It’s easy for parents to forget about another potential rockstar in the classroom besides the teacher, and that’s the teacher’s aide! With so many things to keep track of, you always want to make sure you’re engaging with any and all teacher’s aides and thanking them for their efforts too!
The Job of a Teacher’s Aid
Sometimes called a teacher’s assistant or educational assistant, their jobs are varied. Their job description says it all, so as a teacher’s aide, they are helping the teacher on a daily basis in accomplishing their goals and learning schedules. They will help with anything and everything in a school day to help the teacher along in continuing the students’ education. This may be helping a student who is lagging in their schoolwork or needs help on a specific problem. Teacher’s aides can help with the assignments themselves and even grade papers and schoolwork.
They may also help the teacher during recess or lunch break in wrangling and watching the students. They can answer any questions during class and offer more insight into different subjects if a child isn’t understanding the lesson. They truly are assistants to the teacher in everything that may need to get done in order for the students to learn to the best of their capabilities.
Vital to the Classroom
Although lacking that certification of a teacher, a teacher’s assistant will most likely still carry an Associate’s Degree. Every school and district require different qualifications, so every aide may have different levels of training and schooling. And if a teacher’s aide wants to eventually become a teacher, they can certainly get the hands-on training and methods down while being an assistant and working towards the proper training and teaching.
Teacher’s aides are just as important as the teacher’s themselves, and deserve to be recognized. There may be a Teacher’s Assistant Appreciation Day at your children’s school, so be sure to attend! Or if there isn’t, ask the principal if you can plan one out and make it happen!
Oftentimes it’s simply not realizing there may be teacher’s assistants in your children’s classes, in which case you can easily stop by one afternoon and say hello, and thank you!
Katie Kyzivat