Congratulations! Another semester is almost under your belt. But now you need to get ready for your next teaching assignment. Let us help you prepare. Join us for an informational panel with three experienced teaching assistants who will each share their own impactful methods of instruction. Ashley Hink (Communication Arts) will showcase the powerful digital tools that participants can employ to enhance their own teaching. Melissa Miller (Slavic Languages and Literature) will demonstrate proven techniques for overcoming the dreaded sound of classroom silence. And finally, Scott Gerard Prinster (History of Science) will explain how TA’s can better establish their authority and trustworthiness as an educator to students, all the while establishing student-instructor relationships conducive to a healthy classroom and productive semester.
Come hear what other talented TA’s are doing in their classroom, share your own ideas with others, and leave ready to start another successful semester.
Tuesday, May 5
12:00-1:00pm
Memorial Union (See TITU)
Refreshments provided
For questions, please contact:
Lane Sunwall – lane@lss.wisc.edu
Ashley Hink (Communication Arts) will showcase the powerful digital tools you can use to enhance your teaching. Digital technology has pushed its way into our instruction: our students bring their digital lives with them to class, administrators are increasingly looking for teachers who can facilitate online discussions, workshops, and courses, and the best teachers use these ubiquitous digital tools in unique and innovative ways. Ashley will discuss what is at stake, how to enhance your teaching with digital tools, and best practices for using new tools in the classroom.
Melissa Miller (Slavic Languages and Literature) will demonstrate proven techniques for overcoming the dreaded sound of silence and provide tips for teaching discussion sections in the humanities. Melissa will focus on specific strategies to build dialogue and strengthen rapport in humanities discussion sections from the first class day through the end of the semester. She will discuss pair-work and group-work models as a foundation for driving classroom interaction. Participants will leave the symposium equipped with new ideas for crating invigorating lesson plans and supporting lively and inclusive discussion.
Scott Gerard Prinster (History of Science) will explain how TA’s can better establish their authority and trustworthiness as an educator. Students look to their teachers to set the terms and tone of our relationship with them, but how does an inexperienced teaching assistant know how to establish relationships conducive to a healthy classroom and a productive semester? Establishing your authority and trustworthiness as an educator is an important factor in relieving your students’ confusion and reducing potential mistrust. In this section of the symposium, Scott will discuss the concrete steps you can take to introduce yourself as a credible educator with explicit and clear course policies and expectations.