Recap: Early Semester Survival Kit, week 1

One thing I probably should have highlighted during these sessions was my own nervousness and anxiety: having never offered these sessions, I really wasn't clear how they would go over. Fortunately the hunch paid off, at least for me. All and all, and despite hearing way too much of my voice, I think we had some interesting discussions.

I look forward to next week, where some of the participants will have had their second and third tutorial sessions (in some cases, their first), and with luck others will have secured TA or GA positions for the term.

In the meantime, I'm attaching some of the resources that were mentioned by various people during the different sessions:

1. (Other) universities' TA handbooks: perhaps Ryerson should have one of these, but most of what's covered in them can be picked up from these freely available online resources instead. We are beginning to have an idea of what else we might offer in a locally-produced handbook. Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

Anyway, here are links to some of the better ones:
University of Guelph - Teaching Support Services
Université Concordia - Centre for Teaching and Learning Services
University of Colorado at Boulder - Graduate Teacher Program
York University - Centre for the Support of Teaching

2. I prepared one handout: an unconventional checklist designed to both address common issues and pose them as ethical and pedagogical issues TA/GAs might have to contend with (i.e. as part of teaching and learning at this level). Any comments are welcome; here's the file in Word format:

ArtsTA-EarlySemester_Checklist.doc

3. I spoke about the exercise we used at the orientation as a model for similar group exercises you can recreate in your own tutorials.

ArtsTA-WelcomeLunch_Exercise.doc

(Remember, only one sheet per group! It helps ensure group work is actually group work when individuals can't just go off and do it for themselves.)

4. I also spoke about rubrics, as a way to ease marking for yourself and to demystify a very stressful process for students; I will try to find some good ones and post them--maybe you can do the same, or draft up your own and share them around. Email me with suggestions.

Thanks everyone and all the best--email me if I missed anything. Otherwise, see you next week!