Supporting and Supervising Your Teaching Assistant

Teachers have a myriad of responsibilities and are often faced with the challenge of how to best use their Teaching Assistant in the classroom. This book provides strategies for teachers to help them get the best out of their working relationship with their teaching assistant (TA).

Introduction; 1. Supervising the classroom team - who are you responsible for? - what is supervision? - government/legal guidelines; 2. Delegating responsibilities - analysis of what can be delegated (within law, reason, preferences and purpose of school) - job descriptions for each TA based on their skills, training, experience, children's needs and legal constraints; 3. Accountability - monitoring the quality of the TA's work - methods of observation and monitoring - setting priorities for improvement; 4. Providing continuous professional development - treating your TA as an adult learner - making professional resources available - evidencing development (portfolios, etc) - NOS/HLTA standards; 5. Reflective practice - being a reflective practitioner - helping your TA become a reflective practitioner; 6. Communication - you and the TA - TA and TA TA and other teachers; 7. Logistics - time (to prepare, plan, meet etc.) - evaluation - advocating for your TA; Conclusion; Appendix; Recommended reading useful websites/organisations - for teacher and TAs.