There's one main question that teachers are constantly asking themselves and needing our support with: what does this student need next in their learning journey?
As teaching assistants, we spend a lot of time close to student learning, which means we often get insights into what students need on a much more regular basis than a classroom teacher.
We sit beside students as they begin a task. We hear the quiet “I don’t get it” from student who is struggling, and the teacher may not hear from across the room. We see the student who looks busy but has not started. We notice when a student keeps checking with an adult before writing anything down, and we are often there for the small moments when something finally clicks!
Each of these moments are part of the learning journey and they tell us something important about what the learner needs. Being present in these moments of learning puts teaching assistants in a valuable position to collect information for the teacher about learning.
We can notice things about a student’s learning journey that may be difficult for a teacher to see while managing the whole class. But, noticing is only the beginning of the important role we have!
The important question for us is:
What did we notice about the student’s learning, and what does the teacher need to know?
When we step into the habits of good observation and communication, we position ourselves to help the teacher understand the student’s needs and decide what should happen next.
This does not mean reporting everything that happened during the lesson. It means learning to recognise the information that matters and sharing that with the teacher in a timely manner.
Let's break it down into seven steps that we can easily use in our day-to-day routines.
1. Stop and Observe
When a student is struggling, our natural response is often to step in.
We explain the question. We remind them of the next step. We point to the right place. We give them a prompt.
Sometimes we do this so quickly that we miss an important opportunity, and that is to stop and observe.
Before helping, take a brief moment to ask yourself:
- What can the student already do?
- Where do they become stuck?
- What do they do when they are unsure?
- What are they trying independently?
- What seems to be getting in the way?
This does not mean leaving a student to struggle unnecessarily. Sometimes the observation may only take a few seconds. Those few seconds, however, can tell us a great deal.
For example, imagine a student is completing a maths problem.
Instead of immediately showing them the first step, watch what they do. Do they understand what the question is asking? Can they choose an operation? Can they begin but then lose track of the process? Are they waiting for an adult before attempting anything? Do they check what their peer is doing, or look up at the teacher's instructions on the board?
Each of those observations suggests a different need. Sometimes we jump in too quickly and miss out on observing what the student really needs.
2. Find the Point of Difficulty
“They needed help” is not very useful information for a teacher.
We want to find the point at which the student moves from being able to work independently to needing support.
Think of it as finding the edge of their current learning.
A student might:
Read the instructions independently → begin the task → complete the first two steps → become unsure at step three.
Sharing this with the teacher is much more useful than simple saying “They needed help with the task.” Sharing the point at which the student moved from independently working to needing help gives the teacher strong evidence to make informed decisions for learning.
The same principle applies across subjects.
- A student may be able to generate ideas for writing but struggle to organise them.
- They may decode a word accurately but not understand its meaning in the sentence.
- They may know a multiplication fact but not recognise when to use multiplication in a word problem.
Try to identify the point where the learning changed. That point is often exactly what the teacher needs to know.
3. Notice What Support Helps
Once you have observed the student attempting the learning, you can provide support.
But keep observing.
What happens when you give a prompt?
Perhaps you say:
“Read the question again and tell me what it is asking you to find.”
The student rereads it, explains what they need to find and then completes the problem independently.
That is useful information.
It tells us that the student may not need someone to show them how to solve the problem. They may need support to interpret the question.
Notice the moment when the student can take back their independence and complete the task.
Remember, we always offer the least amount of support first to enable the student to continue. If we jump straight in and model how to do it, we may miss that the student only needed a prompt or clue.
The support they need might be:
- extra processing time
- rereading the instruction
- highlighting key information
- a visual cue
- a reminder of a previously learned strategy
- one guiding question
- modelling an example (if all the other supports have not worked)
- breaking the task into smaller steps (chunking)
Once you have offered some support, then notice what happens next.
Did the support enable the student to continue independently? If so, then this is what the teacher needs to hear about. Your observations about the support strategies that work are important markers for the teacher to know about.
4. Look for Patterns
If a student has one difficult lesson, this does not necessarily tell us that a student has a particular learning need or disability. If you suspect a student may have a deeper learning need, then speaking with the teacher is important. You will need to help establish that a pattern of difficulties is impacting learning.
