Yes I’ve found cover an amazing way to get a feel of the children. At one time I actually taught a group of 8 children duringbyear 6 maths for two consecutive periods a week. They struggled with maths and is use that time with them to recap or introduce new concepts slowly. I use to love that. I also ran circle time with each year 6 class, once a week, and that was amazing. Mostly now I find key conversations with teachers and parents really give me the deeper understanding of the children we are talking about. Mot bigblong conversations- the best are the quick updates here and then. Also a moment in love is facilitating dialogues between children in conflict. I’ve created the bubble room which is fovany chikd/children who would like facilitation of their behaviour or a conflict they have. Boy do I get to know them then. Social thinking samples that I receive from helping them think social end emotional issues out is incredible.
Finally info pop in to classes to observe _-‘ 15, 30 minutes at a time. I observe what children are doing during lesson input then I go around the classroom during independent work time chatting to the kids or answering their questions. I follow the non Velcro model recommended by the EEF for making best use of TAs and that’s definitely not attaching myself to only kids on my register but getting a feel of the general class norm by going round to all children.