Reflecting On My 1st Year of Teaching Undergrads: Things That Make Getting Started as a TA Easier

Tara S.

At this time last year I was anxiously awaiting my first teaching assistantship appointment as a graduate student. With no idea or control as an incoming graduate student of what course I would be TA-ing, scenarios of self doubt swirled my mind regularly.

Stats 1010 was obviously influential for me as a freshman student who had thought she was going to be an attorney someday, not work towards becoming a Sociology Professor - would I be able to accurately share the huge amount of information within introduction to sociology class, and in an interesting way? What would helping students succeed in statistics look like at CU? What if I get some Sociology of XXXX (insert any topic here) class that I don't know anything about?!

After attending the department orientation, you will have the opportunity to attend orientation through the Graduate Teacher Training Program. If you are feeling nervous about your new role as a teacher/TA, take advantage of this opportunity! They will likely have sessions covering everything from FERPA regulations to how to teach contentious topics. This orientation certainly helped to quell some of my nerves, but what was even more beneficial was leaning on students who were a year ahead of me in the program.

I was fortunate to TA my first semester with two other graduate students with several semesters of TA experience at CU under their belts, and who also happened to be extremely knowledgable regarding the class we were teaching. The best thing that I did to find my footing as a new TA, was to ask these colleagues for help and advice as only a year ago they had been in the exact same situation that I was in.

Regardless if you TA with others who are more confident in the classroom than you are, work to build a strong relationship with the professor that you are TA-ing for. The faculty in our department are great, and the two professors I was fortunate enough to work with this year have been extremely impactful mentors within my life in the short time I have known them both. I look forward to continuing to learn from these two amazing faculty members for as long as they will allow me to! Remember, even if you are allowed to call them by their first name instead of Dr. XXXX, treat your TA appointment as a job - because it is your job. Your professor is your boss, and the department is their boss. Granted, they are probably the coolest boss you may ever have.

Ask the faculty member you are working for what their goal for the course is, ask them what their hopes for you working as their TA are, ask them what they wish they would have known at your point in their own graduate career, ask them what their favorite thing about teaching the class you are working on together is, ask them what they like best about Sociology, and about living in Boulder. The better understanding that you have of the professor's goals and objectives for the course, the more successful you will able to be as their TA.

In summary, it's recognize all of the forms of support you have as a new graduate teacher or teaching assistant at first. From other students, to faculty, to trainings and certificates offered through the university, do not be afraid to seek more knowledge, and ask for help when you are unsure. I hope that this website we have built and will continue to update can serve as a springboard to help connect you with resources to help you become the teacher you want to be.

And of course- my information is on the contact page, I am always happy to chat about teaching and sociology, please feel free to reach out! I will get back to you as soon as I can, and if you're on campus I'll probably invite you for coffee in my office (keeping a coffee pot in there is a game changer!).