Reflection On Teacher Assisting

Throughout my placement for teacher assisting, I can honestly say a lot of things did not go as well as planned. But these are not the things I want to focus on. Instead, I want to remember some things that went really well as I worked with my students.

One of the best things I was able to do was get students engaged. They all seemed to really enjoy when we brought manipulative tools into class. Learning content outside of the book and typical handouts helped break up the routine and monotony of math class. This approach also assisted when students understood content with different learning styles or need multiple intelligences.

The most useful tool that I saw in my classroom was group work. Students were most excited and engaged when they were able to work with their peers. Group work is fantastic because students keep each other on track while providing alternative methods and interpretations. I am inspired by some of the creativity and collaboration I have seen during group work time.

My biggest concerns with this group work is why it worked and if it worked when I wasn't paying attention. Many times, we organized our students into groups based on specific criteria. Each time was different criteria and produced slightly different results. However, the main result was an increase in engagement. I am curious if the students worked better because they were in groups in general, or if it was due to the specific groups that we formed. What would happen with these students if they were placed in different or randomized groups?

I have also spent a lot of time thinking about what happens when I am not directly interacting with the various groups. I still need to develop those eyes on the back of my head, because I don’t always know if the students are on task when I am talking to other groups. I am also not sure how things go when I am not in the class. I know that my CT would use groups on occasion, but if I am not present I don’t know how well the students are engaged. This leads to another question: Are they engaged because they are in groups, or because of the activities we had them do while in the groups?

Either way, I was pleased with how group work and manipulatives helped my students interact with  the content and make more connections.