Author: amy higgins

Wondering what to do after the MFA? If you’ve loved being a TA (and/or a New Shoots Mentor), qualifying as a K-12 teacher can be a great next step. Keep reading to find out how your experience as a TA will be helpful in a K-12 setting and to learn more about how to go about qualifying as a teacher.

Whether you’re teaching four-year-olds, 14-year-olds, or undergraduates, a lot of the same skills come into play. Here are a few things you’ve likely learned as a CRWR TA that will easily transfer to working with younger students:

Assessment: This is a HUGE component of teaching at any level. The assessment practices you’ve learned through TAing—navigating rubrics, giving descriptive feedback, and evaluating students’ work according to established performance standards—are just as relevant when you teach Grade 12 or Grade 2.

Classroom management: If you’ve had the opportunity to TA a seminar, you’ve learned how to hold the group’s attention, give clear instructions, and exercise flexibility when things don’t go as planned—skills you will continue to refine if you ever find yourself standing in front of a room of squirrely Grade 1s when the SmartBoard isn’t working, a fire drill is expected at any moment, and someone has a nosebleed.

Navigating interpersonal conflict: In the CRWR classroom, where people often feel vulnerable sharing deeply personal and/or political work, emotions sometimes run high. Your role as a TA is to help students navigate the conflicts that inevitably arise in a way that makes everyone feel heard. This skill will come into play when your Primary students return from recess with tears streaming down their faces, when a high school student concerned about university acceptance approaches you with a worried expression and their graded paper in hand, or when the time comes to have a tough conversation with a parent about their child’s performance or behaviour in class. You’ve got this!

It’s also important to be aware of the requirements to become a K-12 teacher. The application process differs province-to-province—here are some tips on preparing for a K-12 teaching career in British Columbia.

Academic requirements: To teach in the K-12 system in BC, you will need to complete a B.Ed., which is a one- to two-year program.

For aspiring elementary teachers, there are quite a few prerequisites—you need to have taken undergraduate-level classes in English, Math, a laboratory Science, Canadian History or Geography, and another Canadian Studies class. Look into the requirements early to make sure you’ll have all the coursework you need.

If you’d like to teach high school, you’ll need to have quite a few credits in the specific subject areas you plan to teach. To avoid unpleasant surprises, it’s important to do the research—don’t just assume that you have the credits you need.

Experience: This is key. Try to get as much experience as you can working with students in groups (vs. one-on-one) since group management is a huge aspect of teaching. There are so many ways to get this experience—summer camps, Scouts and Girl Guides, the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, the public library, community centres, sports teams … the list goes on.

It’s also a good idea to get experience volunteering in a school—teachers love extra hands, and spending time in a classroom will give you a clearer perspective on what the day-to-day of teaching will be like. You probably remember your own experience in school, but things can feel very different on the other side of the classroom. Also, many people love children but aren’t necessarily prepared to spend six hours a day, five days a week, managing thirty kids. There are many ways to work with children, so try to get a real sense of whether teaching is for you before you commit to another degree.

If you have any further questions about this topic, feel free to reach out!

Hi everyone! My name is Cole Klassen and my pronouns are they/them. I’ve been working as the TA Training Coordinator for just over a month now and, as I prepare training for the fall, an idea that seems to keep appearing again and again is the difficult balance of authenticity and professionalism required of TAs.

By authenticity, I mean communication that makes students feel cared for, excited, and part of a community; when fully authentic, you seem to students like an honest person who cares about them.

By professionalism, I mean communication that shows students you are an authority; when fully professional, even if you are nice, there is still a boundary that keeps the student/TA relationship from becoming something too personal like a friendship.

Since both of these approaches are really important in TAing, it can be a hard balance…Professionalism without authenticity leads to students feeling like their education is just a product they are paying for, which kills community and excitement. However, authenticity without professionalism leads to a lack of boundaries; then, the TA’s relationship with some students becomes like  friendship, which can lead to favouring some students over others.

This balance is important in all teaching-related jobs, and is probably a component of every customer/patron/student service job. Yet, how TAs experience this balance is unique. For many TAs, this is their first time serving directly as an educator. Additionally, since TAs are generally working with large classes in which the instructor doesn’t have the capacity to work personally with each student and build community, there is a lot of pressure on TAs to do so. No one wants to be that “bad TA in a massive hundreds-of-people class” that everyone complains about.

