TA End of
Semester
Survival Skills
Lisa Kelly
Center for Teaching
October 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 2014
Leading an Effective Discussion Section
February 2014
Managing Labs and Problem Set Sections
Effectively
March 2014
Working with Student Writing
April 2014
Creating 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