Document! Document! (You'll thank me later)

Let's talk for a minute about documentation. I never gave it much thought when I first started working as an aide. I just did what the teacher asked me to do (which is my job after all). However, we will see/hear things that the teacher may miss. We can help the teacher by documenting what happens in the classroom from our point of view.

When addressing student behaviors, this helps us to understand a student's habits or triggers. It is an important tool to show the time a behavior occurs, what caused it to occur, and how often it reoccurs.
It is important to take a second and write down what you observe. There are many student needs and so many things that happen in a single day. If you are asked to recall an incident/comment later, it is often hard to remember exactly.