TA TALK
Issue 44
June 2019
Welcome to the June edition of TA Talk.
Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of meeting educators from schools around Australia at the EduTech Conference in Sydney. The conversations were encouraging as we found most visitors to our stand in Innovation Alley were extremely motivated to ensure their teacher aides had easy access to relevant professional development. One of the highlights was meeting, in person, some of our member school staff.
During the EduTech conference, we ran a competition for a school membership. The lucky winner of the school membership was Cessnock High School in New South Wales. Congratulations Cessnock High!
Last week, we opened nominations for 2019 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year. You have until 2nd August to nominate a teacher aide whom you believe is worthy of this year's award. We have already received a number of high calibre nominations so we anticipate our job is going to be very tough again this year. For more information, along with a link to the nomination form, go to the web page, Australian Teacher Aide of the Year.
We continue to work on our Job Board, a brand new feature which will be available very soon. Schools will use the job board to advertise Positions Vacant, and individuals seeking employment will be able to post Positions Wanted. We are excited to add this great feature to our range of member benefits. Non-members will also be able to post Positions Vacant and Positions Wanted on a fee-for-service basis.
We wish you all a relaxing holiday and look forward to seeing you back, refreshed and ready, in Term 3.
Warm regards
Mandy and Stella
WHEN TO CREATE A CPD DIARY ENTRY
When you attend our live web events, a CPD diary entry and a certificate of attendance are created for you automatically. To view your certificate, log in to your ATA account, select MyPortal - My Content - Certificates. Your CPD diary entry can be found in the CPD Diary folder.
When you complete a resource from our Professional Development library, you will need to create your CPD Diary entry manually. Once you have created your CPD Diary entry, let us know via the Contact Us form and we will upload your certificate to your diary entry.
Phrases and Word Groups - Helping Students Write Better Sentences
In this tutorial, we explore how students can use different types of phrases and word groups to write better sentences.
Members told us what they learned during this live web event:
How to use existing sentences, to develop and expand students' skills in writing their own sentences -
Joanne
That chunking sentences is a great way to help students write better sentences - Raylene
Today was my first webinar and I loved it. Will be joining many more in the future. Thank you - Mary-Rose
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics - The Keys to Literacy Success
Teaching Handwriting, Reading And Spelling Skills, more commonly known as THRASS, is a phonetics teaching tool that makes reading and spelling much simpler, faster and more sustainable than conventional ‘phonic’ approaches.
In this webinar, ATA guest presenter, Denyse Ritchie, co-author and developer of THRASS, talks about why phonemic awareness and phonics are key to literacy success and how to use THRASS as a remedial tool.
What attendees said:
Thank you very much - great advice for secondary students, or older kids! - Julie
Thank you so much for today. I have learnt so much and I now understand why children spell words like they do - Anne Maree
Thanks a lot. Loved the webinar. I truly get THRASS - makes great sense. Wish all schools could use it - Anna
MEMBER WEBINAR: An Introduction to Digital Technologies
- Tuesday 9th July 2019 @ 4:15pm AEST
In this tutorial we will explore the basics of digital technology, and discuss what you need to know and be able to do to support students.
ATA POLO SHIRT WINNER - JUNE
Member Webinar Challenge
Recently, we introduced a fun competition at our member web events. At the start of each event, we set a challenge for attendees that relates to the webinar content and we announce the winner at the end. This month's winner is Jean Jeffery. Jean built on a simple sentence using beautifully descriptive phrases to create the winning sentence.
WHAT'S TRENDING ON THE ATA FACEBOOK PAGE
Teacher aides, the glue that hold our schools together
70,527 views
5,575 reactions, comments and shares
We know it is a team effort in schools and we recognise all educators for their expertise and dedication. But ... teacher aides really are the glue, don't you think? :)
Self care ... it's so important
46,253 views 2,923 reactions, comments and shares
'If you do not make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness.' Such an important reminder to us all. Despite what others might think, we are not super human. Take care!
HAVE YOU RENEWED YOUR MEMBERSHIP?
SCHOOL MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
If your school membership is due for renewal, make sure you make a payment prior to going on holidays. This will ensure your teacher aide team have uninterrupted access to resources and events. Not sure when your membership is due? Log in to your ATA account and navigate to My Portal.
Leaders in Professional Learning for Teacher Aides
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