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Does every student have a similar ability to cope up with school lessons? No. You will always find few students in every class who need more attention. Also, they need extra help to keep up with the rest of the class. This is where the need to shadowing a student at school comes in.
In this blog, you will learn in-depth on how a teacher can provide shadowing a student at school and its numerous benefits.
Who is a Shadow Teacher?
A shadow teacher offers shadowing a student at school services of a child with learning difficulties by managing the needs of that child. They are also known as one-to-one assistants, learning support assistants, student aides, or even student tutors.
Generally, these teachers are often hired by the student’s family to provide additional support for their child. However, both high potential students or students with additional needs may need them throughout the school for academic, behavioural, social, or communication needs.
How can a Teacher Provide Shadowing a Student at School?
Why do you send your kids to school? It is because schools help children to develop their academic skills, social skills, and independence. At the same time, teachers’ main tasks are to understand and build knowledge of the kids. Besides teaching academics, teachers help their students to know how to make social interaction, sharing and caring with others.
However, sad but true, every kid doesn’t learn at the same speed as their peers. Hence, they may need additional support in few aspects. So, this is the place where the role of a teacher in shadowing a student at school begins.
Like the definition, a shadow teacher is an educational support who works directly with a single child with unique demands during their school years. As a result, the student receives the extra attention that they need and become helpful.
Even these assistants are experts in teaching students with various learning disabilities, and they know how to support them accordingly. With the assistance of a shadow teacher kids with special needs can attend a mainstream school.
Shadowing a student requires some understanding. For example, a teacher has to understand a child’s age, grade level, family background and social development, emotional interaction with the student’s academic abilities, and learning style to determine strategies for success. Also, the character, psychology, and educational philosophy of the teacher make student shadowing easier.
Key Ingredients for Successful Shadow Teaching
The key components of successful shadow teaching are a cooperative attitude and patience. You have to try to read the kid’s minds and understand what they are going through. Also, you should give total attention and shower your empathy on them. Communication and collaboration are two great ingredients to achieve your target goals and make your student behave like other active students.
Shadow students get to explore their uniqueness, abilities, and potential because of the teacher. Ultimately, shadow teachers establish the base for their students to have an equal opportunity to excel in academics.
What are the Roles of a Shadow Teacher?
The primary role of a shadow teacher is to assist the students in need in their learning process. Regardless of the class in which a shadow teacher is teaching, they all serve a more or less similar role. If you want to shadow your student, you have to assist them in building self-confidence and promoting positive interaction in the school. Moreover, you can help the student to concentrate on critical and basic concepts. Overall, allow them to develop their academic and social skills with care.
Every student is unique and special. Therefore, think about your approach, teaching methods and techniques. Shouldn’t it be designed based on the needs of every individual student?
If you want to work as a shadow teacher, you must be eager to know how a shadow teacher’s regular day looks like.
When you hear about the typical day of a shadow teacher, you will be amazed! Firstly, you have to accompany your student throughout the school day. Likewise, with every other supportive teacher, you will provide your hand of assistance and stability to them.
Secondly, you will help your shadowing students adapt to the school environment. By providing them Optimal Learning (OL) support.
Thirdly, you will provide strategies that are necessary for their growth. For this purpose, first, you have to help the student with the approaches to learning. Second, you must have a clear understanding of what to do when shadowing a teacher. Finally, you will help the student to be prepared and organised for their class.
Activities of a Shadow Teacher
Here is a list of activities of the teacher while shadowing the student at school. The teacher helps the kids to:
A lot of tasks, right? But it won’t be at all tedious or hectic if you enjoy helping kids. You just have to show your care and empathy. The kid will love you and consider you as their closest person to share his thought. And the amount of satisfaction you will gain will help you to love your job too.
How to Make Student Shadowing More Effective?
The primary purpose of shadowing a student at school is to improve the schooling experience of the kids. That is an action for solving kid’s needs, but it doesn’t mean solving all the issues at once.
Even high school students may need shadow teachers. So, you must be curious to know what job shadowing is for high school students. Some high school students find their courses very difficult and struggle in school. Shadowing opportunities for high school students help them to cope up with the academic syllabus. You can help them by:
What are the Benefits of Student Shadowing?
Student shadowing can benefit all the parties related to it. The increasing number of student shadow work over the past several years is a clear indication that their service is needed by society.
Shadowing Benefits to Parents
Parents have a sense of safety and security for their kids because they can communicate daily with the shadow teacher, who knows what is going on in school and what events are taking place. Moreover, the parents get ensured that the kid is not struggling to pace up with school academics. Furthermore, they get to know that their kid is socialising with others and happy with their lives.
Secondly, the primary task of this job is to make verbal communication. You have to communicate with visitors and respond to their enquiries. Thirdly, your writing skills will help you in this job. You have to register visitors’ entries, take necessary notes, and answer emails of the visitors and clients.
Shadowing Benefits to Kids
After all, the shadowing task is all for the benefit of the kids.
Moreover, the kid becomes positive towards newly presented tasks, which they used to find difficult previously. Thus, shadowing a student at school helps their personal growth and mental well-being.
Shadowing Benefits to Teachers
If you are working as a shadow teacher, you can receive a good amount of money from the kid’s family for your hard work. In addition, you will achieve greater clarity about teaching practices and ideas for improving your teaching style.
Subsequently, it can develop your perspectives on motivating students. Finally, it can lead to increased care and empathy for kids and raise your awareness about the hidden curriculum in schools.
Pro Tips for Shadowing Teachers
If you are searching for some tips to do shadowing tasks better, here are many tips for you.
Shadow teachers support reading, writing, speaking, listing, peer-to-peer interaction, time management, and develop skills in a child.
Final Thoughts
Shadow teaching is the assistance that acts as a resource for the students, school, and the parent. Healthy collaboration among the shadow teacher, the class teacher, and the parents is essential to develop the kid’s learning experience.
While shadowing a student at school, the teacher and the kid must have a meaningful relationship to best meet the child’s needs. It is recommended that shadow teachers must be hired in every school. Schools must organise training workshops and seminars to enhance the skills of shadow teachers.
