The Role of the UTA
As I have developed as a teaching assistant, I have been able to track my own progress through various assignments in ENGL388V. Below are several samples that explain what I found most valuable and useful during my time as a TA. Most are accompanied with reflections or other statements connecting them to how I see myself currently. All names have been changed in the interest of privacy.
Discussion Posts
Discussion Post 1 - Internet Grammar
I will admit that I used to openly resist any attempts to stray from perfect grammar. However, I am now fascinated by "internet grammar" and like to use it quite often. I have used so many of the techniques referenced in the video. The easiest example to point out is capitalization. I don't consciously think of it, but I keep capital letters when texting someone "superior" to me and I leave lowercase letters when I'm texting a friend. Over the years, as I see more and more internet grammar, it astounds me how younger people have adapted and added to the English language. I truly love how we have figured out how to convey tone is so many different situations so easily. For instance, all four of these mean something totally different: this, thiS, tHIS, and THIS. But, when we try to describe the differences, we cannot always find the words.
When helping students with their own stylistic choices, I think the first step is to acknowledge that more style choices than we can possibly imagine exist. I feel as though introductory writing classes are so limiting, students write what they think the teacher wants to read. I also think helping students understand their voices, as another student mentioned, is SO important. For too long, people have been ridiculed for how they speak or write, and I wish that wouldn't be the case. For instance, why is it ever a discussion if someone "sounds black," or why do we like make fun of like teenage girls for like talking like this like all the time? Instead of making disparaging comments, we should help students find their voices. And maybe that does mean using their vernacular, which feels comfortable to them, or using filler words, which allows them to gather their thoughts. But in my experience, the students most apprehensive to talk in class are often even more apprehensive when writing. If we give them any reason to be nervous about either, we are doing them a disservice.
Speaking specifically to online writing, allowing for more "casual" assignments that have no other purpose but to let students write how THEY want to write will help with this. Also, another student mentioned, having a wide, rich reading list where many different styles can be observed will help. By doing this, we can give our students a small understanding of style.
My Thoughts
I chose this discussion post because it shows a clear shift in my perspective. Before this discussion, I adamantly insisted on 'perfect" grammar. Now, I can see the benefit in variation and straying from the rules. I think this shift allowed me to better emphasize the full range of style choices to my students. As I mention in the post, I think that introductory writing students often write what they think the professor wants to hear, not what they actually want to write. While many instructors would simply say that students shouldn't feel that way, the reality is that many of them do. It is my job (along with my professor) to create a classroom environment that supports making bold choices. One way I can see to do this is smaller assignments that allow students to write in whatever style they wish. A benefit of online teaching has been the increase in written discussion boards for my class. By making them completion-based, we can provide a space for students to play with their writing style.
Discussion Post 2 - Teaching Writing Online
While "Teaching Writing Online" asserts that it is more difficult than teaching in the classroom, I do not necessarily agree. To me, they both have their positives and negatives. For instance, it is much easier to quickly screen-share something than worry about getting out a computer and turning on a projector in the classroom. On the other hand, switching into multiple small groups throughout class is much more natural when students can physically get up and move. Therefore, I would not say that being a UTA is more difficult in an online environment, it is just different. The one true downside that I see is the amount of class time. Because my professor has chosen to do two Zoom sessions a week (for a MWF class), this is already less time than in person. Friday is our day for asynchronous work, and while we are still interacting, it is not nearly the same level as a Zoom or an in person class. Therefore, I think that I do not know the students as well.
As Erstad mentions, the advantage of online learning is the amount of flexibility in scheduling. I do not feel like I have more or less free time than I did before, but I do feel like I can rearrange my responsibilities and even classes (as I have many recorded lectures) to fit in with my other time commitments. Overall, though, I would say that I am spending more energy on making sure that I am not missing any deadlines, significantly more so than in person, so I am assuming that my students feel similarly.
