In the pilot episode of the NBC television hospital drama, New Amsterdam, Dr. Max Goodwin arrives as the new medical director at a large urban hospital. Like public schools, New Amsterdam Hospital is busy, underfunded, staffed by stellar professionals, and packed with people who need help. Amid daily (or hourly!) crises, the hospital, like a public school, is full of opportunities to improve lives. On his first day on the job, Dr. Goodwin begins his tenure by asking his staff, “How can I help ?” This question becomes his trademark as he seeks to serve his employees and patients well. 

He begins, not by assuming that he already knows their needs, but by wanting to learn them. Dr. Goodwin discovers that much of what people need can be easily achieved once identified. 

Rarely, however, do people ask teachers what they need. Instead, parents, legislators, and the general public throw unsolicited suggestions and mandates at them, convinced they know what teachers need.

As an Instructional Assistant (with admittedly far less power and prestige than a Hospital Medical Director), I have the opportunity to learn teachers’ needs and try to meet them. I have adopted Dr. Goodwin’s approach as my mantra. When I walk into a teacher’s classroom, I greet them and ask, “How can I support you today?”

This open-ended question reminds me my function is to help the teacher with their actual needs, not their needs as I may perceive them. One day the teacher may need my administrative help or want me to work with students in small groups. And the next day may find me as a wandering presence among the students while the teacher presents new information. Frequently, it means me anticipating students’ needs by delivering tissues or pencils to their desks with as little classroom disruption as possible. Listening to the teacher’s answers to my question directs my role.