The Latest from VEA

Webinar recordings from the NEA’s ESP Learning Network are available online.

For several years, NEA’s ESP Quality Department has been producing webinars to support the professional development and growth of school support staff, regardless of their roles. If you haven’t had a chance to catch any of them live, worry not! Recordings of the sessions are available on NEA’s website (link below). Here is just a sampling of some of the programs available, and they offer professional development certificates (instructions on how to get certificates are on each recording). Take a look and start building your personal library of knowledge:

Creating a Positive School Culture: Using Verbal Intervention Strategies for Positive Student Behavior Support: Communication skills are critical to supporting positive student behavior: How you communicate with students during times of crisis or challenging behaviors can impact students’ level of de-escalation. This webinar offers foundational information on verbal intervention, phases of de-escalation, and positive communication skills. You will learn effective de-escalation strategies that ESPs can use to help support students and see how verbal intervention strategies aid in creating a positive school culture that promotes safety and inclusivity.

Financial Wellness: An Educator’s Guide to Managing Money: Learn how to build a budget that works, use strategies for goal-setting and eliminating debt, improve your credit score, and manage risk. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to maximize the value of your membership and take control of your personal finances.

Building Authentic Relationships as ESP Leaders: ESPs have the power to make important and meaningful change by building meaningful connections with everyone in the school community including teachers, specialized instruction support personnel (SISP), students, and families. You’ll hear from Pamella Johnson, Academic and Behavioral Intervention Specialist and 2023 NEA ESP of the Year, and learn the importance of building authentic relationships, how to make these connections, and how to empower other ESPs to become more engaged in their roles as leaders and professionals.

Using Your Authentic Voice to Galvanize and Inspire: Nothing makes a point or can change someone’s point of view like a good story, and educators have the best stories. In this webinar, you’ll explore ways to use stories from your personal experiences as ESPs to help advance student success, public education, and the education profession. Join us to learn how personal stories have the power not only to change attitudes, perceptions, and behavior, but to win support for public education.

A National Snapshot of ESP Wages and How to Advocate for a Livable Wage: You don’t need anyone to tell you that ESPs are underpaid. Recent data shows that ESPs, on average, earn at least $10,000 below a basic living wage in every state of our country. Learn from NEA ESP Quality and Collective Bargaining and Member Advocacy staff, who will walk you through the new 2023 ESP Earnings Report data and share information on how you and your colleagues can advocate for livable wages for ESPs.

Team Building for All Educators: This is a thought-provoking webinar that will empower you with the skills you and your colleagues need to build a truly effective team. It offers a holistic approach to NEA’s Leadership Competencies with a specific emphasis on “Leading Our Profession,” supplemented with “Communication” and “Advocacy.”  You will learn to engage others by identifying strengths and strengthening weaknesses and then identifying roles that players have on a team to promote team success, as well as engaging in activities that require you to think critically and solve problems as a team.

To learn more about these and a full lineup of other ESP Learning Network webinars, visit www.nea.org/esp-webinar-recordings.