In the class that I UTA, I do not feel like I am having trouble seeing who is behind. This might be because my professor and I are very cognizant about prompting any questions and we also make ourselves very available outside of class. I have a feeling this may be an isolated situation, though, because in my section, the students who have struggled with the major assignments the most are the students who also participate in discussion and engage in class the most. I think this would also happen in person, so I am not sure Zoom is causing this disconnect. However, I can definitely say that in my other classes, some professors are oblivious to the fact that most of the class does not know what is going on. I think this is an aspect of teaching that requires the professors and TAs to be very in-tune with the class, which does not always happen.
My Thoughts
I chose this post because I disagreed with our source material here. I did disagreed with the argument that teaching online is more difficult than teaching in a classroom, but I think my main point of contention was in the basis that there are only two sides to this argument. Of course, any issue will be more than a binary, and this one is no different. I am not going to act like online teaching is without its challenges, but it does have several benefits. I provide specific examples in the post itself, and many more are out there. I think the main difference in the online teaching that many educators have been discussing for years and the online teaching currently is circumstance. In the past, students would have made a conscious choice to take classes online. Alternatively, they could take just one class online. But now, entire school systems and universities have been thrust into a state of total virtual learning. This is much more extreme, and warrants a different kind of discussion, than previous online learning. Also, the pandemic has made our students' lives without school more stressful, whether it be financially, mentally, or socially. While I still disagree that online teaching is not superior or inferior to in-person teaching, I think the issue is so much more nuanced than we often allow.
Teaching Logs
Fall 2022 Teaching Log
Hi, everyone!
My week has been mostly good, and I hope yours has been as well. My class is getting into a nice rhythm now. As I said last time, I helped my professor run conferences last week so that our students could finalize their inquiry topics. This was a lot of fun, especially when I met with students who I do not know very well yet. Now, we are fully focused on the inquiry presentation. I am hopeful that my students are enjoying the change from a paper to a presentation. Next week, we have our library session, which I will not be attending, as I have a midterm directly following class, and then our inquiry presentation peer review. I haven't had an issue keeping up with grading, which I'm glad about, because I really struggled with that last semester.
On a personal note, I have almost 100% secured the spring internship I need to graduate next semester, so that has been a weight lifted off my shoulders.
Today, my question is: how different is your presentation advice for virtual/in-person presentations? We do not require our students to present with their cameras on when recording their video, so that might be a factor. Sometimes I feel like my advice needs to be tailored to video editing, not necessarily actually presenting. How do you feel?
My Thoughts
This semester, I have used teaching logs to be much more conversational with other UTAs than I have in the past. This has been a great experience, because we can interact with each other and get feedback. For instance, in this post, I am asking about the different in presentation advice if the students are delivering the presentation in person or over a recorded video. This was relevant at the time, because my students were preparing to record their Inquiry Presentations. I have not made too many virtual presentations that are prerecorded, so I did not feel like I was the best person to give advice. I was able to bounce ideas off the other people in my class. Looking back at when I wrote this teaching log, I really did enjoy having conferences with many of my students. I was able to talk with them individually, something I do not get to do very often. Additionally, I really got to hear what issues they are passionate about. I only casually mention grading in this post, but I have not struggled to keep up with grading this semester at all. I do have significantly less grading than last spring, but it has been refreshing to not feel weighed down with grading. I'm not exactly sure what I did differently this semester, but it worked! I think this teaching log is an excellent encapsulation of my semester - I regularly interacted with my fellow UTAs, my class was in a pretty even rhythm, and I really relished the time I got to spend getting to know my students.
Spring 2022 Teaching Log
Now that I have met my students in person, I feel like I know them much better. For the first class, I arrived first, put up an opening question, and waited for people to filter in. For some reason, the desks were arranged in a circle, meaning that some students were facing away from the screen. I didn't notice how problematic this was until most of the way through class, but my professor and I talked about rearranging them at the beginning of the next class. This way, everyone can see easily. Also, the class was very quiet, so if anyone has any tips on getting participation up, I will take them! I led a lesson plan for about 20 minutes of the class, and I had some trouble getting participation to do the activity. It was a lesson I had done on Zoom last semester, and I felt it was very successful then. This time, I thought the students only answered two out of three parts of the question. I think that I will have to be even more explicit next time. However, all of this will be easier as students start to participate more.
