• Teaching Assistants in the English Department - An Overview
• The Function of Discussion Sections
• Teaching Assignments
• Facts and Benefits
• Relations with Professors
• Teaching Goals

Teaching Assistants in the English Department-An Overview
Graduate students in English who are TAs most often serve as leaders of discussion sections in large English classes, but also may teach in the Writing Program (Writing Program assignments typically are offered to TAs who have already completed the requirements for a Master's degree). Most TAs in the English Department are employed half-time (50%) and are expected to devote 16 to 20 hours per week to all TA duties during instructional and examination periods. Virtually all of the TAships in the English Department involve teaching two weekly 50- or 75-minute discussion sections-with a maximum of 27 students each-in which the TA helps the students to analyze and appreciate the literature of the course and to improve students' ability to discuss, think, and write about literature. These discussion sections play an important role in the success of large undergraduate English classes, since the understanding and appreciation of literary texts requires the active and verbal involvement of students. Although the amount of interaction you have with your students can often make you feel as though you are their primary teacher, remember that you do not bear final responsibility for the course as a whole; for disciplining cases of academic dishonesty, or for final grades (And when you are faced with cases of academic dishonesty or major grade disputes, this can often be a relief).

Many TAs find that teaching is the most rewarding aspect of being a graduate student because it gives you the opportunity to work closely with professors and undergraduates and provides you with professional training as a teacher of English. TAships are designed not only to provide adequate financial support for graduate students during the school year and to supply needed personnel for important undergraduate courses, but also to enhance your intellectual and professional development as a whole. Teaching almost inevitably enables you to understand the material you're covering with your students more clearly and thoroughly and is often helpful in preparing for your first and even second qualifying exams. But you should also remember that teaching has a way of expanding until it gets out of control: always keep in mind that renewal of your TAship is based on your graduate student record, not on your performance as a teacher.

Your work as a TA should not be so time-consuming that it interferes with your progress towards the degree.

Though your focus at the moment is probably on those 100 anxiety-inducing minutes spent in the classroom each week, your time and attention will also be required in fulfilling the following duties outside the classroom:

(1) preparing for your discussion sections

(2) attending lectures

(3) attending regular meetings with the professor and the other TAs for the course

(4) making yourself available for regular office hours, usually 1 to 3 hours per week during the quarter (with the exception of finals week)

(5) holding review sessions if time is available

(6) grading all exams and papers from your sections (generally within seven to ten days of when they are handed in)

(7) maintaining your own sanity and health. In the following pages we'll provide you with a number of strategies for successfully accomplishing each of these responsibilities.

1. Preparing for Section
This includes reading and re-reading whatever texts are on the syllabus and generating a lesson plan. You can often save a great deal of time and anxiety by cooperating with other TAs in the class, sharing lesson plans, and giving each other feedback on what did and did not work. The amount of time that goes into preparing for a section will vary widely depending on what you need to accomplish, the level of student engagement, and your own teaching style. Sometimes you may need an incredibly detailed lesson plan, but at other times a fairly simple line of questioning that takes little preparation time can suffice. In any case, it's always wise to be prepared while remaining open to contingencies.

2. Lectures
You are required to attend all of the lectures for the course you are teaching. TAs generally sit together at the front of the lecture hall so that the students and professor can find them. Your attendance at lectures provides a time and place for administrative details (enrollment problems. homework and paper collection or distribution, etc.), contact with the professor and students. and, of course, absorption of the lecture. Some professors may also ask you to give part of a lecture at some point during the quarter. Though this requires extra time and planning on your part, it also provides you with a valuable and different kind of teaching experience.

3. TA Meetings with Professor
The number of meetings required by each professor can vary widely; some will want to meet every week, some just a couple of times during the quarter. These meetings allow the professor to respond to bureaucratic and pedagogical problems you may be having in section. and they offer the TAs and professor time to discuss the shape of the course as a whole. Also. many professors will ask you for suggestions about their syllabi, input about how the course is
shaping up, and assistance in designing exams and paper topics.

4. Office Hours
As a TA you are required to have one scheduled office hour per week. You should also offer to make appointments with students who cannot make it to your scheduled time. Some TAs make at least one office visit per quarter mandatory for their students. While this is a great way to get to know all of your students, it can consume a lot of time. Office hours can be very quiet except around paper and exam time, so plan to have some of your own work to do. Some TAs like to hold office hours outside or at the coffee shop for a more relaxed atmosphere and a nicer place to hang out if no one shows up. Sometimes, however, students will use your
office hours as their personal therapy session. If you feel you cannot handle a troubled student's problems on your own, by all means refer them to the professor or even to Counseling and Career Services.

5. Review Sessions
While these are in no way required, students often request them. If you don't have the time, don't feel obligated to have one (or, if possible, use the final section meeting to review course material). If you do conduct a review session, make it clear that it's not your job to lecture and ask the students to come prepared with specific questions. Consider joining with another TA to offer a review session for students in both of your sections. Review sessions are also a good time to offer advice on taking exams and writing in-class essays (write legibly, formulate a thesis, use evidence, etc.)-things which will make your grading easier. If you choose to hold a review session, you can reserve a room in the English Department Office. Be sure to announce the date and time early to guarantee maximum attendance.

6. Grading
Although it can be stimulating, if not rewarding, to respond to students' written work, grading is also easily the most thankless and time-devouring of all TA duties. Try to space your grading out so that you don't find yourself with 35 papers to grade in one night this can damage healthy brain tissue and reduce life expectancy. Also, try not to spend more than 20 minutes per paper (maybe 30 when beginning a batch}-this is more difficult than it sounds.

