TA TALK

Issue 20

June 2017

Well, we did it! We moved to our new website on 1st June and we are loving all the new member features, particularly, My Portal, a private portal available to all our members and subscribers. We hope you are finding this feature useful and that you are starting to use it to keep all your records in the one place. In this issue, we have, again, included some useful tips to help you orientate yourself to the new site.

All in all it has been an extremely full and busy month however we still found the time to publish three new professional development resources. Our newest program, Effective Teacher Aide Practices for Schools (eTAPS) is developing well and just this week we revealed the framework for the program in our community webinar. We are also delivering a series of member webinars at the moment that are previews of each stage of the program. We don't reveal everything in these sessions but those attending are beginning to get a sense of the opportunities available for improving the delivery of learning support to students.

Next month we are teaming up with Lydia Meem, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Autism Understanding, to deliver a webinar, and you guessed it, it is all about working with students with Autism. We can't wait to bring this to you.

As most of you are about to start holidays, and some of you are already well into the mid year break, we wish you all the best for a happy and restful time. We look forward to having you back in Term 3.

Warm regards

Mandy and Stella

Directors

Australian Teacher Aide 

We thought you might appreciate some support to familiarise yourself with using the new website. So, we have started an FAQ page to answer some of your more commonly asked questions about getting started. They include:

• How to log in to ATA
• What to do after logging in
• Where to find professional development resources
• How to register for a live webinar event

Please let us know if you would like us to add answers to any other questions. 

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: Assistive Technology for Students with Disability

In this webinar, Jeff Souter (Assistive and Inclusive Technologies, Department of Education and Training) explores a range of assistive and inclusive technologies that can be used to enhance the capacity for students to engage with their curriculum and to support the role of the teacher aide in delivering effective learning to their students. It includes technologies you will already have access to, as well as a range of tools for the scope of students with disability that are found in all schools.

MEMBER WEBINAR: eTAPS Module 1 Preview - How to Plan for Student Learning

During this member webinar we talked about learning intentions, success criteria and prior knowledge, and the relationship of all three to student learning. We learned a lot from your collective poll responses but there was one thing in particular that participants told us they would do more of, in future, when working with students. Watch the webinar recording to find out what that important step was.

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: A Collaborative Framework For Student Success

In this webinar, Stella Liliendal, Co-Founder of ATA, provides some surprising data collected from Australian schools over the past few years, which shows that not all teacher aides are being adequately supported by their schools, to work effectively with students. Stella reveals how school collaboration, and evidence based practices, can improve the way teacher aides support students, and also lead to more successful student learning.

MEMBER WEBINAR: eTAPS Module 2 Preview - How to Support Student Learning

Register and join us to preview Module 2: How to Support Student Learning, from the Effective Teacher Aide Practices for Schools program, eTAPS. During this interactive workshop activity we explore practical strategies teacher aides can use to scaffold students in the learning process. 

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: Practical Strategies For Assisting Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Guest presenter, Lydia Meem, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Autism Understanding Pty Ltd, joins us for our next community webinar on Tuesday 25th July @4:15pm.

Lydia specialises in helping families recognise the joys and overcome the challenges of autism by tailoring behavioural strategies to suit the needs of awesome quirky children and adolescents at home and at school. Lydia has worked as a Clinical Psychologist in a mainstream independent school for students from Preschool to Year 12. She previously worked as a Family Counsellor at ASPECT’s Hunter School for Children with Autism, providing diagnostic assessments, outreach to schools and facilitating autism training.

Through Autism Understanding, Lydia started running autism workshops for teachers in 2009, and opened her clinical psychology practice in 2012.

We are very much looking forward to Lydia's presentation.

More details, including registration information, coming soon.

Prior Knowledge

Have a look at our new Toolbox on Learning Strategies. The information complements the content we have been delivering in our eTAPS webinars.

Where do you get these?

11,109 views

401 reactions, comments and shares

We know that teacher aides can be stationery 'nerds' and grammar 'gestapo' and we mean that in the most affectionate way, of course :). So it was no surprise that many of you loved this collection of pencils. Some of you even kindly shared where to purchase them. Thank you!!

You might find this table useful; it breaks down some of the key differences between ADHD and sensory processing issues.

9,574 views

289 reactions, comments and shares

This post also received lots of interest. Sensory Processing issues and ADHD can have some overlap and can occur together. This article, by Peg Rosen, sets out the differences in a concise, easy to read table.