Another task I am excited for is inquiry conferences! My professor has decided that UTAs can run inquiry conferences of their own. I have not done this before, but I am looking forward to getting to know my students better one-on-one. This is in a few weeks, but I am hoping to prepare for it early.
While I did lead a lesson plan last week, I am not set to do anything this week. This is mainly because I am interning for the MD General Assembly, and my boss has FIVE bill hearings next Thursday (so I doubt I will lead anything then, either). I have let my professor know this, and am working with her so that I can lead lesson plans when it is best for both of us. I'm starting to look for a place to create a new plan, not one that I have done in the past, so I am looking ahead. I'm glad that my professor is so open to her TAs creating their own lesson plans.
All in all, the semester is off to a great start and I am hoping to keep it that way!
My Thoughts
The reflection I wrote this teaching log shortly after I met my students in person for the first time. We had already met for two weeks on Zoom, so this was at least a month into the semester. I like this post because it shows how I had to work around certain obstacles. In this case, the room arrangement was causing problems. Because of this, I had to work to come up with a solution. Unfortunately, this was not a long-term solution, as I had to come in and drag the desks around each week, but I was able to help my students, so it was still successful. I also touched on a lesson plan from this semester, one that I had already done on Zoom. This was excellent to reflect on, because I had assumed in-person learning would be easier. That turned out not to be the case. I am so happy that I did a lesson plan in both formats, because I never would have learned that. Finally, I like this teaching log because it showed how I was learning about balance between my classes and internship roles. I definitely got much better in this area as the semester continued.
Spring 2021 Teaching Log
As I think about what is unexpected this semester, I think about how much different my semester looks from the fall. Most notably, this semester, I have a wonderful co-TA! My co-UTA Emma and I have actually known each other since right before the beginning of freshman year, so when I found out she would be my partner, I was elated. She has made certain things so much easier, and has so many valuable contributions. She has told me that I am wonderful to learn from as she starts her UTA position (I hope she still thinks that at the end of the semester!) And, as a small note, part of me thinks that I work harder now that I had a co-UTA because I do not want to be the one that is unprepared. Maybe that's not what I mean, but in instances like lesson planning, if we are going to deliver a lesson together, it needs to be discussed in advance, as opposed to me throwing something together. In fairness, I personally feel like the less "formal" my lesson plans are, the better, but Emma's presence has definitely kept me on track.
In terms of students, I think this semester was unexpected for me because I have a much different vibe now. Last semester, most of my students got As, participated, used their cameras, and did extensive research on their topics beyond what was required. This semester, maybe one or two cameras (not including UTAs and the professor) are on, the class only speaks up when prompted, and many students are not completing several assignments. I have more than one student in my section with a failing grade right now (4, I think), and one with a 0%. Even without those students, the section average is significantly lower than last semester. Honestly, this is a little bit disappointing. I was crediting my fall students' successes to the effort, dedication, and quality of the class from my professor and myself. I genuinely thought, "Wow, we must be doing something right if we have this many students writing so many amazing papers by the end of the semester!" Turns out, it was just the luck of the draw, not my actual teaching abilities. I feel bad for saying this, but part of me misses last semester. The camaraderie I had with my students is a stark contrast to the black boxes and white names I see this semester. I know it's not their fault, and group dynamics play a role, but I think I am having a little bit of trouble separating last semester from this semester. What I mean by that is that I should not be comparing them at all, yet I am. As I see how much I've written about this, I'm definitely making it seem more prevalent in my mind than it actually is, but it's a lingering thought that just hasn't gone away.
As my mom would say, not to end on a downer, I actually had my first synchronous Zoom meeting with a student about her paper this week! She came prepared, I came prepared, and we had an excellent conversation. Because of online classes, I had only been asked to send drafts back and forth, so this was super fun to try out! I 100% credit this to all of the readings and discussions from last semester about providing student feedback. Without those, I would have given her a checklist of directions and sent her on her way. Instead, I let her lead the beginning of the conversation, gave her some comments that were phrased much more as questions or suggestions, and then ended with asked for her feedback. I'm excitedly looking forward to reading her final draft to see what changes she implemented!