Additionally, like all fine arts, creative writing involves a heightened level of vulnerability and emotion compared to more empirical disciplines. Most students take creative writing courses because they want a break from the employment-focused parts of schooling. Even if a student in CRWR 200 hopes to make a living teaching creative writing one day, their main motivation for taking creative writing isn’t to make money—it’s an excitement for writing. This craving for the authentic side of things—art, emotion, community, excitement—puts unique and sometimes paradoxical pressures on TAs. For instance, although the alluring part of creative writing is its more artsy side, students aren’t sure how the inevitable empirical facets of our current education system—namely grading—can fit into something as emotional and subjective as art. Consequently, creative writing students want their TAs to do completely opposite things. They are anxious that their TAs will be too professional and cold at the same time that they are anxious their TAs won’t be professional enough to be objective in grading.

I don’t have the answer to completely finding this difficult balance. I think that everyone approaches this in their own unique way. Also, simply being aware of the importance of this balance within every level of TAing is maybe the most crucial step. Anyways, even if I don’t have the complete answer, I can still share a few ideas and methods that I’ve found useful!

One thing I’ve found really useful is to pay attention to my favourite instructors. We all have a few instructors we love who manage to build community and make us very excited while simultaneously being very professional. These instructors show us that it’s possible to have a class that is fair and involves firm rules and boundaries, yet still feels very personal and exciting. Pay attention to the kind of language these favourite instructors of yours use when talking to students: the language they use when building excitement, the language they use when laying down rules. If you feel that your rule-enforcing is too strict or your feedback is overly critical, pay attention to how your favourite instructor fosters excitement and enforces boundaries in a way that doesn’t feel alienating. If you feel that you aren’t being firm enough with rules or you are spending hours and hours crafting elaborate and encouraging feedback, pay attention to how your favourite instructor’s feedback manages to be efficient without becoming impersonal. Directly asking your favourite instructor how they do it via email isn’t a bad idea either!

A valuable idea here is fairness; it’s an idea I find myself coming back to again and again when thinking about this balance. For instance, if you are burning out because you are spending too long creating deeply encouraging and sensitive feedback, you are not being fair to yourself! When you have good intentions, it can be hard to realize you are giving too much of yourself. And even if it seems like burning yourself out is helping students in this situation, the truth is that it’s impossible to keep burnout from affecting those around you. For instance, if you’re spending 30 minutes on feedback for each submission, you’re going to be pretty worn out by the time you’ve completed 25/50 submissions. Inevitably, the final 25 submissions will receive less considerate and measured feedback. This is an example of how being unfair toward any party in the equation is going to cause an imbalance—even if that party is you and it seems like you’re being helpful!

Every TA is going to run into some sort of imbalance like this—it’s natural. As I continue to work on training materials, I’m going to keep thinking about this difficult balance between authenticity and professionalism. Hearing about every TA’s experience with this—their struggles, solutions, and philosophies—is probably the best educational tool when it comes to a broad issue like this. Hopefully we can have some fruitful group discussion in the coming year! Even though it doesn’t necessarily solve the problem, I hope this blog post helps as you develop or reinforce your own ways to balance authenticity and professionalism as an educator.

They say, “We are our own worst critics,” and though I do not know who this “They” is, I can say that adage has never sat right with me. As writers, isn’t it sort of a given that we critique our own work? Who else but us has unfettered access to our material 24/7? I know that by the time I’ve reached the “ask-an-equally-exhausted-creative-type-friend-to-look-over-your-work” part of the editing process, everything can seem predictable or unimportant. But that’s only because I’ve lived with it for so long and so intimately that I’ve lost perspective on it.

How are you doing? No, really, how are you doing? Have you been kind and patient with yourself the last while? Have you been keeping perspective on your own writing? On everything you’ve accomplished this last year?

It’s easy to sound insincere when trying to reassure or encourage someone. But if you’ll indulge me, I’d love to take this time to remind you just how amazing you are.

1. You made it through Zoom University! Whether you’re in the midst of your degree or preparing to graduate, you’ve done it! This was a huge shift, and it wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but you did it!

2. You were a TA! You graded dozens, if not hundreds, of assignments on top of your own coursework, and you were there for your students, ready to help at a moment’s notice. You got to aid young creatives in finding and refining their voices; that’s so, indescribably cool!

3. You took care of yourself! This is the most amazing thing of all (in my opinion). You kept yourself fed, you took time for yourself, you laughed…You’ve survived. You’re here. Thank you.

