The Effective Teaching Assistant


Book Description

Aimed at teaching assistants who work closely with children with special educational needs, The Effective Teaching Assistant: A Practical Guide to Supporting Achievement for Pupils with SEND is a practical and accessible resource tailored precisely for teaching assistants’ specific needs, which explores both the opportunities and limitations presented by their role. Each chapter provides both training activities and teaching resources designed to assist TAs/HLTAs in reflecting on their own experience while enhancing current practice. The chapters address key topics including SEND and inclusive teaching Multi-sensory teaching Supporting differentiation or adaptive teaching. Supplemented with checklists and useful diagrams, this text is essential reading for teaching assistants, students and practitioners. It is particularly relevant for students working in undergraduate, post graduate and professional development programmes.




The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Effective Interaction


Book Description

This second edition of The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Effective Interaction is the definitive guide to teaching assistant-pupil interaction, fully updated with examples from schools that have implemented techniques from the first edition. An invaluable professional development tool for classroom support staff and the teachers who work with them, this new edition answers the need for specific, practical guidance on the role of the teaching assistant. This practical and accessible guide sets out a role for teaching assistants that focuses on developing pupils’ independence and ownership of learning, with key learning points now summarised in each chapter. Based on a classroom-tested framework and covering the main contexts in which teaching assistants work, it includes a range of strategies and reflective activities to help improve the support provided to pupils in everyday settings. This book sets out successful strategies for: Responding to additional needs Understanding the principles behind effective classroom talk Carefully scaffolding pupils’ learning Delivering intervention programmes The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Effective Interaction is an essential read for all teaching assistants and will also be of interest to school leaders, SENCOs and teachers in both primary and secondary schools who wish to improve their deployment of teaching assistants and their own interactions with pupils. Used in combination with Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants in Primary Schools, The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Effective Interaction is a comprehensive and unrivalled resource for supporting school workforce improvement.




The Successful TA


Book Description

Maybe you’re an undergraduate or graduate student who’s just been appointed a TA. Or maybe you’re a postdoctoral student or a new hire with limited teaching experience. In either case, you’ll be expected – with little to no training – to excel at teaching and to enhance the learning experience of your students. Kathy Nomme and Carol Pollock recognize this gap between expectations and preparation and draw on decades of experience in teaching and TA training to offer practical advice on: interacting with course instructors dealing with nerves and anxiety preparing for the first session supporting student learning developing learning exercises engaging students with diverse needs and backgrounds using technology in the classroom assessing student work and providing feedback. The lessons and scenarios in this short, accessible guide can be applied to any discipline or teaching venue – from large lecture halls to smaller labs, studios, seminars, and tutorials. It not only demystifies expectations for TAs, it sets the stage for developing a lifelong teaching practice.




Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants


Book Description

Teaching assistants have become an integral part of classroom life, yet pioneering research by the authors has shown that school leaders and teachers are not making the most of this valued resource. Results from the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS) project showed that the more support pupils received from teaching assistants, the less academic progress they made. Yet it is not decisions made by the teaching assistants themselves, but decisions made by school leaders and teachers about how their support staff are used and prepared, which explains these provocative results. Prompted by the wake-up call the DISS project findings provided, this timely book of guidance will help school leaders and teachers in primary and secondary schools improve the way they use teaching assistants, and will add real value to what can be achieved in the classroom. Based on the authors' collaborative work with schools in the Effective Deployment of Teaching Assistants (EDTA) project, this book provides essential, practical tools and classroom-tested strategies that will allow schools to conduct a fundamental review of current practice and provides a framework for reforming teaching assistant deployment and preparation, and the way they interact with pupils. Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistantsprovides much-needed and well-informed guidance on how to unleash the huge potential of teaching assistants working in schools and is essential reading for all school leaders.




