Teaching Assistants...hmmmmmm

[chonabot]

I'm looking forward to the next semester, it will be my second, the first semester was fun - lots of highs and a few lows.

Well I was looking forward to it, but yesterday the Head of our department told us we will be getting fresh graduates as teaching assistants.

To be honest I would rather continue to work alone as I have managed to do pretty well with my 1000 M3 and M4 students thus far.

I have misgivings about another 'teacher' in my lessons, ok it may be a positive and certainly will help with the control issues and probably with the

difficult communication problems we all face from time to time. But I am concerned it will be more of a hindrance than a help.

I will probably have to go through the lesson plans several times, there will be a language barrier no matter how good their English happens to be.

And I'm expecting the assistant to be some kind of distraction , not that I need one with the M3 attention span being fairly short.

So does anyone have experience of teaching solo one semester and then having a new assistant, whether we like it or not?

Thanks in advance.

[aussiebebe]

Well done for doing so well in teaching so many kids! However, having an assistant is an opportunity to enhance student learning, and it's your responsibility to make a success out of it by managing them effectively. Problems in these sorts of working relationships usually stem from teachers not making their expectations explicit; it's far rarer for an assistant to be negligent, incompetent or disobedient. Once you realise this you'll see that any concerns you may have about the assistant being a hindrance or distraction are solely your responsibility to address; you have to train your assistant to work and behave however you want. Make sure you get help communicating your expectations if language is an issue, just a quick run through of what you want them to do and when at the start of the semester may not see the working relationship off to a good start.

You should type up a list of what you want her to do and get it translated in Thai; then discuss your expectations and both sign it. Really think through every little step, for example '1) During whole-class teaching I would like you to ....' for each point you could have multiple options such as 'help with resources/observe/assist students/translate/manage behavior'.

[aidenai]

You could start by asking your HOD what the assistants' job is before dropping conclusions.

[chonabot]

You could start by asking your HOD what the assistants' job is before dropping conclusions.

I have - how many HOD/Thai Teachers answer our questions directly?

They hate any kind of detailed required response.

A smile is all I usually get, on a good day.

So I concluded that I would ask on here....

Edited October 8, 2012 by chonabot

[chonabot]

Well done for doing so well in teaching so many kids! However, having an assistant is an opportunity to enhance student learning, and it's your responsibility to make a success out of it by managing them effectively. Problems in these sorts of working relationships usually stem from teachers not making their expectations explicit; it's far rarer for an assistant to be negligent, incompetent or disobedient. Once you realise this you'll see that any concerns you may have about the assistant being a hindrance or distraction are solely your responsibility to address; you have to train your assistant to work and behave however you want. Make sure you get help communicating your expectations if language is an issue, just a quick run through of what you want them to do and when at the start of the semester may not see the working relationship off to a good start.

You should type up a list of what you want her to do and get it translated in Thai; then discuss your expectations and both sign it. Really think through every little step, for example '1) During whole-class teaching I would like you to ....' for each point you could have multiple options such as 'help with resources/observe/assist students/translate/manage behavior'.

Thanks for this - I will definitely get started on that list

[teacher17]

God, I would give anything to have a teaching assistant in my class...haha....my classroom management issues would be pretty much solved! It may be annoying sometimes to have a teaching assistant....but most of the time I think it's okay. You can send yours to my school if you don't want him/her.

[thaicbr]

you will probably find the new graduates are going to be far to busy on their mobile phones to be an issue.

[aidenai]

You could start by asking your HOD what the assistants' job is before dropping conclusions.

I have - how many HOD/Thai Teachers answer our questions directly?

They hate any kind of detailed required response.

A smile is all I usually get, on a good day.

So I concluded that I would ask on here....

At a previous English program we had assistents with B.Ed.s major English. They were designated to be the interface between the Thai homeroom teachers/ students and the foreign teachers. This often led to conflicts as the assistants told us on behalf of the homeroom teachers what we should do. They were even ordered to conduct the exams without our presence.

At my current English Program we have assistants who are designated to the foreign teachers. We tell them en discuss with them what their activities in the classroom are. We have training sessions with them to teach them more. This works for us very well.

[chonabot]

You could start by asking your HOD what the assistants' job is before dropping conclusions.

I have - how many HOD/Thai Teachers answer our questions directly?

They hate any kind of detailed required response.

A smile is all I usually get, on a good day.

So I concluded that I would ask on here....

At a previous English program we had assistents with B.Ed.s major English. They were designated to be the interface between the Thai homeroom teachers/ students and the foreign teachers. This often led to conflicts as the assistants told us on behalf of the homeroom teachers what we should do. They were even ordered to conduct the exams without our presence.

At my current English Program we have assistants who are designated to the foreign teachers. We tell them en discuss with them what their activities in the classroom are. We have training sessions with them to teach them more. This works for us very well.

Thanks Adenai - Seems to be different depending on the School's attitude approach.

I hope my own experience will be similar to your current set up and will try to steer it in that direction

[ivan96822]

Having a teaching assistant has always been annoying to me. Just know that you are in charge and they are there to help the ones who are falling behind. It is no fun having to "perform," "entertain," or even teach in front of another adult, but block them out and do the best you can.

What I always have done in the past is to round up my weakest / trouble-making students and send that small group with the teaching assistant to the library or to a quiet picnic table outside. I give the teaching assistant the lesson plans, the daily work, and whatever books or materials needed. That way, I can really kill two birds with one stone.

[culicine]

Yes I'm curious to know what the roles of these graduate will be. If their english is limited, you can't use them to help teach weak students. Being so young and inexperienced, they may not garner the respect of the students; especially if your fresh graduates prefer to be 'friends' with the students rather than as an authority figure. I'm in an EP and haven't had an assistant for many years, though I teach in high school. Our primary school has co Thai teachers but they don't do much in terms of helping foreign teachers. Personally I think such assistants can learn a lot by filling in our grade books, marking work and writing our quizzes, under our supervision, of course. Heck, they can even teach some lessons if they feel so inclined!

[Geekfreaklover]

Assistants can be great if they know where the line they cannot cross is. Its a difficult job for them. They shouldn't just sit there and they shouldn't try to take over the class. As a teacher you should know enough Thai to understand what they are saying to the students. And once you reach the stage of speaking Thai fluently in the classroom then there is little need for them.

I think in the OPs case the students / graduates / assistants are being placed in the classroom to simply observe and learn rather than have an actual role in the class.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Geekfreaklover