TA TALK

Issue 28

February 2018

With the introduction this year of the federal government's Quality Schools program and the long overdue, but very welcome, formalised requirement for schools in many states and territories to plan for, and actively manage the development of paraprofessional educators, we are witnessing a significant spike in membership. Australian Teacher Aide is at the forefront of a shift in thinking around how schools can improve student learning and overall performance. It is heartening to see school leaders implement change to ensure that education support staff are included in the school plan, and that they have access to relevant, contemporary professional development to help them in their support practice.

We continue to build on our range of professional development for teacher aides. As well as preparing for, and presenting our monthly live webinar events, we have been busy putting the finishing touches to our second eTAPS Module, How to Support Student Learning. We have had some awesome feedback about Module 1, and we look forward to sharing the next program with you early in March. Read more about eTAPS in our feature article.

We are hugely excited to have Samantha Taylor from Andrell Education (Big Write and VCOP) back again this year to present this month's community webinar. We’ve had a sneak preview of the presentation, and as well as some really great practical content, Samantha will be giving away some excellent templates to help with writing. If you haven’t registered yet, and you are thinking of attending, do so quickly, as it is only days away.

As always, we love to hear from you and we welcome your feedback about our resources and how you are using them to support education support practice and student learning in your school.

Warm regards

Mandy and Stella

Are you new to Australian Teacher Aide? Our New Member Orientation video is a must-watch! It will take you less than 10 minutes to familiarise yourself with the ATA membership site. You will learn where to find professional development resources, how to register for live webinar events and how to view and update your record of professional development.

MEMBER WEBINAR: How To Apply For A Teacher Aide Position: A Step By Step Guide Part 1

Last Tuesday, we presented our first member webinar for the year, How To Apply For A Teacher Aide Position: A Step By Step Guide Part 1. In case you missed it (or perhaps you would like to view it again) you can find it in the Professional Development library under the Interest Group, Paraprofessional Educator Role. Stella stepped us through a great process for unpacking selection criteria and provided a template to make that next job application so much easier!

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: Big Write and VCOP For The Middle Years

Due to popular request, ATA guest presenter, Samantha Taylor of Andrell Education, joins us again, this time to share some strategies to support middle and upper primary school students who are disengaged with writing. Sam will take you through some fast, fun, oral and written activities, suitable for this age group, that integrate VCOP. She will also show you ways to differentiate the same activities for students of varying year levels and with different learning needs.

MEMBER WEBINAR: How to Apply For A Teacher Aide Position: A Step By Step Guide Part 2

Teacher aide jobs are in high demand, with many people competing for the one position. For most jobs you will need to submit a formal application and answer a set of selection criteria, to be shortlisted for an interview.

In Part 2 of How To Apply For A Teacher Aide Position you will have an opportunity to use what you learned in Part 1 to write your own selection criteria during the session. You will learn how to:
- use the STAR model to address selection criteria
- respond to each selection criteria
- present and submit your application
- prepare for the interview

RESOURCE: eTAPS Module 2 How to Support Student Learning

eTAPS stands for Effective Teacher Aide Practices for Schools, and is a four-part program developed for teacher aides in Australian schools. The content uses evidence based research, to reflect current classroom practice, in a way that is practical and relevant to the teacher aide support role. Module 1: How to Prepare for Student Learning was released late last year. Module 2: How to Support Student Learning will be published in our professional development library in early March, with the last two modules to follow over the next few months.

RESOURCE: From Bullied to Brilliant - A Professional Coaching Program for Schools

From Bullied to Brilliant – Ending the Pattern of Bullying by published author, Karen Clarke, explains why a change in thinking can end the bully victim cycle. Through her stories, Karen shares some effective strategies to overcome bullying. ATA has been working with Karen to produce a new two-part coaching program for educators on managing bullying behaviours, to be released later this year. Meanwhile, gain an insight into Karen's approach to the issue of bullying by viewing our webinar, From Bullied to Brilliant – Ending the Pattern of Bullying.

BULLYING

If you want to learn more about bullying, and ways to manage it, our TA toolbox has links to three great sites.

Bullying. No Way! is an Australian website designed to help educators, parents, communities, teenagers and kids learn about bullying, and how best to respond and prevent it.

Kids Matter not only focuses on bullying, but on building the social and emotional skills needed to build relationships with others and manage emotions. 

Be Deadly Online, is a campaign developed with indigenous writers and actors about bullying, reputation and respect, and how to behave online. The information about cyberbullying, social networking, and sexting, as well as the resources for schools and the community, is presented from an indigenous perspective, using relevant language and fun animations.

Just in case ...

100,007 views

5,632 reactions, comments and shares

Well, teacher aides, you certainly are loved, respected and appreciated. What a response we had after publishing this post. Let's hope it translates into more targeted professional learning for teacher aides in schools so that you can 'up your game' even more!

How well do you know your students?

10,272 views
266 reactions, comments and shares

Research shows that relationships and connections keep kids in school. This article, published by Edutopia and shared by us on 1st February, will prompt you to think about what you already know about each student in your class and perhaps identify some gaps that you can work on to get to know them even better. A very worthwhile read!



Why join ATA?

Australian Teacher Aide is the leading provider of professional development for paraprofessional educators in Australian schools. Our purpose is to support schools to develop the capability of teacher aide teams. 

Member schools get unlimited access to evidence-based professional development, customised to the education support role, from as little as $237 per year.