Advice for new teachers for teaching success from UF’s orientation for teaching assistants

Presenting in Carlton Auditorium is a challenge due to its size. My teaching strategies included moving out from behind the lectern, using easy-to-read slides, and getting the TAs involved. Photo by Daniel Brotherton

More than 400 new teaching assistants attended the University of Florida’s TA Orientation as they prepared to start their teaching assignments next week.

I was honored to be one of the presenters for the half-day program. My topic was Preparing for the First Week of Class, and I had 45 minutes to cover a lot of ground.

Here are some highlights of my advice to the TAs:

Get ready for the start of class

• Meet with your course supervisor to determine your teaching duties, learn how you’ll be evaluated, obtain the course materials, and learn about the course and the students.
• Find your classroom and try out the video projection unit and the chalkboard or whiteboard (to make sure you are writing large enough for it to be read by students sitting in the back of the class).
• Plan your schedule with the courses you’ll take, the courses you’ll be teaching, your office hours, your meetings and deadlines…and remembering to include time for fitness activities, meals and sleep.
• Review your online persona/avatar and make any needed adjustments to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, dating apps, etc.

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UF Orientation for Graduate Student Teachers, Aug. 13

In my session, I’ll include a Think-Pair-Share activity to demonstrate how active learning can be incorporated into class, even in large auditoriums. This is a photo from last year’s orientation. Photo by Ashleigh Kathryn

More than 400 new teaching assistants at the University of Florida will be attending the Orientation for Graduate Teaching Assistants on Aug. 13.

I’m honored to be one of the faculty on the program. The orientation always is an upbeat and exciting time as we help the teaching assistants begin their teaching at UF.

The half-day orientation includes presentations by veteran faculty and a panel discussion of outstanding teaching assistants and faculty who coordinate TAs.

The panel includes Falcon Restrepo-Ramos and Morgan Yacoe, who I had the opportunity to observe last year as a member of the Graduate Student Teacher Awards Committee.

Here’s the program:

8:30 am – 9:00 am       Check-in

9:00 am – 9:15 am       Welcome and Orientation Overview
Dr. R. Paul Duncan, Senior Associate Dean, Graduate School

9:15 am – 10:00 am     Planning for Learning
Dr. Elizabeth Bondy, Professor, School of Teaching & Learning

10:00 am – 10:15 am   Graduate Assistants United: Creating a Professional Working Environment at UF
GAU Representatives

10:15 am – 10:30 am   BREAK

10:30 am – 11:15 am   Preparing for the First Week of Class
Dr. Julie Dodd, Professor Emeritus, Journalism & Communications

11:15 am – 12:00 pm   Advice From Panel of Experts

• Andrew Wolpert, Associate Professor, Classics, Director of IDS 1161: What is the Good Life and UF Quest 1                                 
• E. Christine Davis, Senior Lecturer & Undergraduate Coordinator, Biology
• Melanie K. Viege, Senior Lecturer, Director of General Chemistry
• Falcon Restrepo-Ramos, Spanish & Portuguese Studies
• Morgan Yacoe, Art and Art History
• Ashley Erb, Chemistry
• Chris Brewer, Chemistry

12:00 pm – 12:30 pm  Center for Teaching Excellence: Passport to Great Teaching: TA Edition
Jennifer K. Smith, Director
Alexandra Bitton-Bailey, Ph.D. Candidate, Academic Innovation Specialist

The program will be from 8:30 am to 12:30 in Carleton Auditorium.

Professional development for graduate teaching assistants

Falcon Restrepo-Ramos (front row in Gator blue shirt) with his students at the Student Symposium of Language policies in the multilingual European landscape (EUS/SPN 4930), Spring 2019.

by Falcon Restrepo-Ramos
Hispanic Linguistics, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies
University of Florida

Years in grad school might seem like a tremendous endeavor for anyone pursuing a graduate degree. Such experience entails years of courses, research, coffee, and, in my case and many others, teaching.

