Chronicles of being a TA, part 1

October 23, 2019

This semester is my first ever semester being a teaching assistant. Ever since I started in college in 2016, I've always wanted to be a TA someday. My dream finally came true when I was assigned to be a TA for our nonmajors CS class, Computer Fluency. This post goes over how I feel about the job so far.

Being a TA for this class has been great thus far. I really enjoy my job. But I find that the most satisfying part of the job is the true excitement that students have when they understand a concept and can enjoy a class, both by how it is taught and how it is ran. And indeed, these are perhaps the most important aspects of teaching that educators should focus on. Ensuring a class is taught well requires a gift for explanation, while running a class well means knowing how to be a decent human being.

As a student, I've had my fair share of bad TA's and unreasonable professors. They have inspired me to be how I TA today: everything they weren't. Every time a professor failed me, I remembered. Every time a TA failed me, I remembered. Instead of planning retribution though, or cursing them under my breath, I thought "how could I be a better TA in the future when I actually do this?" I remembered these principles to use later when I can finally act on it. Indeed, these are the principles by which I teach and act while I TA today.

Thankfully, the professor with whom I work is one of the most reasonable and nicest professors I've ever met, which aligns really well with my personal belief that teachers should aim to be reasonable and ensure that students are happy and treated well in the class. Many professors and TA's have this preconceived notion that they need to be difficult and rough on students. In other words, they feel a need to be a hardass. This goes completely against my philosophy. I believe that TA's should be able to strike a balance: respect the wishes of the instructor for whom they work while maintaining a good working relationship with students. That way, the integrity of the class is maintained while ensuring that students are happily taking the class.

This semester, I've taken this quite seriously. First, in discussion sections, I've naturally built a rapport with my students, and I think it has been helpful with the morale and quality of education of students in my section. Students who have a good relationship with their instructors and TAs are more likely to go to class and more likely to do well in the class. When I grade assignments, I stick to the rubric as closely as possible, but if there's a way to err on the students' side, I will, because at the end of the day, what matters is whether the student has learned the material correctly, not whether they did the homework exactly like we expected them to. Grading a homework harshly and taking off points is not something I take pleasure in, nor do I believe in its efficacy. That's why I try my best to give each student the highest grade they can possibly make while satisfying the rubric. Some people have this idea that grading harshly is a good way to make sure people fix their mistakes, or people shouldn't turn in shoddy work, etc., but at the end of the day, I believe that the students I deal with are all adults, all want to learn properly, and are all open to improvement and enrichment. If this is the case, then why must we punish them and cause them suffering when we can simply correct their mistakes before it affects their grades and the way they use this knowledge in the real world? That's why I believe in explaining things in depth in discussion section. When I help students with homework, I don't just give the answer away. I guide them through their thought process and make sure it's right. I help them train it correctly. If that's done well, then their grades ought to reflect the fruits of their hard work.

To cap it off, I take any feedback about my teaching skills and discussion facilitiation very seriously. I've encouraged my students to send me anonymous feedback via a form that's very easy to fill out online and goes directly to me and nobody else. From this form, I've found that students are pretty happy with the way I do things, and from grades, I can see that most students are doing great! To be honest, I'm always happy to hear good feedback coming from students. Not only do I feel better about the way I'm doing about my job, but more importantly, it means the students are happy. Classes can be tough already. Why make lives more miserable? If my discussion section in Computer Fluency is that one class that's at least a bit more bearable than other classes, then that is a good sign. If it's the best class that people genuinely look forward to, then that is a great sign.

To sum this post up, here's something I recently told a friend: "I want to be a good TA to make people's lives better." Being a TA isn't just about facilitating information dissemination. Anyone can do that. But being a TA without being a jerk is a requirement I enforce on myself. Being a TA who truly helps people have better lives and a better class experience is a goal I strive for all the time, and one I will not give up on.

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