Job Discussion Forums

[jestert79]

I work at a school that gives us a teaching assistant for younger classes. This has its benefits and shortcomings.

On the plus side, having someone "on my side" with knowledge of L1 prevents the students from plotting against you as easily. They wander around and help monitor, and I can use them as a "conversational model."

On the negative side, they are just college students without significant knowledge of classroom management. Some will immediately start telling the children to be quiet as I'm still setting up my materials. I think some of the younger students have started spacing out as I'm giving them a demonstration of what I want done; then, as soon as I'm done, they call for the TA to explain it to them in L1.

Obviously, it's a good idea to talk to the TA beforehand. Have any of you thought of ways to maximize the use of TAs?

[naturegirl321]

I had a TA for a month. She spent most of the time surfing the internet and in awe of how rouwdy my students were.

Actually she didn't teach much, even though she wasnted to be a teacher . Guess she was more accustomed to well-behaved Canadians then rich Peruvians.

[Jetgirly]

As someone who has just completed two years of student teaching, in two schools, here are my suggestions:

- The teacher should be aware of the expectations of the TA's program. If the TA is hired, what they being paid to do? If the TA is unpaid, what are they supposed to be getting from TAing?

- The students should know why the TA is there, when they should turn to the TA first and when they should turn to the teacher first.

- Set a schedule (if the TA is supposed to teach). At my second practicum, my supervising teacher sat me down on the first day and said, "You'll observe for two weeks, take over Period 1 on October 1st, take over Period 2 on October 15th and take over Period 3 on November 1st. Period 1 should be at Chapter 6 by that day, so plan on finishing the chapter with them and then continuing. We'll see where the other classes are as the switch approaches." This just lifted a huge weight off my shoulders because I was able to plan and get organized while observing the students. In my first practicum, it was more like, "We'll see closer to when you start teaching... whenever I feel like letting you teach."

- From Day One, the teacher needs to be clear on their expectations of the TA, and let the TA know what they're doing well and how they can improve. Trust me, it's REALLY uncomfortable being a TA in a situation where you don't get any guidance or feedback, and are just let to figure out how you're doing on your own.

[Jetgirly]

(Somewhat) Funny Story:

For my second practicum, I received my assignment in mid-June for a practicum starting in September. The idea is that student teachers will go meet their supervising teacher during the last weeks of school, and do some planning over the summer. However, this doesn't work for those students who don't spend the summer in the same city as the university. I was 1000 km away when I got my assignment, so I immediately phoned the school and tried to get through to my teacher. No luck (and no returned messages). I later tried to reach her by email, and when she responded I wrote back with a more detailed email outlining how the program works (ten weeks of Mon-Thurs then three weeks of Mon-Fri) and the expectations the university had for me (teaching a full courseload by November), as a student teacher. No problem, no problem, she said.

Cut to September. I show up at the school and she is late for our meeting. She arrives just in time to grab me and pull me to her classroom. No meet and greet. She pulls me up to the front of the classroom, turns to the students and says, "Class, this is Ms. Jetgirly. She's a student teacher from the university. I didn't want a student teacher, but the university was really desperate so I took one. She's going to be with us for the next three weeks."

The university had to really scramble to get me out of there! I can't imagine what would have happened if I'd stayed and she wrote my final evaluation!