I won’t pretend to know how much else you took on this year, what other roles you had to fill—socially, professionally, personally—but you’ve done it all so, so well. Keeping these plates spinning can be hard at the best of times, and as we all know, these are not the best of times. I hope that if you’ve critiqued yourself, you’ve also been able to keep perspective on all that you’ve accomplished this year. The work you’ve put in is incredible and worthy of celebration. You are worthy of celebration.

There’s no question: being a TA is a demanding job that can often add extra stress to a challenging semester. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, a marking deadline always seems to conflict with an upcoming story deadline of your own. You sift through piles of student stories, pointing out the underdeveloped inner journey of the protagonist or the abundance of grammatical mistakes in the work of students who may or may not revisit the piece and work on revising it once the semester is over. Meanwhile, your own story is sitting unwritten in a nonexistent Word Doc on your computer. Sure, it’s great to have a little extra money coming in, but is a TA-ship really worth diverting focus from your own work to critique the work of others? Wouldn’t that time be better spent agonizing over your own drafts?

You could probably tell from the rhetorical question set-up: my personal take is, no, it wouldn’t be better spent that way. And it absolutely is worth opening up the tunnel vision of your own writing habits to assist with the work of others.

As a TA, you basically get paid to (re)take foundational creative writing courses. You become intimate with the fundamentals, the basics of writing. (And this time you have to know them well, because you’re responsible for explaining them to the students.) Not only that, but you also have to consider and apply these fundamentals when you mark. Every. Single. Time. You need to be able to justify issuing a 3.5/5 on story structure somehow! It makes you diligent in assessing the bones of the story. And then, guess what? When you finally get the chance to return to your own writing, you can assess it with the eagle eye of a seasoned writing teacher: the setting is lacking, this character has an unclear desire, there’s no dialogue—why on earth is there no dialogue?!

It’s all very wax-on wax-off. By doing the work that feels like a distraction, you’re actually developing your own skill and eye. You’re better equipped to face the writing challenges ahead. And hey, you’re also getting paid.

Everyone knows communication is important, but in the midst of one’s own coursework, grading, and various other responsibilities, this knowledge can get misplaced.

Earlier this year, I took part in the CTLT’s Instructional Skills Workshop. In the workshop, we learned how to create lesson objectives: “By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to do x, y, and z.” When students know what they are supposed to take away from a lesson, they are better able to allocate their attention.

This isn’t always applicable in TA positions since not every TA assignment involves lesson planning. However, I think that communicating what you hope students will take away from your feedback is valuable. When I am marking, I tend to focus on the positive aspects of an assignment. I was inspired to do this because of Sheryda Warrener’s module in the TA Orientation. One of the things that has stuck with me from that presentation is that “studies show that positive technical feedback at the undergraduate level is more effective than critical technical feedback”.

However, when I focused exclusively on the positive, many of my students were confused. They were used to getting critical comments on their work. After emailing back and forth with a few of them I realized it would be easier (and save time!) to explain my approach in their feedback. So, I drafted a few sentences about my approach and then copy and pasted that into my feedback for each student. I have found that the responses to this have been overwhelmingly positive. Some students and I have discussed this in my office hours and they have expressed appreciation for this method.

Another communication method that has benefited both my students and myself is responding quickly to their emails. Even if I am not sure how to reply, I let the student know I have received their question/concern and will get back to them when I know more.

I hope these communication tips are helpful for TAs!

Here is the thing about novels: they take time, thought, percolation, consideration. And then, when they’re under classroom or advisor deadline, they are required to exist, without any consideration for the author’s need to mull deeply on questions of good and evil, or what they want for lunch.

Now, I am not some famous novelist with twenty books under my belt, but I have had a lot of experience writing novels and thinking about novel-length projects in terms of deadlines and school settings, and if you are a student needing to write for a deadline, or just someone desperate for advice, here is my Totally Unauthenticated Advice on jumpstarting a novel.

Step one: Lie. Tell yourself, this is not a novel. You are going to write a novella. Novellas are only 17,500-40,000 words, and 17.5k is hardly anything. It’s only 3 longish short stories! Or . . . around 15 flash pieces. Still, nothing! (Tell yourself this, firmly, in a confident voice.) But 17.5k is too long for a tidy idea, so you’re looking for a messy one instead, which is great. You have plenty of messy ideas. And then, when you hit 40k with a big chunk of story left, you’re golden. This is a Novel.

(Please ignore the prospect of hitting 90k with a big chunk of story left. That is future-you’s problem, and future-you can handle it. They’ve got a flying car. Probably.)

