Most Important Duties of Intervention Teachers
Constantly Communicate With Teachers and Parents- Monitor the Student
- Help During Academic Struggles
- Identify Undisclosed Problems
- Keep Learning
After someone signs up to be an intervention support teacher, they will undergo a lengthy training process. This is because working with at-risk students and helping them overcome school challenges requires a lot of knowledge. There are, however, some specific responsibilities that one should look forward to from the very first moment that they decide to work in this field.
Constantly Communicate With Teachers and Parents
In order to stay informed on what is going on with the student, there has to be a never-ending cycle of transparent communication. That includes both the students’ parents as well as the regular teachers. Moreover, it is up to the intervention support teacher to initiate the conversation and keep it going. Doing so will allow them to stay close to all of the relevant events and updates concerning the student. Consequently, they will be much more likely to handle challenges and develop useful learning strategies in a timely fashion.
Monitor the Student
While communication is important, there is something that may give an even better insight into the student’s life. Monitoring. Keeping a constant track of everything that the student is doing will allow one to compare their performance and analyze any drops in results. For example, if the parents and other teachers are not noticing anything out of the ordinary with a student that failed multiple tests in a row, the intervention specialist may be the only one aware of the problem. In order to spot the issue, however, they must keep an eye on that student as much as possible.
Help During Academic Struggles
Although an intervention support teacher will not be the first line of defense with academic struggles, they can be a very useful resource. The reason why is the fact that these professionals undergo extensive training on how to develop strategies that are optimized for at-risk students. After all, a regular instructor will seldom know the pupil as well as the intervention specialist who has been assigned to them. Once problems with learning or understanding arise, relying on these professionals might be the best course of action.
Identify Undisclosed Problems
According to an article published in Forbes Magazine, as many as 40 percent of students are recognized as chronically disengaged from their lectures. In translation, two out of every five students tend to focus on things that have absolutely nothing to do with the material at hand. For individuals who might also be struggling with mental disorders or other issues leading to an at-risk status, troubles with concentration will certainly not help. In addition, parents and regular teachers often have no way of gauging just how focused someone is. This is where the intervention specialists can come in and utilize conversations and surveys to try and figure out the hidden problems.
Keep Learning
In the end, every intervention support teacher has an ethical responsibility to themselves and the industry. That responsibility is to continuously learn about new concepts and stay on top of the research that relates to their role. Since each student is different, it is not uncommon for intervention workers to go back and refresh their knowledge about specific situations. This also makes it easier for them to keep up with the growing challenges of technology in classrooms, bullying, and other obstacles that at-risk students tend to be exposed to.
Related Resource: 50 Most Affordable Small Colleges for a Master’s in Education
It is important to note that trained professionals will almost always be able to tackle all of these responsibilities. After all, undergoing extensive preparation to become an intervention support teacher will definitely touch on all five of these topics and improve one’s odds of having a successful career.
