1.1. Describe How a Learning Support Practitioner May Contribute to the Planning, Delivery and Review of Learning Activities

Teaching Assistants support classroom management and assist with general administration. They help manage pupil behaviour and support pupils’ health, safety and emotional/social development. Teaching assistants establish relationships with learners and help pupils to access the curriculum. They support the development and effectiveness of work teams, work with other professionals and liaise effectively with parents.

In an informal discussion between myself and the class teacher we would determine our roles throughout the activities, what teaching styles will be used to match the needs of the individual children or groups. Discussing the individual children and preparing to provide additional support ensuing all needs are met, any barriers that may become apparent during the lesson can be overcome without fuss.

A teaching assistant can have discussions with the teacher after obtaining a copy of the prepared lesson plan. Some time may need to be set aside for these discussions to take place, such as break or lunch times. These lesson plans are usually prepared in advance, the teaching assistant can provide support by doing their own prep work or helping out with task resources.

Planning and preparation of teaching is supremely important, the teacher and teaching assistant need to work together to achieve the best learning result. Lesson plans and structures will be implemented and will be catered for each learner; they will include teaching methods and techniques, assessments and targets. Teachers have policies, procedures and regulations to adhere to and within organisations will have to take into consideration budgets and resources.

During the lesson the teaching assistant should assist and be a role model for the children and throughout the lesson the teaching assistant should do what the teacher asks and requires.

The teacher's role is to plan lessons, direct and assess pupils learning. The role of the teaching assistant is to support the teacher in planning, delivering and evaluating learning activities and also, under the teacher's direction to give support to the class, whether it is the whole class, small groups or individuals.

Another challenge that education assistants encounter is the inability of teachers to allocate time to address issues that require urgent attention. Teachers and education assistants may only have limited time to discuss pertinent issues. A way to resolve this issue according to Tyrer, et al (2004), is to

Another activity that I took part in was bubble painting. This was where I put paint in a tray and added water. Once this was mixed properly I got the children to use a straw and blow through it to make bubbles. Once the bubbles were there a piece of paper was placed over them to create a bubble effect picture. There were two different trays of which one was purple and the other one was orange. This is so that they were able to make their own choice on what colour they wanted to use.

Another important point of this lecture, in my opinion, that has application in teaching is discrimination. Although all teaching assistants may be aware of the consequences of discrimination and therefore they may not intentionally want to do this act, they should act in a way that all students feel that the teaching assistant does not discriminate against them. For example, in lab classes, the teaching assistant should spend an equal time to ask the question of each student. If a TA spend 20 minutes to answer the question of a specific student, for instance, the rest of students may feel that the TA want to help him or her more than others. I, personally, take at most 5 minutes to answering the question of each student so that there will

My role as a teaching assistant is to take on tasks such as preparing the classroom for lessons and clearing up afterwards, which allow the teacher to concentrate on teaching. To support pupils with particular individual needs, sometimes my role is to work one to one, while others work in small groups or work with one of these groups. The teacher is not able to give every pupil individual attention, assistants provide essential support to the pupils and the lead teacher. My responsibilities also include:

I am delegated to assist pupils that require extra guidance by further explaining the work set. Using my own initiative I conclude the best approach of how to teach each pupil. Therefore, developing my confidence of how to interact with diverse age groups.

Given this massive responsibility of public education, the role of the classroom teacher is equally large. As a teacher, I am responsible for many aspects of my student’s

Teaching demands a lot of creativity and being able to adapt to different situations and environments. However, in order to experience lasting success, more than pot luck, charisma and spontaneity are required. Planning is essential. Planning and preparation gives a certain level of confidence. Whether it is a single lesson or a whole course, planning allows you to design the learning journey you wish to take your students on. In designing, you can make sure that you are catering for all your learners’ needs. This includes sufficient differentiation; for SEN needs as well as your gifted and talented students. In planning you can ensure that your lessons have a definite beginning, middle and end and have clear aims and targets. At this stage you will also prepare and plan resources. Also, you must plan your assessments. How will you know when the students have learned what you set out to teach? How will they know? How are you going to prove that learning has taken place at the end of the course? All these points will be addressed in the planning stage of the teacher training cycle.

ii. The teaching assistant should explain to pupils what they read. She should help children to predict

Many elementary school teachers use fun activities to teach their students basic skills, such as: counting, ABC’s, and many other things. Students this young need activities to stay focus and many studies show that students who have activities along with their learning materials grasp the concepts better than a student with not activity or visual aid (“Kindergarten and Elementary school teachers.”).