Precisely, the figure of graduate teaching assistant (GTA) in one of the biggest state universities in the country (Go Gators!) not only carries a great deal of work but also memorable moments and many opportunities for innovative teaching and professional development.

Aside from the many different responsibilities of GTAs, which at times feels overwhelming, there are also grants, awards, programs and funding support that can make the University of Florida GTA experience professionally rewarding.

Here I would like to list two main lines of teaching and professional development that helped me maximize my GTA experience at UF. As you will see below, this list follows incremental steps towards a set of goals.

Universal Design: Instruction for students with learning disabilities

by Amanda Kastrinos

Amanda Kastrinos

The goal of any successful instructor is to teach the course in a way all students will understand. But how can college teachers plan instruction for students with special needs, specifically students with learning disabilities?

With the passage of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act, teachers are required to make necessary accommodations to any student with a learning disability.

As the law states, “No otherwise qualified person with a disability shall, solely by reason of his/her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of a public entity”  (Section 504).

Some of these accommodations could include providing a note-taker, preferential seating, additional time on tests and assignments, providing copies of lesson plans and assignments, or allowing video or audio recording of lectures.

Effective teaching strategies demonstrated by top graduate student teachers

by Julie Dodd

Falcon Restrepo-Ramos receives the Calvin A. VanderWerf Award from Dean of the Graduate School Henry Frierson and Dr. Constance Shehan, chair of the selection committee. The VanderWerf Award is given to the top of the teaching award winners. Morgan Yacoe also received the VanderWerf Award. Photo by Julie Dodd

Promoting student involvement.

Connecting learning to important issues.

Assigning meaningful projects.

Establishing a supportive learning climate.

These were some of the effective teaching strategies employed by the graduate students who were selected to receive the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Teacher Awards for 2019.

As a member of the faculty committee that observes the graduate students nominated for this award, I could feel the energy of those really engaging instructors when I visited their classes. I admired the graduate students’ course design and class planning to create such good learning experiences for their students.

Structuring class activities to get students involved

In the classes I observed that were taught by award-winning graduate students, their students were actively involved. Here are three examples I observed.

The winners of the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Teaching Awards for 2019 and members of the selection committee. Photo by Eric Zamora

In a physiology lab, the students worked in teams to review the results of the physiology lab they had conducted independently online.

Talking with classmates in a small group helped them answer some of their own questions about the lab and prepared them to share their experiences and the questions they still had with the class. In addition, after talking in small groups, the students were more confident in speaking in class.

Provide feedback students will use

by Julie Dodd

“I spend so much time providing my students with helpful feedback on their big project, and they don’t read it.”

I imagine you’ve heard colleagues say that and may have said that yourself.

Having grappled with getting my students to read and use my feedback, I’m offering a suggestion:

Provide the most feedback when students are the most interested in receiving it – when they can use your feedback to improve their grade.

Often we provide extensive feedback on a research paper or final project when the assignment is completed. So no matter how useful our feedback may be, the students aren’t able to use the feedback to improve their grade on the assignment.

Encouraging student involvement in college classes

by Julie Dodd

Why are some students ready to answer every question while other students are silent throughout the class?

Susan Cain’s book can help teachers better understand their students who are introverts.

As a member of the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Awards Committee, I have the opportunity to observe a wide range of classes, including Mindful Leadership, Cities of the World, and Expository and Argumentative Writing. I’ve observed classes with more than 200 students and classes with fewer than a dozen students.

The eager to talk students and reticent to talk students exist in every classroom setting.

Getting students actively involved in college classes is a goal to promote more effective learning.

So how can you get students to participate?

I recently observed a sociology class with 26 students. During the 50-minute class period, 14 different students talked – asking questions, answering questions, or sharing insights.

The graduate student teaching the sociology class did a good job of getting half the class to participate. Here are strategies she used to promote class involvement: