5+ Best Teacher Assistant Interview Questions & Answers

We’ve compiled the absolute best teacher assistant interview questions and answers to help you in your upcoming interview. The “TA” or often referred to as the teaching assistant or the teachers assistant. Generally speaking, the “TA” is classified as the teacher's aide. The role of this position is multidisciplinary and is generally there to help with the teachers day to day operational tasks. This position is usually one that those who are looking to get into teaching take on.

Teachers Aides are often times found in the elementary school levels, though you may see them in the middle school levels as well. The operational tasks that this person takes on include grading of papers, taking the attendance, scheduling, and planning field trips, preparing course room materials and much more. They are extremely helpful to the teacher as they provide them the opportunity to work more closely with the students and alleviate some of the tedious tasks which are required by the school board.

When preparing for the interview, it’s important that you take time before you meet with the respective teacher and principal, to understand your passion for teaching. Teaching assistants are often given a great opportunity to work within a classroom alongside a more experienced teacher. So what will make you stand out from the rest is your passion for education and why you are looking to join that particular school. Any preparation about the school's operations (as it relates to the district) may be beneficial as well.

Teacher Assistant Interview Questions & Answers

1. Why is the “TA” an important role?

The teaching assistant is an important role because it helps the teacher focus more on the children inside of the classroom versus simply the course material. Ensuring we are following our lesson plans, testing, grading, scheduling and planning of the operational duties is a full-time job in of itself. For example, scheduling parent-teacher conferences can be a time-consuming task. As the teaching assistant, I can help to get these operational tasks accomplished while the teacher focuses on connecting with the students more directly.

2. How do you help kids get more motivated about course material?

Figuring out how each student learns is really important. Some kids are visual learners while others may be a bit more tactical learners. Meaning, some kids appreciate getting hands-on and having real-world applications to the course material we are discussing. While others appreciate test taking and the traditional study format. It varies on each individual and learning that early is a great way to find what may motivate a student.

3. What are the school board guidelines?

School board guidelines are set by the district. We must learn what they are and adhere to them on a regular basis. This includes what types of technologies we can use within the classroom and what types of field trips we may be able to attend. Generally speaking, these are good guidelines and not restrictive regulatory types of guidelines.

4. How do we generally grade homework or course material?

Course work should always be graded on an A+ to F status unless we are dealing with young elementary school kids which they may be graded on a 1-100 level or point level. It depends on the classroom, the district, the school and what we are educating our students on.

5. How do we handle two children who are experiencing friction and argumentative behavior?

Its imperative that we handle argumentative behavior between students in the most professional of ways. We have to report any incidents and properly address the school’s principal in order to help understand the extent of the problems. If we do see something a single time, we may have to intervene via communication or warnings. But when it becomes a regular occurrence we absolutely need to take it to the principal so that the two parents of the students can be contacted and discussed the incidents further.

About the author

Patrick Algrim is an experienced executive who has spent a number of years in Silicon Valley hiring and coaching some of the world’s most valuable technology teams.