My Thoughts
When I wrote this post, I was still getting used to the new semester. Now, I see what is truly the norm for this semester, and what just happened to be taking up too much space in my head. I still love having a co-TA, as she is wonderful to work with, and the students find her to be a useful resource as well. She is still keeping me on track, which I appreciate. I still have students not participating, and some lower grades, but I had to accept that I can only put in as much effort as they do. If they do not put in their work, no amount of work I do can make up for their missing papers or erratic attendance. Moving to meetings, I have gotten to work with the same student over Zoom more than once, and she is very receptive to my comments, and having a conversation where we are both providing input. My other students have opted for asynchronous feedback, which I suspect is more for the convenience rather than actually liking that type of feedback better. I think the semester is finishing strong, even though my students seem to be very busy. I can relate, and am cognizant of their headspace when planning lessons.
Fall 2020 Teaching Log
Much like the first Learning Log, I have not actually had anything unexpected from being a UTA. I feel like I have had more time to get more comfortable in the role, though. As I said in my last post, my instructor has been excellent about communicating any plans she has and any changes she makes, especially last-minute ones. Lately, she has been very receptive to any of her UTAs designing a lesson plan of their own or leading one of hers. It is comforting to know that she is so supportive in this area. The other UTAs are very nice, but I have to admit that we do not interact much besides the bi-weekly meetings with our professor. However, they always have wonderful ideas to make the class better.
Recently, I led my lesson plan for an entire class. While it was harder than I anticipated, I think it went well and I am hoping that the students take skills from it going forward. To me, the best part of that lesson plan was that it was a topic that we saw a need for as the semester progressed and then added it in. I feel like classes are best when they are tweaked to fit the strengths and weaknesses of the students. Additionally, students are starting to reach out to me even more. As we get later in the semester, I am getting more and more confident with my responses to them. This goes for my actual responses and my tone of the responses. I felt like I was more intentional with my tone at the beginning of the year, but now it is much more natural.
ENGL388V has been hugely helpful for me in many ways. I specifically have thought about our use of breakout rooms and how I approach student feedback as a result of 388V. I think that we are able to have so many productive conversations in this class. Whether or not they serve a direct purpose, they are still enjoyable to me. Also, I remember that I am in a similar place with many students. It can be hard to remember that when I am the only TA in the 101H Zoom. Finally, I have not been apprehensive about anything yet, but as I write this on Tuesday, I am a little bit nervous about class tomorrow morning. My professor has said she will wait to see the election leaning before planning class, so I know less than I usually do about class. Realistically, I know it will be fine, but I still want to make sure that no one feels as if their voice is not being heard in our class.
My Thoughts
Looking back to this time, I was very appreciate of my professor's willingness to take her ideas for her TAs and her overall flexibility on our level of involvement. While I took advantage of that last semester, I feel like I have used it even more this semester. For instance, I volunteered to create an entirely new major assignment and the lesson plan to accompany it. We seem to have similar planning styles, in that we like to be prepared, but do not always outline every second of the class. I like this because it allows us to tweak the class period to our students' needs. It seems foreign to me that when I wrote this post, I had only led one class solo, because now I feel infinitely more comfortable doing so. While my students are much different than last semester, each class has its strengths, and is teaching me so much. Additionally, I do not even consider my tone when interacting with students, as now it is natural. 388V was hugely helpful to me, and I miss our weekly discussions. Our teaching logs have been an excellent way to bridge the gap now that we do not have a weekly meeting.
Observation
Each semester, I observed another ENGL101 class. Below are both my notes and my reflection from my Spring 2021 observation. The notes were written during the observation and the reflection was written directly following it.
My Notes
Observed: Erin’s ENGL101 section with Prof. Gilmore on 2/15/2021, 1 PM
The class was on the second day of their rhetorical analysis unit.
