TA End of Semester Survival

SkillsLisa Kelly

Center for TeachingOctober 31st, 2013

Warm Up Activity

On the notecard provided, write two things that you are most concerned about relating to your teaching, coursework, or work/life balance as the end of the semester approaches

Share your concerns with the person next to you. Spend a few minutes brainstorming ideas to help with one another’s concerns. (Be sure to introduce yourself to your partner)

Hand in your notecards – I will look over these throughout the workshop and try to address as many concerns as possible

Agenda

Warm up activity (done)

Grading Strategies (think/pair/share)

Communication Issues (case studies)

Work/Life Balance (discussion)

Wrap Up

Discussion about CfT Graduate Programs starting in spring 2014

Workshop Evaluation

Grading Strategies

Best practices for surviving increased end-of-semester grading

Think/Pair/Share

Read through the handout – A Baker’s Dozen Strategies for Grading Final Exams and Papers. Pick one practice that you find to be useful and spend a few minutes writing about how and why you can use this practice

Get in groups of three (cannot be with the person you met earlier). Pick one practice to discuss as a group. Discuss why it would be useful for your classes and how you will implement it. Make sure you introduce yourself to the

others in your group

Each group will report their discussion to the larger group

Issues in Communication

How to communicate effectively with your students, other TAs, and the instructor of the

course

Communication Triangle

Course Professor

Teaching Assistant(s)

Students

Communications Case Studies

In groups of 3 (try to work with people you have not yet met or worked with today) read your assigned case study

Answer the questions posed at the end of the case study. Brainstorm some suggestions to help the TA.

Be ready to share your case study and responses with the larger group

Work/Life Balance…

Or how to avoid letting grad school take over your entire life

Does grad school make you feel like this?

Strategies for Maintaining Balance During the Last Weeks of the Semester

Set a timer to make yourself take breaks during grading and paper writing. When you take a break do something physically active.

Sleep – power naps (20 minutes) are great. Try to get at least 6 hours of sleep at night too.

Set limits on when you check and respond to email, tell your students these limits ahead of time.

Decide on a cut off time for student requests for help before the final exam or paper deadline- don’t respond to students after this time except in extreme emergencies.

Strategies continued

Have grading or writing “parties” with your peers. Working with someone else will help keep you focused, but will also allow for fun breaks.

Map out a plan now for your schedule during the last two weeks of the semester. Work backwards from your deadlines (for the courses you are teaching and the ones you are taking) and try to estimate how much time you need to devote to each requirement.

Spend at least one hour each day doing something fun – dinner with a friend, watching trash TV, going for a run, baking a pie, etc.

More Strategies???

What ideas do you have for maintaining a healthy work/life balance during stressful periods?

If you have already taught, what has worked for you in the past? What has not worked?

Wrap Up

Review key concerns from warm up notecards

Teaching strategies modeled today: Warm up activity Think/Pair/Share Case Studies and discussion Large group discussion

Coming Soon…

Graduate Student Teaching and Learning Reading Group – monthly cross-disciplinary reading group; we will read and discuss important current literature in teaching and learning

TA Troubleshooting Roundtables – monthly lunchtime meetings to discuss issues that come up while teaching

TA Resources Blog (coming in November) – a resource for TAs with strategies for teaching, links to CfT events, and a discussion forum for addressing TA issues

Coming Soon…

January 14th 2014

TA “Spring Training”

Panel discussion on teaching as professional development (making the most of your TA assignments for your CV, keeping and organizing evidence of teaching, teaching as research, and teaching your research)

Workshop on crafting quality daily lesson objectives and lesson plans for discussion sections, labs, and courses you are teaching

TILE and Active, Team Based Learning Training for TAs

Are you a TA for a TILE class?

Are you interested in using technology in the classroom?

Do you want to learn more about creating active-learning and/or team-based learning activities for your discussion sections or courses you are creating?

This workshop will guide TAs toward creating specific learning activities for their students as well as training them in TILE technology and pedagogy

Keep an eye out for more information – this workshop will be happening in early February

Coming Soon…

Spring 2014 TA Workshop Series

January 2014Leading an Effective Discussion

Section

February 2014Managing Labs and Problem Set

Sections Effectively

March 2014Working with Student Writing

April 2014Creating an Inclusive Classroom

Environment

Social Media Shout Out

The Center for Teaching Graduate Program is on Twitter!!

Follow us at Center for Teaching@UICfT

Or better yet – tweet at us with your ideas and questions