7. Sanity and Health
Although all of this (plus your own graduate work!) might seem overwhelming at times, . remember that your most important concern is your own mental and physical well-being. Although you have a responsibility to your students, your primary responsibility is to your own work in the graduate program. Ultimately, the main criterion for your continuing appointment as a TA is your progress in the graduate program, not your teaching record.

The Function of Discussion Sections
It is important for TAs to see their sections as an integral part of the course. The majority of course information is disseminated during the lecture, but successful discussion sections make a crucial contribution to the students' processing and comprehension of this material. Leading a section may involve reexamining material that was covered in lecture, answering student questions that have to do with the course material, and/or teaching new material that couldn't be covered in lecture. In the more relaxed atmosphere of a small section, TAs can better address students' particular problems with the course, assignments, reading and writing techniques, and exam preparation. Often students make the course material their own in discussion section.

Teaching Assignments
In the Spring quarter of each year, after TA positions for the following year have been allocated, the Staff Graduate Advisor distributes a form that lists all the large lecture courses that will be offered in the upcoming year. The form asks for the TA's teaching preferences, the courge(s) previously taught (and how many times), special areas of interest and competence, and whether you would also like to be considered for a position in the Writing Program '(generally only post-MA students are considered). An effort is made to match TAs with courses they are interested in teaching, but particularly during your first year or two, you may not receive your first-or even second-choice of teaching assignments. If you have particular reasons for wanting to teach a course, be sure to make a brief note of them on the form in the appropriate section. It also can't hurt to express your interest to the professor who will be teaching the course. But if you don't get the courses you requested, do keep in mind that you can learn something from almost any teaching assignment.

Facts And Benefits
Note: The following information may have changed since this page was last edited. To be sure you have current information, be sure to check with the English Department Graduate Advisor, Lindsay Cahn. You should also confirm your status with the Office of the Registrar and the Financial Aid Office.

Fee Deferral: For a $25 fee, TAs can spread the payment of their registration fees across the quarter. You'll need to get a letter from Lindsay Cahn confirming that you are employed by the English Department and take it to the Billing Office in Cheadle Hall.

TA Loans: The first TA paycheck of the academic year arrives on November 1st. With this in mind, the university offers TA loans designed to help you over your first quarter of employment. Call the Office of Financial Aid at (805) 893-2432 for information about loans. You can also arrange with the English Department to have your payment distributed over four months beginning on October 1st, although if you choose this option the University will deduct a withholding from your check (see below).

Taxes: According to revised tax laws, a TA's salary is taxable income. This holds true even if the TA's department requires graduate students to serve as Teaching Assistants.
DCP withholdings: University policy mandates that graduate students working more than 50% time (20 hours per week) have DCP, or defined contribution plan (the university's version of FICA or social security withholdings) deducted from their paychecks. Graduate students who elect to be paid beginning October 1st rather than November 1st also face this withholding. If you plan to work more than 50% time (for example, if you work as a Research Assistant or tutor in addition to working as a TA) see Lori Sanchez for details.

Teaching Supplies: TAs are entitled to a limited number of free, teaching-related photocopies (about 10 per student), and to some English Department supplies for teaching duties. You can get a copy code from the receptionist. Other facilities include fax and a telephone for making Department-related calls. You'll find supplies such as grade books and overheads in the cabinets under the front desk in the Office.

To read statements written by our faculty, please click here.

Being a TA is a great way to get to know your professors outside of the seminar room. As a more experienced teacher, the professor can provide you with useful feedback about your teaching and will often want your input about how the students are responding to the course.

The TA and the professor should work in concert so that the undergraduate's learning experience is a coordinated and coherent one. Toward this end, the professor and the section leaders usually meet regularly to discuss course material, the needs and progress of the students, teaching strategies, paper topics, exams and so forth. Because the TA will typically have more one-on-one contact with the students, s/he can serve as a bridge between the undergraduates and the professor. During the meetings the TA might want to discuss students' reactions to the course and future approaches to the material.

The professor's responsibilities for the class may include examining sample papers that the TA has graded. This usually involves the professor providing his/her response to your grades and style of commenting on a separate sheet. Your professor will also visit one or both of your sections at least once during the quarter, following up the visitation(s) with a brief private discussion. The primary aim here is for the professor to help the TA see new possibilities for marking papers and leading discussion.
On the basis of your grading, these visitations, and any lectures given by the TA, the professor is required to write an evaluation of the TA's work and contribution to the course as a whole to be placed in the TA's teaching file, which is open to the TA.

A copy of each teaching evaluation will be given to the TA by the staff graduate advisor and will include a space for the TA to add comments. Although these evaluations are required, many professors don't write them, so if you want more extensive feedback on your work you may have to ask your professor directly. This is particularly important if you plan on asking for a letter of recommendation at some point in the future.

Conflicts sometimes arise between the TA and the professor over teaching strategy, grading, and/or various other aspects of the term's work. Such conflicts are best resolved between the particular professor and TA, but you should feel free to consult with the TA Advisor whose job it is to mediate any such problems. Also, the members of the TA Orientation Committee are always available and can sometimes make suggestions about ways to resolve the difficulties or simply provide a sympathetic ear.

Teaching Goals
Just as it's helpful to have concrete goals for each discussion section ("I want them to understand X about gender relations in this narrative by the time we finish our discussion section today."), it's helpful to set some general goals for yourself. The following questions may help you think about to define your pedagocical values and ambitions.

What kind of teacher do you want to be?

What is it that you hope to accomplish your first day teaching? Your first quarter? Your first year?

Are your students there to take in information? to learn to think critically? to become better writers?

When your students leave your class, what will they appreciate most about the experience?

What do you have to gain from the experience of teaching?

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