Teaching Assistants are vital to running a course in an efficient and competitive environment. They can often help make or break your grade and can really impact the way you feel about you major. Here are some tips for people wondering what it takes to become a TA.
Respond to emails promptly. You’re going to have a lot of students in some classroom settings and they’re going to require a lot of attention. Ensure that you’re responding to questions that they have and are aware that not everyone is going to understand everything the first time around.
Make yourself relatable. The more relatable you are the more willing your students will be to contribute to the classroom setting because they’ll become comfortable with you over time. Remind your students that you were once in their shoes and that the more work they put into the course the more they’ll eventually get out it.
Creating a positive and welcoming environment relates a lot to how comfortable students feel when expressing themselves in a collegiate environment. Welcoming students to learn, make mistakes, and encouraging them to speak up can make a world of a difference when it comes to what students will get out of a lecture.
Have patience when dealing with students who don’t understand. Often you’ll be either reinforcing material for students or teaching something that is brand new for them so have patience when working with students who might not understand things the first time. Students are in you classroom to learn and grow, not to be perfectionists.
Learning how to talk to a diverse audience is another key component to being a good TA. You never know who your students are or what might offend them so it’s always important to keep your language in check when working with them one on one.
I hope these tips help you become the best TA possible and that you have a successful teaching year!