Effective Differentiation


Book Description

Packed full of prompts, activities and practical ideas, this accessible and realistic guide provides teachers with a rich portfolio of strategies to ensure inclusion, and promote the learning of Special Educational Needs (SEN) pupils in the mainstream classroom. Unpacking SEN, demystifying jargon, and clarifying policy and good practice, Effective Differentiation encourages its reader to take a proactive approach to developing knowledge and skills in relation to Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND). Chapters address the challenges involved in successfully differentiating teaching to meet the diverse needs of individual children, and translate current research and policy into easy-to-understand concepts, integrating these into a framework for practical application. Taking self-evaluation as a starting point, the reader is invited to think, reflect, understand and finally – do! The perfect aid for the busy teacher, each chapter contains checklists and photocopiable tables which readers can use to record and track their own progress.




Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants in Primary Schools


Book Description

Drawing on the lessons from one of the world’s leading research and development efforts involving teaching assistants (TAs), this book is the authors’ most authoritative text yet on how to design a whole school plan to improve TAs’ deployment, practice and preparedness, and put it into action. The authors use robust theories and original research to explore an innovative and integrated approach to making the most of TAs, and recognising the valuable contributions they make to the classroom and the school. Structured around a unique and empirically sound conceptual framework, this book provides essential principles, practical tools and workable strategies, developed through collaboration with hundreds of UK schools. It focuses on ensuring TAs can thrive in their role, and presents the tools and techniques needed to do so accessibly, and is illustrated with case studies on school and classroom practices. Essential reading for all primary school leaders and SENCOs responsible for training and managing TAs, this book is also a useful resource for teachers and teaching assistants looking to optimise the TAs’ contributions. Used in combination with The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Effective Interaction, Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants in Primary Schools is a comprehensive and unrivalled guide to supporting school workforce improvement.




A Handbook for Learning Support Assistants


Book Description

Written in the context of recent legislation in England and guidance to schools, this is a practical handbook for learning support assistants and teachers working with them. It can be used to ensure that: support assistants know what to expect of colleagues and colleagues know what to expect from support assistants; children are given the best support possible by support assistants who understand the nature of their needs; support assistants and teachers work together effectively to support the child with special needs; and that training is relevant an helpful.




The Professional Development of Graduate Teaching Assistants


Book Description

This comprehensive TA training handbook is an essential resource for those who prepare graduate TAs for their responsibilities in the classroom and for their overall professional development. Written by experts in the field of TA development, this book provides a clear framework for implementing and assessing an effective program.




A Toolkit for the Effective Teaching Assistant


Book Description

If you’re studying for a Foundation Degree or seeking Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status, this is the book you need on your shelf. Written by a team teaching on one of the UK’s largest Foundation Degree programs, this book contains guidance for students and Teaching Assistants (TAs) on working with colleagues, supporting pupils and supporting learning. In this fully revised edition, the content has been expanded to include five new chapters on Distributed Leadership for the TA/HLTA, Behavior Management, Inclusion (linking with the Every Child Matter agenda), Understanding Children’s Health and Well-being, and Supporting Curriculum Subjects.




Becoming a Teaching Assistant


Book Description

The authors introduce students to the requirements that their degree programmes will make and explore issues such as behaviour management and national curriculum strategies, helping readers to engage with the material in a way that is appropriate to Higher Education study. The book draws on the experiences of teaching assistants and is grounded in the day-to-day practices of professionals working with young people in schools. Theoretical concepts are explored as being crucial to developing learning support and teaching skills. The authors′ aim is to help students understand essential theory, and to provide a practical support throughout their studies. This book is for teaching assistants working toward High Level Teaching Assistant status in teaching and learning (HLTA), and/or Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). It is a teaching resource for Higher Education tutors and school line managers of teaching assistants. The book is also suitable for tutors and mentors as it gives guidance on content and presentation of professional development materials for teaching assistants. This book is a course text for teaching assistants. It helps students make the transition into undergraduate level study, and is also a teaching and learning resource for students and tutors on undergraduate programmes.