Teaching Assistant Orientation
Before We Get Started …
• Sign in on computers
• Take lime green survey form out of packet
• Complete Pre-Survey side of the form
Sponsored by:
Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE)
Committee for the Education of Teaching Assistants (CETA)
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Facilitators
• Name
–Department
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Managing Teaching
Assistant Responsibilities
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Goal:
To efficiently and effectively
manage the different roles and
responsibilities you may face as
a Teaching Assistant.
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Objectives:
1. List strategies for creating and maintaining effective
relationships with students and Faculty Supervisors.
2. Identify strategies for handling/minimizing disruptive
classroom behavior.
3. Discuss the advantages and limitations of
communicating with students via email.
4. Identify appropriate policies and successful strategies
for facilitating effective communication with students via
email.
5. Describe successful strategies for answering student
questions during office hours.
6. Identify successful strategies for grading student
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assignments.
Objectives:
1. List strategies for creating and maintaining effective
relationships with students and Faculty Supervisors.
2. Identify strategies for handling/minimizing disruptive
classroom behavior.
3. Discuss the advantages and limitations of
communicating with students via email.
4. Identify appropriate policies and successful strategies
for facilitating effective communication with students via
email.
5. Describe successful strategies for answering student
questions during office hours.
6. Identify successful strategies for grading student
assignments.
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Tips for Establishing & Maintaining
Relationship with Faculty Supervisor
• At the beginning
– Discuss responsibilities and expectations
– Share your class schedule and other
commitments
• Communicate regularly
• Unsure of something? – Ask
• Report and document disruptive,
threatening, and disrespectful student
behavior
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Tips for Establishing & Maintaining
Relationship with Faculty Supervisor
• Be a liaison between your students and
your Faculty Supervisor
– Toward the Faculty Supervisor
• Share student criticisms
– Toward the Students
• Offer students rationales
• Offer students constructive suggestions
– Support a positive course environment
• Refrain from joining in criticisms
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Objectives:
1. List strategies for creating and maintaining effective
relationships with students and Faculty Supervisors.
2. Identify strategies for handling/minimizing disruptive
classroom behavior.
3. Discuss the advantages and limitations of
communicating with students via email.
4. Identify appropriate policies and successful strategies
for facilitating effective communication with students via
email.
5. Describe successful strategies for answering student
questions during office hours.
6. Identify successful strategies for grading student
assignments.
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What are disruptive
classroom behaviors?
Introducing…
Tom Turpin
Professor of Entomology
“The Bug Man”
Video
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Disruptive Classroom Behaviors
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Arriving late
Eating in class
Talking in class
Tending to personal needs
Making inappropriate comments
Engaging in activities not related to class
Sleeping
Leaving early
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Disruptive Behaviors
Questions
A. Arriving late / leaving
early
B. In lab, frustration with
experiment leads a team
to start moving around
and asking other teams
for their results
C. Engaging in activities not
related to lab or class
1. In what way(s) is this
behavior disruptive to
learning in the lab?
2. How would you handle
this problem if it
happened in your lab?
3. How can this problem
be prevented?
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Tips for Handling Disruptive Behavior
• Prevention is key
– Decide what is disruptive to you and
inform your class, orally and in writing
• Enforce rules that you establish
• Handle problems in least severe
way possible first
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Objectives:
1. List strategies for creating and maintaining effective
relationships with students and Faculty Supervisors.
2. Identify strategies for handling/minimizing disruptive
classroom behavior.
3. Discuss the advantages and limitations of
communicating with students via email.
4. Identify appropriate policies and successful strategies
for facilitating effective communication with students via
email.
5. Describe successful strategies for answering student
questions during office hours.
6. Identify successful strategies for grading student
assignments.
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Tips for Managing Email
1. Respond as quickly as possible.
2. Ask students to include the course #
in the subject line.
3. Explicitly communicate expectations
about email contact to students.
4. Save all email contacts.
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Tips for Managing Email (cont…)
5. If a student emails you in anger,
a)
b)
c)
d)
assess reason
wait to respond
stay professional
meet with the student
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Objectives:
1. List strategies for creating and maintaining effective
relationships with students and Faculty Supervisors.
2. Identify strategies for handling/minimizing disruptive
classroom behavior.
3. Discuss the advantages and limitations of
communicating with students via email.
4. Identify appropriate policies and successful strategies
for facilitating effective communication with students via
email.
5. Describe successful strategies for answering student
questions during office hours.
6. Identify successful strategies for grading student
assignments.
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Office Hours
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“Give a person a fish…”
Ask them questions
Lead them towards the answer
There isn’t always 1 correct way to
get to the answer
– Have them explain how they got where
they are
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Objectives:
1. List strategies for creating and maintaining effective
relationships with students and Faculty Supervisors.
2. Identify strategies for handling/minimizing disruptive
classroom behavior.
3. Discuss the advantages and limitations of
communicating with students via email.
4. Identify appropriate policies and successful strategies
for facilitating effective communication with students via
email.
5. Describe successful strategies for answering student
questions during office hours.
6. Identify successful strategies for grading student
assignments.
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Tips for Grading
1. Maintain an accurate and up-to-date
record of all student grades
2. Tell students how much a question/
assignment/exam is worth
3. Clarify policies regarding partial credit,
late submissions and re-grades
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Tips for Grading (cont…)
4. Develop a grading rubric
5. Discuss rubrics with fellow TAs if more
than one TA does the grading
6. Provide timely and sufficient feedback
on assignments/exams
7. Know the policies regarding student
privacy rights
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Before We Conclude
• Complete Post-Survey items 5-7 on lime
green survey form
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