The Associate Teacher Program: A Day in the Life
The Associate Teachers (ATs) at Springfield Prep keep our school running like a well-oiled machine-- providing differentiated support to students, coverage when teachers are out, and leading lunch and recess duties all the while growing as educators through coaching, professional development, and lots of collaboration with classroom teachers. That all sounds great in theory, but how does it actually unfold in practice? Read on for a “Day in the Life” of our Kindergarten/1st Grade Associate Teacher, Vielka Ortega. Thanks, Vielka for this amazing, minute-by-minute documentation!
7:25-7:40 Morning Duties: I start my morning off by writing a quote and word of the day. I like to do this because I want my students to get some encouragement throughout their day and help increase their vocabulary.
7:40-8:15 Prep Time: Every morning we receive an email from our operations team updating us of any coverage that might be needed. Today, I found out that I will be covering in Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grade! I quickly rushed to meet the amazing teachers for whom I was covering for and teachers who knew the content of the material I was going to teach in order to be well prepared for the students.
8:15-9:55 Coverage: Supporting 2nd grade: I taught Lit Blocks (our extended literacy instructional block) and helped supervised the bathroom break for the absent teacher.
10:00-10:40: Supporting Kindergarten: I supported Lit Blocks and do testing while one teacher was in a meeting.
10:40-11:20: Lunch and Prep time for the rest of the day.
11:25-11:45 Lunch Duty: I am in charge of the 5th grade lunch where I monitor students while they are enjoying their lunch.
11:45-11:50: One of our Kindergarten student earned a high five break with me. Today we decided to draw on the board.
11:50-12:55 First grade Intervention: I was able to do some of my regular interventions with my students where we worked on some reading skills.
12:55-1:30 Prep Time: I gathered all my materials for my next group and coverage. Gathered my materials for the next day.
1:35-1:55 Math Intervention: Kindergarten intervention group where we worked on math skills.
2:00-2:30 Supporting 1st grade: While supporting 1st grade, Ms. George and I enjoyed a much needed recharge snack.
2:30-3:20 Supporting 1st grade: One of our teachers had to leave to go home early so I helped out with with 1st grade snack, CGI (our math story problem block in the younger grades), and made some last minute needed copies for a teacher in need.
3:20-3:50 Dismissal: Supporting 1st grade: Taking our students to the bus room to be dismissed after a long, busy day!
Q&A WITH VIELKA
Wow! This was definitely an action-packed day. How does this compare to a typical day?
I feel like it depends if I’m covering or doing my regular schedule. When I’m doing my regular schedule I don’t need to spend that time checking in with teachers about lesson plans because I just use the lessons I have planned myself. That’s probably the biggest difference. Days without coverage run a bit smoother.
What were your highlights from the day? Any stressful moments?
Getting to spend time with 2nd grade! it was my first time working with them and ever since then, the second graders have been saying hi which is sweet! When it comes to stress, it was a little difficult to adjust my teaching mindset to the three different grades. You need to teach a kindergartener a little differently than a 2nd grader.
How do you see fulfilling your AT responsibilities preparing you for your role as a 1st-grade teacher next year?
As an AT we cover a lot. That could be the biggest challenge but it’s also its own reward. On a day like this when I was in three different grade levels, I got to feel what it would be like to be a kindergarten teacher, a first-grade teacher, and a second-grade teacher and it prepares you to be efficient with your planning and preparation for different types of lessons.
What would you want anyone considering an Associate Teacher position at our school to know? Any advice?
Come with an open mind! As an Associate Teacher, you fulfill so many different roles and while it can be stressful at times it’s such a high reward knowing that your work is needed and appreciated. As an AT, you truly prepare to become a lead teacher. The hard work you’re doing is for a good reason.