Environment
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Zoom
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A decent number of people have their cameras on, but it is still not the majority
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Erin screenshared at the beginning, but then for discussion, no one was screen sharing so that everyone could see those with cameras on (which was about 6 students)
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Chat is used to give free-writing directions and other question prompts so that they do not have to be repeated
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Used a Google Doc during breakout room time to label audience, purpose, and rhetorical strategies
Before Class
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Erin is here five minutes early with her camera on
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The professor gets here about three minutes early and turns her camera on
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Students are slowly getting onto Zoom, there are 5 at 12:58
Student Expectations
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They had to watch a ~5-minute video before class to discuss it
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Their asynchronous day, which was the previous class, introduced the logistics of the rhetorical analysis
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They participate at the beginning by putting answers on the question of the day
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They have to participate in both large group discussions and in breakout rooms
Facilitation/Overview of Class
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At 1, Erin said they would get started and linked a Google Jamboard to ask a question of the day (a non-English related icebreaker)
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Then, she gave some reminders, and then handed class over to Prof. Gilmore
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Prof. Gilmore opened with reminders for some upcoming assignments and an overall plan for the class
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Started talking about audience with rhetorical analysis to establish rhetorical situation and audience
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Asked to share how they would tell a friend, a grandparent, or a professor that they are sick and couldn’t make it to have an example of audience considerations
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Discussed identifying an audience in general – uses example from bank of articles that students are picking their pieces from
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Took a few minutes to free write about audience in the piece that the student chose for their assignment
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Then, Prof. Gilmore asks the class to have this conversation as a large group about the Adichie TED Talk that students had viewed a few classes prior (Danger of a Single Story). Had to cold call because no one was volunteering after the first person
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Took a few minutes to go over more logistics of the rhetorical analysis by screen sharing a Google slides PPT
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Went to breakout rooms for about 10 minutes to discuss John Stewart video (they did mention watching it first though, and they were supposed to already have done that for homework). Because of this, the first 5 min of “discussion” time were silent. They started adding to the Google Doc that they are on that without even interacting with each other.
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Came back to the large group and Prof. Gilmore led them in a discussion that summarizes what they talked about/put on the Google Doc in groups. She asked one person from each group to share what their group talked about.
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Prof. Gilmore and Erin both intro-ed next class because they wanted them to be prepared by watching Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Day poem
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They both stayed after to answer questions (only students who had questions stayed on)
UTA
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Erin was the one to start class
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She screen-shared the Google Jamboard
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She had them share their answers verbally (had 2-3 people answer)
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Takes attendance on a Google Doc
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Camera remains on even when she is not leading class
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During breakout room time, moved between the rooms to check in on where everyone was
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There was one question in the chat while Prof. Gilmore was teaching and Erin answered it in the chat to avoid interruptions
My Reflection
Last week, I had the opportunity to observe Erin's ENGL101 section. I was particularly looking forward to it because we actually TA for the same professor. I was interested to see how different the class can be depending on the section. It is also worth noting that I TA for the first section of the day, which is often the "guinea pig" section for timing, questions, and other variables that we can never seem to get just right.
Each class, we start with a question of the day completely unrelated to English. I usually just ask people in the chat or to unmute, but Erin used Google Jamboard (which was genius) and screenshared, so the discussion felt so much more cohesive. Then, Prof. Gilmore took over to cover some content. It was like sitting through a completely different class than the one I had helped lead two hours earlier, which I definitely did not expect.
Next, we divided into breakout rooms. As I do in my own section, I turned my camera off to signal that I was just listening, not an active participant. I didn't explicitly introduce myself as another TA for the class, but I am assuming that the students have seen my name on ELMS or emails. Maybe they forgot that I was there, but they literally did not speak. They were supposed to be commenting on a Google Doc, which they did, but discussion was certainly not where we wanted it. (From what I understand, not all of the groups were silent, but didn't participate the way that we wanted them to) We came back together, shared group work, and the students left. Then, Erin, Prof. Gilmore, and I had a chance to turn my observation into a conversation about how we should encourage participation in all of her sections. We came up with several strategies that have started to work this week.
