When planning their schedules for an upcoming semester, many high school students find themselves signing up as a Teacher’s Assistant for a previous or favored teacher of theirs. For some students, a familiar classroom, no homework and the ability to help a teacher on campus feels ideal. Yet with little benefit to the students schedule, SCHS must provide alternatives other than being a TA during students’ free periods.
Rather than signing up students as TAs in their empty periods, students should instead be given the option for a free period during their school day. The New York Times found that in an attempt to lighten students’ load for the day, schools that added tutorials, later starting times and more free periods set their students up for a more manageable pace of life and gave them a chance to run their own schedule.
In order to encourage students to use a free period more productively, schools must maintain a block of time within a students schedule to help them coordinate themselves. With more time in their schedule, students may find less trouble navigating their class’s curriculum. Overall, modifying a schedule for a student offers more flexibility for their academic and personal benefit.
The position of a student TA should instead be altered to require the student to have previously been enrolled in the course and allow students the opportunity to advise their peers on a course they have taken in the past. Despite the traditional lens of learning from a teacher, according to the coding and tech program SummerTech, students are often more engaged when learning from those closer in age. Further, many students feel more comfortable working with a peer. Working alongside a TA would be beneficial for both the student in the TA position and the students in the class.
The role of a TA is no worthless position. Learning to work underneath a teacher as a student on campus, navigating organizational tactics, grading assignments for the course can be beneficial for both the TA and teacher. In place of only enrolling simply as a TA, however, student schedules should instead be accommodated to fit in a free block period, or adjust their role as TA in order to support their priorities as a student and benefit the campus as a whole. Peer tutor TAs provide an equal partnership where the teacher has additional support inside the classroom and students have the ability to strengthen their technical and professional skills.