Senior Lauren Bettenga goes to PetSmart with biology teacher Colleen Raasch once every couple of weeks. “When we go, it’s usually a short trip where we’ll pick up both frozen and live mice for the snakes to eat, replacement filters for the fish tanks (if needed), fish food, and just anything else that the animals might need that Mrs. Raasch is out of!” As Mrs. Raasch’s teacher assistant, this is just one of Bettenga’s many tasks.
There is often much more to the life of a teacher’s assistant than what meets the eye. Behind the obvious veil of copy making and paper grading frequently are much more unusual tasks.
Bettenga has also picked up wisdom from her work as a teacher assistant. She explained, “I have learned to appreciate the high level of organization required in establishing a successful classroom environment. There’s a lot of preparation that goes on behind the scenes!”
Emily Maenner, a teacher assistant for social studies teacher Brian Simpson, has similar views. “Being a TA has definitely given me a greater appreciation for teachers in that there are often times when the lesson or material is clearly explained in class yet students don’t listen and therefore clearly miss the mark on the assignment. I try to listen more in class so I only have to hear directions once.”
Of course, teacher assistants are kept busy with other tasks, too. Senior Rebecca Kidder is a teacher assistant in Spanish teacher Alejandro Diaz’s fourth hour. Currently, her main jobs are to write, make copies of, and correct the vocabulary tests for the Spanish III class. Mr. Diaz has also given her money to buy him a sandwich and a coke on occasion.
English teacher Jessica Froehlich said that she has her teacher assistants “help create curriculum, manage book check in/out, run errands to the copy center or for mail, help with theater production if a show is going on, assist in lessons during class, and clean the desks and white board.”
Does this sound like fun to you? The process for becoming a teacher assistant is fairly simple. According to counselor Lisa Burnham, a student interested in becoming a teacher assistant should talk to the teacher that they wish to assist, and then head over to the counselor’s office to pick up a form to be filled out with their teacher and then returned to the counselor’s office. Although a student can do this any time of the year, the best option is during the first week of school.
