The role of the school assistant is a mystery to me in some classes. Is her job writing SMS to parents about the course of teaching? Why else would she spend an entire hour on the phone? In one lesson I took on the role of an assistant myself, working independently with a 9th grade boy who needs a little more time to complete tasks.
It also seems to me that those who are active in the classroom are mainly there to lift all the students' writing supplies, or to show where we are in the text.