Latest / ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿 / ✨️Shout Out to Our TAs 🙌

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✨️Shout Out to Our TAs 🙌 · ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿

• 0:05
  Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of Aligned and
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  Thriving for Teachers, the podcast where we speak the
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  truth, honour the heart behind all the work and celebrate the
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  people who make it all possible. And that is what today's episode
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  is all about. We've already celebrated our
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  admin heroes and today we are celebrating our Tasmania, our
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  totally awesome classroom legends.
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  And this is a love letter to them because honestly, we could
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  not do our jobs without them. And if you are one and Tasmania,
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  this is a love letter to you. So whether you call them
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  Tasmania or ESS or education support, whatever you are, they
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  are the glue. They work across all classes,
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  across all needs, across all moods, ours and our students,
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  and they just keep showing up. So this one is for them and
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  every teacher who knows how powerful that partnership can
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  be. So let's be real, Tasmania hold
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  it all together. Every thriving teacher has a TA
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  in the background, keeping the vibe in check, running
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  interference, holding space when we're out and about or about to
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  lose our marbles. They are the ones that step into
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  a classroom, meet chaos, and instantly read the room and
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  start putting out those little spot fires with us.
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  They're the ones that comfort the crying kid when you're
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  trying to teach a concept to the rest of the class.
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  They're the ones that are helping you to prep the work,
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  cut the work, print the work, laminate the work, make the
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  beautiful displays. That is definitely a big one for
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  me. I've, I've gone through a lot of
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  Tasmania. That sounds bad.
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  I mean, I've worked with a lot of Tasmania and one thing I
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  always had them doing was my displays because I'm not
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  fantastic at them. I, I just get, I, I think I've
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  got ADHD myself and ASD, a little bit of everything.
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  Not diagnosed yet of course, but I tended to forget what I was
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  doing and get distracted. So then I never really finished
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  them or they'd be like really good in spaces and then not so
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  good in others. So Tasmania have really assisted
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  me in this process to make me look like this amazing teacher
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  who makes amazing displays, when really I've just had a totally
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  awesome human assisting me in that process.
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  They're also the ones that keep an eye on those quiet students,
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  especially those ones that you might see slipping through the
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  cracks. They go and pick them up and
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  somehow they're the ones that never forget who's allergic to
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  what and which kid had a meltdown at recess and what was
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  the other things that we needed to follow up on Because they're
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  like you, they're your second brain.
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  You share a brain. Sometimes it's just there.
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  They just know the class just as well as what we do.
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  Sometimes even better, especially if they've been at
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  that school for a long time and you're new to that school.
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  They know everything and they are like your go to little
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  expert of who's friends with who and who's not.
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  Which parent is this? And they're always the ones that
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  you go to. So Tasmania, they work with
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  everyone and they still smile about it too.
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  They get to work with some of our most complex learners, some
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  of our loudest learners and our quiet ones too.
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  And every single adult in the building.
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  Sometimes they start their day in Year 3 literacy and they
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  might end in the high need sensory room with no two hours.
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  The same. They cop the confusing
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  directions, the vague photocopying instructions, every
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  teacher's mood good and bad, the behaviour meltdowns, and often
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  don't get enough thanks. And yet they still come back
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  again and again because they care, they're adaptable, they're
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  compassionate, they're often intuitive, and sometimes they
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  only come in a very chaotic classroom.
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  This one. You might be lucky enough to
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  have the TA that reads your mind.
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  One of the most beautiful TA experiences I've ever had.
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  I was in full teacher mode, juggling 5 different groups.
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  I think it was a Grade 1. The behaviours were really up.
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  I was trying to differentiate across a whole variety of
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  levels. You know the drill.
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  And without saying a word, my TA has entered the room.
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  She'd been working with me for that whole year and she just
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  knew. She knew exactly what I needed.
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  I turned around to go and explain stuff to her and to work
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  with this, how to work with this other group I wanted.
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  She was already there. She was already at the table,
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  modelling the task, handing out the pencils, redirecting kids
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  quietly. She was giving the exact support
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  that I needed with 0 fuss and just gave me like the nod, like
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  I got you. I was like Oh my God this is
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  great, this is amazing. I don't even need to say
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  anything, we just had that relationship where she could
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  just honestly read my mind and it was amazing and we worked as
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  a perfect team. We were just In Sync.
