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Many times in the younger grades you have the privilege of having an assistant in your classroom. I have had the privilege of working with an assistant almost my entire teaching career. The only time I did not have an assistant was during my time in first grade.
The best part about having an assistant is having another set of eyes and ears in the classroom. This helps trememdously with classroom management. Plus you have the added bonus of another professional adult who can back you up, if needed. In the past, there are times when having the support of my assistant enabled me to advocate for myself, my assistant, and our students.
Tip One
When you first meet your assistant it is good to take some time to get to know each other. Then you can get an idea of each other’s personalities and teaching styles. You can, also, find out what your assistant’s strengths in the classroom are, their preferred tasks, and what experience they bring with them.
Tip Two
Just like it’s important to build relationships with your students, it’s important to build a relationship with your assistant. This makes working together a lot easier. In fact, I do not think of any of my assistants as an assistant, but more like a co-teacher and friend.
Tip Three
Utilize lists. One of the things I find most difficult about working with an assistant is it’s hard for me to direct her on what to do. I don’t want her to feel like I’m bossing her around or demanding her to do something, even though, technically, I have the right to tell her what needs to be done. Note: I use she/her in this post only because all of my assistants have been female.
The best way I have found to do this is to have a list of tasks for my assistant to complete. One of my assistants preferred a working list that I added to as I thought of things to complete and another preferred a weekly list of items. This is another great thing to discuss with your assistant before doing it. Ask her how she prefers you to ask her to complete needed tasks such as making copies, stapling papers, ripping pages out of workbooks etc.
Another thing we had is a set list of responsibilities that were hers to complete on a daily basis like checking folders, wiping down tables, getting snack ready, planning a small group, etc. This list differed dependent upon the needs of each class.
Tip Four
Communicate often with your assistant. Not just about work stuff, but life stuff, too. We’re only human and our home life sometimes gets in the way, especially at the more stressful times. Communicating that with each other will help you to better understand each other. For instance, you’ll understand why your assistant seems to need more sit down time than on a regular day or vice versa. Also, be sure to share with your assistant anything from a meeting that she wasn’t able to attend that would be pertinent to her. Often times, you are your assistant’s only way to get that information.
Tip Five
Involve your assistant in the teaching of students. Your assistant will feel more a part of the classroom community and valued for their expertise. My assistant always ran small groups with students. In preschool, I usually planned them, but sometimes my assistant had amazing ideas that we used, too. In kindergarten, my assistant did all the planning for her groups. Now, I work with a literacy assistant and she does almost everything that I do. In one of my preschool classes, my assistant, also, ran a whole group lesson a few times a week. How involved with the teaching of students your assistant is is a conversation for you and your assistant, but watch out that you don’t hand over too much of that responsibilty. You are still the certified teacher in the classroom and your admin team will probably not approve of your assistant teaching several lessons a day.
Conclusion
Thankfully, I have never been in this situation, but sometimes you may get an assistant that just doesn’t work. Sometimes personalities clash or you’ll get an assistant that, literally, does nothing. What then? In this situation I would do my best to have a respectful conversation with my assistant sharing my concerns and see if we could come up with a viable solution. If that doesn’t work, you will have to speak to admin to find out what can be done. Sometimes you just have to finish out the year and get through it.
I am fortunate to be able to call all of my former assistants friends and am still in contact with them to this day, even the ones that live several states away. It is my hope that you will be able to do that, too!
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