Targeted Support for Fairfield-Suisun Paraprofessionals and COLs
Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District and BetterLesson are partnering to offer a cohort-style support for paraprofessionals and community outreach liaisons that includes five workshops centered specifically on needs of these groups, each followed by four sessions of 1:1 coaching to support the implementation of key ideas covered in the sessions.
The dates of the workshops will be:
- November 3 - Relationships and Social Awareness: Building a Classroom Community
- December 1 - De-escalation Tactics and Mindsets: Making Classroom Management Manageable
- TBD - Positive Behavior Systems: Creating Sustainably Thriving Learning Communities
- TBD - Tracking Progress with Data: Teaching Students to Track Their Own Growth
- TBD - Student Goal Setting and Autonomy: Supporting Student Agency
All sessions will take place from 3-5 pm PST, and you can find more information below, including topic descriptions and an overview of how our coaching works. To participate, here's what we need from you:
Step 1: Register here for the workshop series. Once your registration has been recorded in the BetterLesson Lab, you will receive automated confirmation emails and reminder emails with the check-in links needed to join all sessions.
Step 2: Register here to match with your BetterLesson coach for your first 4-session cycle of 1:1 coaching. Each session will be 30 minutes and take place via Zoom, and you can schedule each session at times that are convenient for you. Paraprofessionals who participate in the workshops will be expected to engage in the coaching, but if you aren't able to commit to any coaching, simply let us know.
Availability is limited, so please complete all registrations as soon as possible.
Virtual Learning Workshop Topic Descriptions
Relationships and Social Awareness: Building a Classroom Community
How can staff build a learning community, instead of just managing a classroom? By building relationships, students will feel more comfortable seeking support, collaborating, and taking ownership of learning. In this Virtual Workshop and the following 4 sessions of coaching, participants will:
- Define the social-emotional learning (SEL) core competencies
- Explore strategies like the "5-Whys" protocol
- Build and get peer feedback on their plan to create a thriving class community
De-escalation Tactics and Mindsets: Making Classroom Management Manageable
Students and educators have experienced a lot of stressors in the past year- from brand new learning modalities to traumatic world events. Educators can be prepared to meet the needs of all students by mastering de-escalation tactics and harnessing the power of productive mindsets. In this Virtual Workshop and the following 4 sessions of coaching, participants will:
- Define the do’s and don’ts of deescalation tactics and explore the role of "mindset"
- Explore strategies and tools to guide the positive deescalation tactics and mindsets
- Build and receive peer feedback on a plan to incorporate de-escalation tactics in their classroom
Positive Behavior Systems: Creating Sustainably Thriving Learning Communities
Trauma-informed practices go beyond our interactions with individual students. How can staff create positive learning communities and make trauma-informed practices sustainable and consistent over time? In this Virtual Workshop and the following 4 sessions of coaching, participants will:
- Define trauma and its impact
- Explore examples of how to "practice positive" and foster student ownership
- Build and get peer feedback on their plan to build a trauma-informed system
Tracking Progress with Data: Teaching Students to Track Their Own Growth
Students can take ownership over their learning by tracking their progress data. Simple, sustainable systems and technology tools give students insight into their growth and help them set personal goals. In this Virtual Workshop and the following 4 sessions of coaching, participants will:
- Define how to build student ownership of tracking progress with data
- Explore key strategies and tech tools for gathering learning data
- Build and get peer feedback on a plan for students to use their own learning data in an upcoming lesson
Student Goal Setting and Autonomy: Supporting Student Agency
Student autonomy is key in a competency based learning model, as students are asked to manage their own learning progress. Transferring ownership to students empowers them to set goals and reflect on their progress in a meaningful way. In this Virtual Workshop and the following 4 sessions of coaching, participants will:
- Define how student autonomy leads to accountability, confidence, and academic and
- personal growth
- Explore systems for goal setting and reflection, such as self-assessment, student choice, and conferencing
- Build and get peer feedback on a sustainable, manageable plan to develop student autonomy
About BetterLesson Coaching
How it Works
BetterLesson Coaching is 1:1 professional development that is tailored to meet each staff member's specific needs. Staff will engage in 1:1 coaching for 30-minute virtual meetings every two weeks, at times that are convenient for them. During these meetings, you will share your teaching and learning goals with your coach and discuss high-quality strategies.
BetterLesson Lab and Portfolio
Throughout their BetterLesson Coaching experience, staff will have access to:
- thousands of high quality teaching strategies in the BetterLesson Lab
- tools for tracking their progress and students' growth
- a digital portfolio that showcases what you've been working on and how you’ve grown
Register Now
If you would like additional information about the registration process or sessions offered, please reach out to Coreen Kemper from BetterLesson's Partner Success Team at coreen.kemper@betterlesson.com.