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  I we'd make eye contact and she'd just know exactly what I
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  needed or what I meant. We weren't just colleagues, like
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  we were a team, a solid unit and I have never forgotten how
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  supported I felt in that classroom and in that space.
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  It was honestly one of the most amazing years of my teaching
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  career because we just had that. And you might have that with a
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  special TA. So make sure you tell them how
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  much you appreciate them because they need to hear it because we
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  do. We do appreciate everything they
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  do. So then there's the flip side.
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  And I know that if Tasmania are listening, this happens to you
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  too. We don't always get the perfect
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  match. Let's be real.
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  No partnership is ever completely smooth.
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  There was one year where I worked with a TA that I pretty
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  much clashed with every single day.
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  We had completely different styles of teaching, different
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  understandings of what education looks like, different
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  communication rhythms, different expectations.
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  We were just on different planets really.
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  And it was hard and at times a little bit awkward, but I tried.
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  We tried because Tasmania aren't just extra help, they're also
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  human beings. They have experience, they have
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  ideas and they have emotions too.
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  So eventually I realised that I probably wasn't playing to their
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  strengths and I was trying to control too much and tell them
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  what to do. When I shifted more to open
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  conversations of what do you feel confident in leading or
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  where do you feel like you could best support in the classroom
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  space? Today, everything started to
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  change. We still weren't besties, but we
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  had a mutual respect for each other and that's what mattered
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  because then we were a team for the kids.
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  OK. And you might have that if
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  you're ATA working with a teacher that you feel you have
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  that relationship with. So maybe you need to change your
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  language too and sort of have that open line of communication.
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  That's just an idea. So working with Tasmania, I'm
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  taking a deep breath because this one can be always
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  controversial, but I want to make this very clear that I am a
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  teacher and I have this opinion that we are not above them, OK,
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  Because you are not like in charge of your TA, you work with
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  them. You are not there to have them
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  be your assistant. Like they're trained,
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  experienced professionals too. They often have insights that
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  you don't even realise because you're so busy teaching that
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  they see other things going on. So I like to look at it like a
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  partnership, like you're a team in that in that classroom space.
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  You are working together. OK.
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  I mean, and This is why I said it's controversial.
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  Everyone's going to have a different view of this.
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  But I want people to know that you are a team in that classroom
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  space and that's how the kids view you.
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  They have that respect for you as the teacher.
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  They have respect for whoever it is that's in your classroom as
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  that TA as well, and I would hope that you would have respect
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  for them too and vice versa. So here's how I work to build an
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  amazing working relationship and I do my absolute best.
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  I always ask for their input, so what's working, what's not?
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  They see things that I don't see, so why not ask them?
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  Another thing, I give clear instructions as a shocker for
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  the mid morning coffee blurt of just blurting out everything I
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  needed and that probably wasn't the best thing to do so I had to
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  get better at giving visuals. Like Bonus points to you if you
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  can give a full list of written instructions for your day.
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  Woo Hoo I was not that person. I I am an organised human.
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  But sometimes I would forget things and I would give the
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  vaguest of photocopying instructions.
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  Some of them got it but sometimes even I didn't know
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  what I meant. So make sure you give the
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  clearest instructions that you can, like I talked about before,
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  but learn their strengths and lean into that.
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  Some Tasmania are like behaviour ninjas, some thrive in small
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  group instruction groups, some love prepping.
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  So let them shine where they like to be appreciated most and
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  where they are going to thrive and be strong.
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  And if you're a TA and you need to step up and talk to your
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  teacher and say I'm actually really good at doing XYZ, can I
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  have a go at that? Go for it, give it a go, but
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  never dump or delegate without any context.
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  Like, oh, can you run this group?
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  That's fine. But then what are you working
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  on? What's the intention?
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  What's the goal? What are you actually trying to
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  achieve? They need to know that too.
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  So again, it's that give and take mutual respect situation.
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  They actually need to know what they're doing and you need to
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  know what you're doing to tell them what they're doing makes
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  sense, I think. And then check in personally,
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  like how are you going? Not just like, hey, how you
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  going? Typical Aussie speak.
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  You're not actually asking the question.
