Teacher Assistants

Teacher Assistants typically perform the following tasks: • Provide assistance to students with special needs. • Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement. • Supervise students in classrooms, halls, cafeterias, school yards, and gymnasiums, or on field trips. • Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms. • Carry out therapeutic regimens, such as behavior modification and personal development programs, under the supervision of special education instructors, psychologists, or speech-language pathologists. • Tutor and assist children individually or in small groups to help them master assignments and to reinforce learning concepts presented by teachers. • Employ special educational strategies or techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, or memory. • Enforce administration policies and rules governing students. • Observe students' performance, and record relevant data to assess progress. • Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage. • Present subject matter to students under the direction and guidance of teachers, using lectures, discussions, supervised role-playing methods, or by reading aloud. • Discuss assigned duties with classroom teachers to coordinate instructional efforts. • Instruct students in daily living skills required for independent maintenance and self-sufficiency, such as hygiene, safety, or food preparation. • Prepare classrooms with a variety of materials or resources for children to explore, manipulate, or use in learning activities or imaginative play. • Distribute teaching materials, such as textbooks, workbooks, papers, and pencils, to students. • Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and social development. • Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations. • Clean classrooms. • Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their eye levels and perceptual skills. • Prepare lesson materials, bulletin board displays, exhibits, equipment, and demonstrations.