working with students who have
  communication disorders
• General Strategies

37
Strategy 1

• Model appropriate speech and language use

38
Strategy 2

• Expand the students language

39
Strategy 3

• Create language extensions

40
Strategy 4

• Use parallel talk

41
Strategy 5

• If the child stutters. . .

42
Strategy 6

• Use gestures

43
Strategy 7

• When the student uses augmentative and
  alternative communication (AAC)

44
Strategy 8

• Emphasize quantity rather than quality

45
Strategy 9

• Encourage curiosity about words

46
Strategy 10

• Use conversational repair

47
Strategy 11

• Use scripts

48
Strategy 12

• Use visuals

49
Working With Students Who Have Communication
Disorders

• What would you do if?

50
Scenario 1

• You are working with Rosario, a student with
  cerebral palsy. Rosario uses a Touch Talker to
  communicate. Ms. Brown is teaching a lesson in
  geography. She asks if anyone knows the name of
  the Pennsylvania state capital. Rosario would
  like to give the answer.
• What do you do?

51
Scenario 1

• 1. Raise your hand and tell Ms. Brown that
  Rosario would like to give the answer.
• 2. Start typing the answer for Rosario on her
  Touch Talker.
• 3. Tell Rosario she can try another time.

52
Scenario 2

• You are working with Chance, a student who has
  difficulty initiating conversation. The students
  sitting near Chance are discussing baseball. He
  wants to join in.
• What do you do?

53
Scenario 2

• 1. Tell the students sitting nearby how much you
  love the Phillies.
• 2. Tell Chance he needs to speak up.
• 3. Whisper a conversational starter to Chance,
  Hey I saw the Phillies play and encourage him
  to move closer to the other students.

54
Scenario 3

• You are working with Ashley a student who has
  multiple articulation errors. She is currently
  working on the /s/ and /ch/ sounds. On the
  cafeteria line, she wants to order a sandwich.
• What do you do?

55
Scenario 3

• 1. Tell the cafeteria staff Ashley wants to order
  a sandwich.
• 2. Practice the /s/ and /ch/ sounds in the word
  sandwich with Ashley before she gets on the
  cafeteria line.
• 3. Let Ashley ask repeatedly for a sandwich even
  though the cafeteria staff cannot understand her.

56
Scenario 4

• You are working with Kareem a student with
  autism. It is the end of the day and time to get
  on the bus to go home. Kareem begins to exhibit
  anxiety as he is putting on his coat.
• What do you do?

57
Scenario 4

• 1. Ignore Kareems screaming and put him on the
  bus.
• 2. Tell Kareem everything is fine and he should
  stop screaming.
• 3. Before the end of the school day, review
  Kareems script, Now its time to go on the bus
  with him.

58

In summary, communication disorders

• Impact language, speech or hearing
• Range from mild to severe
• Can be developmental or acquired
• Can be a primary disability or secondary to
  another disability
• There are many strategies to use to support
  student success with communication

59
Learner Outcomes

• Participants will
• Describe basic elements of communication
• List strategies for communicating effectively
  with adults and students.
• Describe specific ways to respond to difficult
  people and situations within the work setting.
• Describe the types of communication and language
  difficulties that students with disabilities may
  experience in school.
• Learn strategies to support students who have
  challenges with communication or language.

60
Bureau of Special Education Pennsylvania Training
and Technical Assistance Network
Edward G. Rendell
Gerald L. Zahorchak, D.Ed.
Governor

Secretary Diane Castelbuono, Deputy
Secretary Office of Elementary and Secondary
Education John J. Tommasini, Director Bureau of
Special Education
Contact Information Name of Consultant, Email
address www.pattan.net