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  You're just like, hey, how you going?
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  And then you keep walking. No, no, I'm talking like
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  actually caring about what they have to say.
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  So how are you going today and checking in and actively
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  listening to their answer and response.
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  So you're checking in to see how they're going and how they're
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  coming set up for the day. OK, so confession time.
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  And I sort of touched on this about copying instructions that
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  I was that person that probably handed over worksheets and just
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  said can you copy this? And I'd probably forgotten to
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  say double sided or that I needed 2 pages and then one one
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  I didn't want upside down. I wanted that one put the right
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  way up. Or do you only need 6 copies or
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  26 copies? Yep, I forgot, probably didn't
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  mention that the photocopier was also jammed at the time and I
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  didn't want to deal with it. So it was like, oh, if I leave
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  that for my TA, they'll have to deal with the jammed photocopier
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  and I can just go teach. Please don't do that.
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  Please learn from my mistakes. Let's not make our Tasmania have
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  to decode our absolute chaos of our of our brains like me.
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  Respect their time and be clear and own it when you mess up and
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  make a mistake. Oh, I do every time.
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  And they'll love you for it too, even if you laugh about it
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  together later. Like I have many times about my
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  silly little mistakes or notes that I've written that make
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  absolutely zero sense to me or anyone else because I've
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  probably written them at a very dodgy time in the morning.
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  So please just be clear. So let's just take a moment now
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  to celebrate the types of Tasmania that I have loved
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  working with. And you might have worked with
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  some like this too. You've got the young, fresh out
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  of TAFE person who has the energy, who brings creativity
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  and curiosity to your classroom. The seasoned wise, been here
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  since the building was built, TA who just knows everyone and
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  everything. You've got the mum vibe.
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  TA who somehow just always has tissues, hair ties, nurofen and
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  panadol in their bag and the calming energy all the time no
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  matter what's going on. Then you get the ones that keep
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  you grounded, the ones who say you're doing such a good job
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  even when they say that you are utterly drowning.
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  You might have the ones that laugh with you after a really
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  wild lesson and say, well that was a mess, but we survived.
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  Let's go again tomorrow. Your magic guys, every single
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  one of you. And if you work with some that
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  are like this again, please go thank them and tell them how
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  magical it is that you are blessed to work with them each
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  and every day. So let's say it together as some
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  affirmations. So you can say them out loud or
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  you can say them in your heart. But I honour the work my TA does
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  every day. And if you're ATA, you can flip
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  it and say that you honour the work that you get to do with
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  your teacher every day. I choose to work in partnership,
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  not hierarchy. We are stronger together and we
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  thrive when we respect one another.
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  And lastly, I'm grateful for the support, the laughter and the
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  heart that they bring. So to every TA out there,
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  whatever your school calls you, you are not background support.
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  You are frontline magic. And if you are a teacher
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  listening, make sure you remind them of that because they hold
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  space, they hold hearts, and sometimes they even hold us
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  together when we're about to lose it.
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  And I get a little bit emotional at that point.
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  Sorry because I know, but I've had quite a few Tasmania that
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  have probably held me together, especially at some particular
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  schools that I've worked at that they were probably the glue that
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  held our class together and stuck me back together to help
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  me get through my probably year from hell.
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  So thank you and if you have ATA that's like that too, please
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  make sure you thank them. Sorry guys, I didn't think I
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  would get to that point, but I'm only human.
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  Just don't forget that yes, if you're a teacher, you're the one
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  planning the lessons, but we all know that Tasmania are the ones
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  that are there to help our classrooms thrive and to help
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  them hum the way that they should.
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  So thank you. Thank you for turning up every
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  day, even when you've had horrible days and you turn up
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  the next day still with that smile on your face.
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  Thank you for staying calm and for doing all the work that most
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  people probably never see. Even the parents might not get
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  to see what they what Tasmania do for you in the classroom.
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  So we see you, we love you, and this episode was for all of you,
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  especially all of the beautiful Tasmania that I've ever had the
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  privilege of working with. So thank you, don't ever forget
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  how valued you are. And teachers, please go and do a
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  shout out to your Tasmania and thank them for all the hard work
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  that they do for all of us. So until next time guys, stay
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  aligned and keep thriving and I will talk to you again next
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  time. See ya.