You don't know

One of the toughest parts of being a TRT is going into a class of students that you don’t know. You don’t know that when Jimmy cries for his Mum, it's because she died 3 years ago and he doesn’t understand why he hasn't seen her since then. 

You don’t know that Sally has had it tough in her 5 short years of life. She doesn’t trust anyone. She doesn’t smile, doesn’t laugh and never cries – even when she’s hurt.

You don't know that the boy they describe as being "somewhere on the ASD spectrum" and who can be "hard work" tries harder than anyone else in the class because he's determined to try and please you.

You don't know that the “class clown” really just wants attention because he has trouble getting it from his parents over his sisters. You will always learn his name first though.

Of course, you also have students who excel at everything and will never ask for your help because they don’t need it. I sometimes feel bad for not spending as much time with these students. They seem to know others need more help than they do and are often happiest finishing early and helping others or earning free time to read or draw.

Some TRT’s tell me the hardest part is finding something to teach. For me, the hardest part is providing support to 30 students when I don’t know what kind of support they each need. No two classes are ever the same.

While I love being a TRT, I really look forward to having my own class some day and really getting to know my students.