Patterns are much more useful.
You might begin to notice...
“When instructions have several steps, she usually completes the first one and then asks what to do next.”
“He can explain his ideas verbally, but he writes very little unless an adult helps him organise the ideas first.”
“I've noticed she is now checking her own work before asking me if it is correct.”
Observations are not only about difficulties; they're also about success!
Progress, independence, problem solving, and successful strategy use are equally important to notice and communicate with the teacher.
Over time, these observations help build a clearer picture of the learner and what they need next in their learning.
5. Describe What You See and Hear
This is an important distinction.
Compare these two statements:
Interpretation:
“He wasn't motivated today.”
Observation:
“He looked at the worksheet for several minutes without beginning. When I asked him to explain the first question verbally, he answered correctly, but he did not write until I prompted him to start.”
The first is an interpretation with an opinion-based observation.
The second describes what happened and what you saw the learner do (or not do).
There may be many reasons a student does not begin a task. Motivation is only one possibility.
Good observations focus first on what we can see and hear.
Instead of jumping to the conclusion that:
“She doesn't understand fractions.”
Try finding the point of struggle. For example:
“She could identify one-half and one-quarter in the diagrams, but when the shapes were divided into unequal parts, she still labelled one part as one-quarter.”
Now the teacher has information they can act on.
6. Share What Matters
Teachers do not need a minute-by-minute account of everything that happened while you were supporting a student. Before sharing an observation, ask:
Could this information affect what the teacher does next?
It is probably worth communicating with the teacher when you notice:
- a misconception
- a repeated point of difficulty
- an unexpected gap in understanding
- a strategy that works particularly well
- increasing or decreasing independence
- learning that the student can demonstrate in one context but not another
- progress the teacher may not have seen
- something significantly different from the student's usual learning or participation.
The goal is not simply to tell the teacher that a student needed help.
The goal is to help the teacher understand what the student needs, and as a teaching assistant you have rich knowledge of this student as you are often beside them at the point of struggle and learning. What you see, hear, observe and do is so important!
7. Communicate Using a Clear Structure
A simple structure for giving the teacher information can help. Try summarising what you need to share with the teacher using these four questions:
- What could the student do?
Start with what you observed the student doing independently.
- Where did they need support?
Be specific about the point of difficulty.
- What support helped?
Explain the prompt, strategy or adjustment you used.
- What happened after the support?
Did the student continue independently? Did the same difficulty appear again? Did they still need substantial assistance?
For example, you might say to the teacher at the end of the lesson:
“Mia could identify the main idea when we read the paragraph together. When she read the next paragraph independently, she chose an interesting detail rather than the main idea. I prompted her with a question, ‘What is this whole paragraph mostly telling us?’ and she was then able to identify it. The same thing happened with the next paragraph.”
This short conversation gives the teacher useful information about Mia's current learning and the prompt that helped her.
Compare that with:
“Mia needed quite a lot of help with reading today.”
Both statements may be true, but only one helps the teacher to decide what to do next. Only one gives the teacher a clear picture of the point of struggle and learning.
Observe → Support → Notice → Communicate
Teaching assistants do not need to diagnose learning difficulties or decide the next teaching program. Our role is to provide the teacher with useful evidence.
A simple cycle can guide us:
OBSERVE What can the student do independently? Where do they become stuck?
SUPPORT What is the least support needed to help them move forward?
NOTICE What changes when support is provided? Is there a pattern?
COMMUNICATE What does the teacher need to know about this student's learning and needs?
The teacher can then bring that information together with assessment, classroom observations, curriculum expectations and their knowledge of the student to decide what happens next.
Moving from simply helping students to noticing learning is a big step for a teaching assistant. It takes a bit of practice, but it is one of the most valuable skills you will develop.
Next time you are in a class supporting learners, take a moment to:
Watch.
Observe.
Listen.
Notice what the student is actually doing (or not doing).
Then, when you do provide support, keep observing what changes.
At the end of the lesson, perhaps the most valuable thing we can say to the teacher is
“Here's what I noticed about their learning....”
