Some of my favorite people in the schools that I’ve worked in are paraprofessionals. Aside from being some of the most energetic and patient people I’ve ever met, they are the people there everyday, in every situation, and our #1 for transferring skills that kids learn with us, to the “real world”. It’s among our proudest moments, right? Seeing or hearing about our students who are transferring skills we teach them into the real world.

Three things I do to support this are to support ALL social skills in my time with students, and to reinforce these skills when I see them in the halls, at recess, at lunch, etc. When I’m using a specific program such as Social Thinking or Zones of Regulation, I also will send home the highlights or tools for parents.

First, as soon as paraprofessionals bring my students to my door or they walk in themselves, our social skills start. I am that School Psychologist that will prompt or have a student practice walking in and greeting me in some way, and then saying goodbye at the end using appropriate eye contact. When we are talking, we practice whole body listening skills. When we are playing a game, we practice turn taking. I use every opportunity to reinforce good social skills in my sessions, regardless of my students’ goals.

Second, when I do have specific skills that are relevant for the regular education setting, I’m always working on these whenever I see my students outside of sessions. For example, I had a student I worked on just greeting familiar adults with. I saw him in the hallways twice a day at least, and each time, I’d say his name, greet him hello, and work on responding. It really helped! At recess, I walk around and check in with my students to see how awesome they are doing playing with others. If they are having difficulty, we work through it with the tools we are working on!

Finally, it’s important to arm our parents with the tools for success in the home. I loveeee when parents talk in “zone talk” or share how they supported their child using the problem solving method we’ve practiced. Give them the information and tools to support what you are teaching in your room!

How do you support transfer of the skills you teach?