Tips from Ivan Garcia

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: DON'T DISTRIBUTE

In addition to lending us his advice on TAing Ling120 and Ling130A, Ivan Garcia sent us some very helpful general suggestions on how to TA:

Learn the students' names. For me, this is really a must.

Establishing good rapport with the students and motivating them is fundamental: A good atmosphere during section goes a long way towards the learning process.

Never assume that just because something is obvious to you, it should also be obvious to everybody else.

Fight the tendency to give the students the answers straight away. Build on the knowledge the students already have and guide them in the thinking process by providing some intermediate logical steps and good leading questions. If you can help students to work out an answer to a particular question for themselves, the material will become much more memorable.

The sections must be clearly structured and well-paced. Lay out the structure of the section at the beginning. Although it is good to allocate a generous portion of each section for student questions relating to the week's homework, planning sections that revolve around the homework only does not pay in the long run.

Don't just rehash the contents of the lecture every time. Focus on the key points and leave plenty of time for showing them how the new material ties in with the material already covered in the previous weeks. Learning is about anchoring new stuff with what you already know. The better the connections, the better the students' command of the material.

Some students will naturally tend to dominate the discussion while others will sit quietly at the back. Identify these student types and plan accordingly. Aim for equal participation in class. Break them into smaller groups to facilitate interaction.