Psy/101 Week 4 Assignment

Teaching Assistants (TAs) have an essential role to play in the smooth and effective running of a school. They are an extra pair of eyes, ears and hands for the teacher and give support to the structure of the school.

When I was a child, I remember people always asking me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Every time I was asked that question I came up with a different answer. As I grew up, though, I began to realize that there was one profession that I always wanted to be: a teacher. I have always loved working with children, and helping them with their studies. Just the opportunity to teach them something that they did not know before is something that I have always enjoyed.

Aside from volunteering and working with young students in a school setting, I have also worked at the Robinson Center as a teacher’s assistant and a volunteer mentor. I have had the fortune of getting hired three consecutive summers as a TA for the Young Scholars Summer Challenge Program. During one of the summers, I worked closely with the class instructor in helping her

During my undergraduate career, I have spent two full years as the communication sciences and disorders office assistant at Butler University. The TA position is not the same as this job; however, they do however have an abundance of overlap in responsibilities. In my job as the office assistant, my responsibilities have included creating lecture Power Point presentations, grading tests and quizzes, reading papers, and logging student observation hours. Additionally, I am responsible for clerical tasks daily in the office. These duties range from ensuring that there are enough office supplies in the cabinets, to making copies for courses, to changing the batteries in the Butler clinic cameras. Furthermore, I have demonstrated being a fast and dedicated learner. When a task comes up that I do not know what to do, I am not shy about asking for direction. I value being honest and seeking assistance to do something right, rather than being bashful and doing the assignment

When coming back to an introduction class, I will have the chance to reinforce the foundation of my knowledge as well as get a more in-depth understanding about the course. In addition, by doing RA's duties such as preparing lessons or grading papers, I will be able to experience the professor's perspective myself, making me want to become a better student myself. Through working as a T.A, I believe that my verbal, written and instructional communication skills will improve significantly and I will be able to get closer to the professors and establish new connections for my future. Although I understand that being a T.A comes with its own challenges, especially when trying to balance the demands of teaching with academic work or when teaching a difficult student, I believe that the experience and skills gained from being a T.A will make it

As I logged onto my Facebook account last week, I received a notification saying that this time last year I was a Junior Knight Summer Camp volunteer photographer. I was in total disbelief because this year I actually got the chance to teach rising sixth graders along with my other two cohort members. I must say that being a “teacher” is completely different than being a “volunteer”. As a teacher, you are held accountable for everything that goes on in and out of your classroom that involves your students. I had the opportunity to be apart of the preparation process, build rapport with my students, build great co-teaching relationships and develop my leadership qualities even further.

My feet hit hard on the cold cement steps as I slightly jogged up to Armstrong hall. I stepped into the old building and saw my classroom right away. No one was in the hall and all I heard was the air conditioner blowing. I entered the room at 20 minutes to six there was only one kid sitting in the back of the room. The room was tiny and plastered white without one pop of color in it. I take a seat in the middle of the desks as they were all facing the front wall that had a huge whiteboard on it. I reached down into my backpack and pulled out a notebook and pencil. As I looked back up more students are starting to fill the room, and the professor walked in. I watched as people walked past me to go sit somewhere else and wondered who it would be that would sit in the empty cold chair next to me. I heard a laptop slammed onto the counter and I looked over at the professor. He had anger written all over his face as he struggled to hook up his laptop. I was expecting him to ask a student if anyone was good with technology and could help him. He did not speak up to ask one of us and he just sat there struggling till he finally gave up.

One of the key responsibilities of a Teaching Assistant or TA is to support and guide children while they are going through the different stages of their development.

This week I learned that when someone comes in looking for assistance you call the hotline specialist, or the outreach case manager and they will send someone down as soon as they can. If the person looking for assistance does not want to wait I should give them a card with the crisis hotline number on it.

Providing support for learning activities; TA’s are expected to understand the learning objective in order to assist the children in the correct way by using the correct strategies.

The controversy regarding the value of TAs in the classroom is still debateable. A study by the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS) was conducted to describe the

Being a Teaching Assistant is included in my four-year study plan in APU, especially in Workshop 1 course. When I was in Workshop 1 class, I got really great TA. She was kind and she liked to share her experience in APU. She also mentioned that being a TA is not an easy responsibility, however the advantages are worthier than the hardships. Why Workshop 1? Actually, I really like writing, especially in Indonesian language. However, I realize that I am in an international environment and my English writing skill is not really good. I really want to learn and by becoming Workshop 1 TA, I believe that I can actualize it.

Both T-Mobile and Sprint have been attracting maximum customers since last summers with its cheaper unlimited data plans. But now, Sprint is moving one step further with more cheap prices.

The other major take away from my assistant teaching was the realization that I have the knowledge to take charge of my own actions and should have more confidence in myself as an educator. When I came into my Cooperating Teachers classroom, I lacked confidence in myself. I had spent most of my educational career watching and hearing about others fail because they had the disabilities I have. Therefore, at the start of the year, I was hesitant to take any initiative on my own for fear I would mess something up. At the same time, I still wanted a quality assistant teaching experience, so I tried to be involved in the class

My philosophy of teaching is deeply rooted in nurturing the potential each and every student in my classes. Providing a creative environment that allows self assessment, growth, group interaction and mentorship are at its very core. Having taught in Higher Education for many years, and as an instructor of Media Arts and Animation, and Game Design, I have had the amazing opportunity to work with some of the brightest and creative young professionals. Teaching has not only broadened my love of art and exploration, but my determination to help students that do not have the confidence to persevere through their education, yet have the passion to follow their dreams.