Even if it is not for 388V, if you all have the chance to ask your professor to observe one of their other sections, it could be really beneficial! I hope that Erin can agree that we did get something out of having more people distributed in the breakout rooms. Not to mention, I also know how to improve participation with our opening question and her overall conduct throughout class.
Group Presentation
As a first-semester teaching assistant, I met with other first-timers in a weekly class for ENGL388V. Below is a group presentation I led with two other students that involved us leading an hour long discussion. Our topic was Language Diversity. I have included the readings and discussion board our classmates completed prior to coming to the class, our in-class discussion questions, Kahoot questions that we used during the class, and my reflection of the experience, written directly after the class.
Source Material
Says Who? Teaching and Questioning the Rules of Grammar
“How to Cultivate Greater Linguistic Diversity” A.W. Strouse
Conditions of (Im)Possibility: Postmonolingual Language Representations in Academic Literacies
Discussion Prompt
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Do you agree with Curzan that individuals should criticize “Standard English”? As a UTA, how could you help your students to challenge the rules of grammar?
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As a student, do you think you’re challenged in language diversity by your professors or teachers? Do you feel supported in challenging the rules of grammar?
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Which of Strouse’s tips would you say are the easiest to implement in your particular classroom? How about the most difficult to implement?
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How could you as a UTA “admit that language is a problem” not just in a specific instance, but throughout the semester?
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Has there been a time during this semester that a student has used a dialect other than SWE for an assignment? How did you and/or your professor react? Was the student penalized in any way?
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How has the linguistic hierarchy affected you as a teaching assistant? What about as a student?
Pick two questions from the list above and respond in 350-400 words. Please reference at least two of the readings in your initial post. Once you are finished, respond to at least one other classmate.
In-Class Discussion Questions
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Revisit the discussion board questions
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What is your opinion on the use of Standard English to signify authority or professionalism?
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Have you consciously considered this topic before our discussion? Why do you think you have/haven’t?
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While video/lecture captioning is seen as a necessity for ADA compliance, can you see how it would be useful to a student who does not speak English as their first language?
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Bring up some students might be stronger in reading OR writing OR speaking
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The ENGL101 curriculum specifically is meant to cover various genres (papers, presentations, websites, etc.). Do you think there is another medium that might be beneficial to students who might not speak English as their first language or use certain dialects?
Kahoot Questions
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Do your professors encourage language diversity in your own classes?
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Do your professors that you TA for encourage language diversity?
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Do you only use Standard Written English when you're interacting with your class as a TA?
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In the class you TA for, are the reading assignments in Standard Written English?
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Do you think that we need to increase the language diversity at UMD?
My Reflection
As soon as our group formed, I was happy with the group dynamic. We were all very willing to contribute our time and energy, which made it very easy to get the project done. To start, we each found two articles. Then, we chose our favorites out of the ones we complied. I feel like this allowed us to choose the most fitting readings instead of just finding ones that were sufficient for the topic. We met twice on Zoom before class, and communicated frequently in between. I felt bad for Alyssa because I knew she was struggling with her internet connection. She did the best she could with the weather at the time.
We monitored the online discussion board in the days leading up to the presentation. I was a bit disappointed that so many of my classmates waited until fairly late to post, because then I felt as any responses I could write wouldn’t be seen in time. As a group, we decided that we weren’t going to directly interact with the discussion board, but we monitored it to see where the discussion was going. It did have an impact on our in-class discussion. I had certain students’ responses picked out in case I had time to ask them to elaborate, but that did not end up happening. Instead, we focused on the discussion board questions during the class, because Zoom is a much more productive way to have a discussion.
With our discussion, we addressed more than one of the learning outcomes. The most direct outcome we addressed was Outcome 4, because our entire conversation centered around linguistic differences. To me, we certainly spent the most time on this outcome. I do not think that was a problem, though, because I did not feel as though our conversation was too narrow. I also thought we touched on Outcome 2, because we discussed how peer review or grading can be expanded to account for linguistic diversity. All of the students who spoke up during this portion had wonderful insights about how to be more accommodating of linguistic diversity. Finally, we made use of Outcome 6, because I felt that our ancillary material was effective and really allowed us to base an excellent conversation from.