How Do I…? Succeed as a Graduate Teaching Assistant

By Jason Aylmer

In this inaugural edition of How Do I…? we will be chatting with Crystal, a second year English M.A. student, to learn about how to successfully navigate a teaching assistantship while attending grad school full time.

Some of the questions we explore include:

• What is being a first-time TA like? 
• How can I be empathetic with my students?
• What types of support are available for TAs?

What is a day in the life of a TA like?

Crystal: We work an average of 20 hours a week and we teach our own class. I have 22 students, which is the maximum for a section of English 101. The first semester that I taught, I  used what is called a common sequence, which is provided by the department. It definitely felt intimidating coming in; a week before classes, I was thinking ‘What am I going to be teaching?’ I showed up and they had the common sequence for us and instructed us on how to use it, and we implemented that for the first semester. It was a nice way to ease into teaching. In addition to teaching a class our first semester, we also took a class on being a TA, where we made our own sequence, which I now use to teach. The office spaces for TAs have three to four people, and we had a couple of TAs in their second year of teaching and we could ask them questions. We can communicate and talk and it has been that way from the jump which has been really nice. I have been a bit surprised at just how strong the sense of overarching community has become over the past two years. There are times when you’re feeling beat down, it’s just too much, too stressed and these wonderful individuals on the same journey with you, or someone who experienced this previously in their first year, can bring comfort and offer advice.   

What is your advice for a new TA’s first day of teaching?

Crystal: I would tell them that it’s a learning process, for you as well as the students. When I came in, I had never taught before, so it was intimidating for me, but I found that when I came into that first day, in front of me were students who, for many of them, it was their first ever college class. They were looking up to me to be in charge and direct things. I had been in their position and I had been through the TA training, and my fellow TAs were in this same position. I knew the second year TAs had been in this position as well and they were now okay. Still here, still teaching, still enjoying things! Much like coming to a new place, or starting college life as a freshman at UMaine, you look at the map the first day and try to figure out where everything is located. By week three, you’re like: “I know where that building is and I know how to get here!” 

How can I support new college students as their TA?

Crystal: There’s definitely a balance in terms of being clear and understanding with them, and empathetic, but also not giving too much leeway. You don’t want them to think: “Hey, I don’t really have to do this class!” To earn a degree, they do need English 101. It is set up uniquely in that it is a labor based grading system all the way through up until the final portfolio, which is pass/fail. It is very individualized to them, it is empathetic to the experiences they’re having as a first time college student. It has an understanding ‘late work’ policy and a policy regarding getting credit for meaningful engagement. There is a point where they do need to be completing those assignments and really working hard in order to put themselves in the best possible position to pass. Also, in my experience being on the younger end of TA spectrum–I started teaching my first class at twenty-two–I had some students in the class who were older than me. In looking out at the class, I was relatively close in age with all the students, and recognized that we were not in entirely different stages of life. I needed to reframe my own state of mind in terms of how I could be a helpful professor. In turn, it was a little bit of ‘fake it until you make it,’ since I didn’t see myself as a ‘professor.’ I think it’s hard to see yourself that way when you’ve never done it before. So I put on a nice suit jacket, a pair of heels, and a formal outfit, so that seemed to help. Going in trying to adopt that new mindset where I could be a professional but also an ally for my students. 

How do you manage your time as both a TA and a full-time graduate student?

Crystal: I’ve always been a busy person, so that’s been a concern I’ve had in terms of organizing a lot of different responsibilities every single day. For me, a key has definitely been making to-do lists and prioritizing them. I do this quite frequently and rearrange items based on when they need to be done. I also like cutting myself some slack in terms of flexibility when getting work done. For example: part of my TA responsibilities include giving thorough, detailed long-form individualized feedback to students, which is really useful to them, so it is important for me to do that and it’s also something that takes a lot of time and effort. It’s hard, because sometimes you want to sit down and crank out twenty responses but that’s not always feasible. Sitting down and focusing for hours is a hard task, so being kind to myself in terms of scheduling out a little bit each day. Also, it’s important to understand the way these priorities have to work together. Being a student and a TA is hard but the department is very understanding because so many of the people who are in the M.A. program are also TAs. You can speak with professors about your workload balance. Especially during the portfolio assessment period at the end of the semester, which I find incredibly fun but very time consuming.