Best-Kept Secrets of the Graduate Teaching Assistantship

Assume the role . . . and take the roll!  That's all there is to being a Graduate Teaching Assistant.

Filling the time on Mon.-Wed.-Fri.:

    Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes are only 50 minutes long.  Here's a sample daily schedule:  
    1. If you take attendance slowly, you can use up ten minutes.  (If the class has fewer than 25 students, stretch out the roll by asking each student how he's doing that day).  
    2. Then, to break the ice, chat with the class about movies and current events for five to ten minutes.  On Mondays you can discuss what everybody did over the weekend, and on Fridays you can talk about everybody's plans for the weekend.   
    3. Give a quiz and let the students exchange papers and grade each other's (that saves you from doing homework).  By the time you read the questions aloud, allow time for the students to write answers, repeat questions, exchange papers, read the answers aloud, and explain the answers to the slower students, you'll have taken up at least fifteen minutes.
    4a. Now it's time for class discussion.  (Forget lectures: no one wants to hear them, and you don't want to prepare them).  If the class remains silent, just sit there and look at them.  If they don't want to learn, you can't make them.  Their education is their own responsibility.
    4b. (alternate) Divide the class into groups of four or five.  Have them discuss the day's subject or work on short assignments.
    4c. (alternate) Show a video.  Your library or university resource center probably has hundreds of educational videos.  If you run out of time, show the remainder next time.
    4d. (alternate) Since only 15 minutes remains, let the class out early, saying "It's such a nice day out . . ." or "Use this time to work on the assignment at home."

Filling the Time on Tue.-Thurs.

    Tuesday-Thursday classes are 75-minutes long.  But you only meet twice a week, which leaves you with a four-day weekend.  The sample daily schedule is the same for Mon.-Wed.-Fri. except for parts 4c and 4d.:
    4c. Show a video.  With 35-minutes remaining, you'll probably have time to watch the whole thing.
    4d. Let the class out early, but tell them to go to the library.

Give Yourself and Your Students an Occasional Break

    When planning your syllabus, allow at least three "individual study" days per semester.  Always put them on Friday (or Thursday, for Tue.-Thurs. classes).  That way you'll have a three-day weekend.  Explain it to your students this way: "On Friday the class will meet at the library for individual study.  I won't take the roll.  You may study anywhere in the library you'd like.  I may not see you, since the library is such a big place."
    Or work a few "catch-up days" into the syllabus.  In theory, such days allow the course to progress smoothly and not get behind.  In practice, you can cancel class on those days since you always make it a point not to get behind.

Planning the First and Last Day

    Don't plan anything.  On the first day, hand out the syllabus, show the class the textbook, and dismiss everybody.  On the last day, have a party or call it "individual review day for the final exam."

Teacher Evaluation Time

    Once or twice a semester, a professor may sit in on your class to evaluate you.  It's unlikely to be a surprise visit.  Rather, the professor will schedule the visit in advance.  You may be asked to suggest a day yourself.
    On the day before the visit, tell your class that a professor will be visiting.  Promise them that if they are particularly enthusiastic that day, they'll get Friday off.

Oral Reports

    Up to one-half of the entire course can be filled with oral reports.  Divide the students into groups of four or five and allow them to choose a topic themselves (this will take a day in itself, and may even require "library days").  You can go around to each group and approve their subjects.  Each student should give a 10 to 15 minute presentation.  Allow five minutes after each presentation for questions.  On Mon.-Wed.-Fri., two reports can be made per class.  On Tue.-Thurs., three reports (or possibly four shorter ones) can be made.

Though you only just graduated yourself, you can have the authority of a full professor.  When you write your name on the board the first day, add Dr. before it.  The students will never know.   By the end of the semester, you'll feel like one.