TA TALK

Issue 24

October 2017

For many of you, this month is one of the busiest of the school year, with exams in progress and graduations on the horizon. 

However, many of you still made time in your busy schedules, to join us for last Tuesday’s community webinar, when we showed you some of the benefits of ATA membership. One feature we know TAs find really useful, is the CPD diary. Many of you are using this to track your professional development, and record the PD hours you have accumulated. We know that some of you have several pages of entries and accumulated lots of CPD points. Well done! Schools are also finding this feature a great time saver for performance and development reviews, as everything is in the one place!

During this webinar, we officially launched our 2nd birthday celebrations and explained how members and subscribers can enter our competition for a chance to win some great prizes during the month of November.

Some of you will be aware that we have been working in 5th gear for some time now to roll out the first eTAPS module. We are thrilled (and relieved!) to let you know that this resource will be available early November. We know that many schools are planning to use the eTAPS program during pupil free days in 2018. Read more about Module 1: How to Prepare for Student Learning below.

Until next time, take care.

Warm regards

Stella and Mandy

OUR WEBINARS ARE RECORDED

Did you know that all our live webinars are recorded and that the recorded versions are uploaded to our Professional Development library? Browse the interest groups under the Professional Development tab on our main menu to find a resource of interest to you.

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: Behind the Scenes - The ATA Member Experience

Watch this webinar and then enter our competition for a chance to win a 12-month school membership with ATA, $500 worth of resources from a supplier of choice or $100 worth of school supplies from Teacher Superstore. All you have to do is pay attention during the webinar, collect some key information about ATA membership and then complete the online entry form under the Competition tab on our website.

MEMBER WEBINAR: A Snapshot of Teacher Aide Practices in Australian Schools

Over the past 5 months, we have been polling members during live webinars to learn how teacher aides:
•    Prepare for student learning
•    Support student learning
•    Give feedback to students, and
•    Give feedback to teachers
The results provide an insight into the varying levels of support given to teacher aides and the students they work with. Learn what our members have told us about teacher aide practices in schools, today.

RESOURCE: eTAPS Module 1 - How to Prepare for Student Learning

This professional development resource has been developed especially for Australian schools, and provides teachers and teacher aides with a practical guide to effective teacher aide practices. It is the first of four modules, and comes with a workbook, and a facilitator’s guide, as well as a slide handout and an online feedback form. We know many of our TAs will do this PD as soon as they have the chance, and we would really like your feedback. After all, this program is, in part, based on what you have told us – and now we want to know what you think.

MEMBER WEBINAR: Tuesday 14th November

As November is our birthday month, and our last member webinar for the year, we wanted to do something special, to acknowledge our members, build collegiality, and showcase the amazing work teacher aides do. More details about this event will be available to members soon, so keep an eye on our website and your inbox.

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: Growing Entrepreneurs and Sustaining Communities with School Kitchen Gardens

Join us for our next community webinar, Tuesday 21st November at 4:15pm AEST, and learn about some unexpected outcomes of kitchen garden programs in schools. Robyn Cook, veteran garden teacher, will share with us her experience on how to extend learning beyond the four walls of the classroom, including creating micro-business opportunities and building productive relationships with communities.

Remember to allow for time differences due to daylight saving, if this applies to you.

TOOLBOX: Learning Strategies

In eTAPS Module One the last activity is called ‘Putting it into Practice’. This is an interactive activity that uses De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats to explore how you and your teachers prepare for student support. Read more about the benefits of using this structured approach for problem solving.

POST 1 - World Teachers' Day 2017

24,591 views
1,507 reactions, comments and shares

 

Wow! We were excited to see how far this post travelled and how many of our followers shared it with others in recognition of their teacher colleagues and the amazing work they do every day. We also noticed that teachers were quick to acknowledge their teacher aides as a valued partner in the classroom. 

POST 2 - Which button would you push?

15,837 views

164 reactions, comments and shares



Green and orange/brown were, hands-down, the winners here. Fairy dust to stop all behaviour problems and a full -time teacher aide. Problems solved!