Meaningful Work

Meaningful Work for Teacher Assistants

We appreciate the work of our ESL Teacher Assistants. If you're looking for ideas to fulfill contractual obligations at this time, these might be helpful. In all of these efforts, please communicate and coordinate with ESL and classroom teachers.

• Call students and (with parental permission) check in on, connect and reassure them.

• Call students and (with parental permission) listen to them read for 20 minutes.

• Call students and (with parental permission) offer to assist with coursework.

• Use Microsoft Teams (with parental permission) to tutor struggling students.

• Work with classroom or ESL teachers to modify worksheets for ELs.

• Create digital flashcards in Power Point or Google slides.

• Make a recording reading aloud the material needed for students who cannot read it (This can be done it the class section of Dojo, Wevideo, or using your computer’s built-in camera software.

• Collaborate classroom or ESL teachers to create worksheets using Google applications (Google forms, docs, sheets etc.).

• Curate stories or videos to go along with the topics being covered in class. Find the best video quality, the least ads, the most accessible format.

• Create how to videos to support students in core and ESL classrooms.

• Bounce ideas around with or offer feedback to ESL teachers/classroom teachers. (Sometimes, I just want somebody to watch my video, for example.)

• Sort through the myriad of resources available and curate the best ones, including those shared from DPI, WS/FCS instructional services Power School Learning pages, social media, etc. to find things that teachers can use.

• Assist in checking work and providing feedback.

• Assist in maintaining records of communication, student difficulties, student access, act.

• Safe Schools Training—Use your school credentials to sign on.

• Read/study something related to our work, Start with WIDA’s free online resources: (ELD Standards in Action, Teaching Internationally, The English Language Development Standards). Ask your teachers for additional recommendations.

• Watch videos to learn to use current technology and create artifacts. Videos can be found on the wsfcsELs Power School Learning page (code SCMYQ) and the ESL at Home Google Site under the tab Distance Tech Resources.