Nice work! You completed the e-learning about Supporting Student Learning in the Whole Class.

This handout covers the key points you learned in the module. Share it with the teachers you work with.

Topic 1: Watch and learn from teachers

Everyone in the classroom is a learner. Teacher aides can learn effective ways to work with students by watching the teachers they work with:

• When a teacher is modelling a strategy, sit alongside the students. Show the students that you’re a learner, too.
• Listen carefully to how the teacher explains the task, what the students are saying, and what the teacher says and does in response to students.
• Make sure you understand how to explain the task in your own words and how to recognise whether students are succeeding or getting stuck.
• When you watch a teacher working with students, pay attention to:
  • the content the students are learning
  • the task and how the teacher is explaining it
  • how to recognise whether students are succeeding or getting stuck.

Topic 2: Scan, rove and listen in

When a teacher sets up the class to work independently or in groups, teacher aides play an important role. The teacher aide can support the class by observing the students as they work, moving around the room, and only providing support when a student needs it. These strategies are called scanning, roving and listening in.

Strategy description:	Do this to:
Scan by moving your eyes around the room and looking at each student or group	Observe the students as they work and see if they are actively involved in the task.
Rove by walking around the learning space and avoid sticking yourself to one student or group.	Spend some time with each group, looking at each student’s work, and keep aware of how everyone is going with the task.
Listen in to students as you rove; avoid asking a question or interrupting.	Listen carefully to student conversations about the work so you can hear if they are succeeding or getting stuck with the task.

Topic 3: Hold back the help

Teacher aides can work in different ways in classrooms. Some ways are better than others at helping students to learn.

This table shows the teacher aide practices that research has found to help student learning and the practices that can be unhelpful:

Helpful	Not helpful
Give students some time to try on their own before providing any help. Move around the room, observing how everyone is getting on, and allow students to ask for help before offering it. When a student needs help, start by getting them to show you their work and explain their thinking – this might be all the help they need.	Make sure students finish every task they are given, even if this means doing some of it for them. Keep giving students hints about the right answer until they get it right. Stay sitting beside a student so they know they can ask for help at any time.

Topic 4: Encourage students to stick at it

When students are working on a task, a valuable role for teacher aides is supporting students to stay engaged and keep trying.

Tips for teacher aides when students go off-task:

• Try not to assume that students don't understand or need a lot of help. Try asking a question that gets the student talking about the task. For example: "Can you tell me what the worksheet is asking?"
• Avoid focusing on students' behaviour; focus on the learning. Instead of saying "Stop doing that and get back to work.", try saying "Can you show me where you are up to?"
• Try using these learning-focused statements and questions:
  • "Show me where you are up to."
  • "Show me what you’ve done so far."
  • "Can you tell me what the next step is?"
  • "What did the teacher say the first thing was to do?'

This self-paced e-learning is part of the Teachers and Teacher Aides Working Together resource. There are 11 modules in the series. Find out more by visiting the Teachers and Teacher Aides Working Together site: www.teachersandteachersaides.tki.org.nz.

There is another e-learning activity for teacher aides in Module 11: Teacher Aide Interaction that Supports Student Learning.