Step two: Pick a really cool idea. Ignore all ideas that sound like a Sensible Plan or are Clearly Appropriate for the Market/Suit your Instructor’s Tastes/Will Appeal to your Audience. Dig through your old ideas. That one that was “I want to write a love story about a skateboarder falling for a surfer” great. Choose that. Then up the cool factor by 20%. Love stories are fun, but kind of tidy. You need mess for a novel. What if it’s also a mystery?! Maybe an environmental mystery. Maybe the main characters are teens and their parents are entangled in this mystery. Or are dead and they are wracked with grief. Maybe . . . maybe there are ALIENS.

Then, judge your idea based only on whether or not you want to write it. Do you want to write it?

The answer has got to be an enthusiastic YES. Novels are long-term relationships. You don’t want to marry someone who makes you tired or stressed out or bored. Nor do you want to marry a novel that makes you tired or stressed out or bored.

If the answer is a maybe yes, it’s time to apply the attention grabber. What will make the project obsess you? Maybe you like challenges–can you use the epistolary form? Maybe you like experimental approaches–consider numbering all your scenes and ordering them randomly. Maybe you really want to make your reader miserable–kill the love interest 1/3rd of the way into the novel. (No, don’t do that. I did that, and reader response is Not Thrilled.)

Remember, a novel project is great when it’s a puzzle, a pleasure, and a challenge. If you’ve got some characters, an aesthetic choice, and some tension, then it’s time for step 3.

Step three: Take a shower. Or go for a long walk, or a drive. Or sit by a stream, or relax with some coffee. Lift weights. Climb a mountain. The goal is to start your subconscious thinking about your idea. Don’t try and logic it out, just explore.

The goal for this part is to find the Key Thing for starting a new novel:
the first Emotionally Horny Moment.

Emotionally Horny Moments are the moments that make you go unhhhh, just to think about. They’re the dangling carrots that you are writing your way towards. They are the Good Parts.

What next? Some people outline, some write synopses, some make copious notes, beat sheets, story bibles, playlists, moodboards. But I think you will know when to take the next step by tasting your idea. Is it rich, delicious, like chocolate mousse or thick curry? If you put your fingers on the keyboard, will the story start to drip out of them?

If it will, then you’re ready to go. Just write.

Here’s the thing. Sometimes it feels like your idea has gotten overworked, it’s gone dry and brittle, it’s lost that sense of engagement and play. But the truth is, it might actually be you. You’ve gotten overworked, dehydrated, sad and tired. And so the most important thing, while working on your novel, is to take care of yourself.

If you keep yourself together and remember why you loved the idea in the first place, (also, always “retain the right to have a better idea,”–listen to Grand Master Lois McMaster Bujold), and keep writing, you will get there. Or you’ll get somewhere. Maybe Albuquerque.

If you’re not yet tasting your story, if it’s watery or bland, then you might need to try some outlining strategies, maybe layer on some more flavours, or strip out the bad tasting ideas. Keep playing with your ideas, make notes, scribble down scraps of scenes, dialogue, images; focus on those emotionally horny moments, and let that story build.

And take a lot of showers.*

Results may vary.

Feeds 6.

*More environmentally friendly strategies also available.

In addition to acting as one of your TA mentors, I, David Johnston, have volunteered to be the Union Rep for the Creative Writing Program this year. As the new year and semester begin, remember that CUPE 2278 is here if you ever need us.

If you haven’t read it already, the quick guide to the CUPE 2278 collective agreement, which outlines job descriptions and wages, vacation and leave, seniority, and other rights as a member of the union is a good place to start.

We’d like to remind you to make sure the course instructor sends you the Allocation of Hours form and that you track your hours. Please note that the Allocation of Hours includes the online training and vacation hours. If you think you’re going to exceed your allotted hours, let the instructor know as soon as possible. This allows the program administration to plan more accurately for the future, and also to make other arrangements for the current semester.

You also have paid sick days if you need them and academic unpaid leave if your schoolwork conflicts with your TA duties (e.g., due to attendance at a conference). 

Most issues TAs encounter result from misunderstandings and are easily resolved by communicating directly with instructors. However, if you need advice or support, the Union is there to help. CUPE 2278 has paid staff who are experienced in navigating TA work-related issues. You pay for this service out of your dues, so don’t be afraid to use it! Also, bringing issues to the union’s attention helps them know what to address next time they negotiate a collective agreement with the University.

Any communication is kept confidential and CUPE will not take any action on your behalf unless you instruct them to do so. If the union intervenes on your behalf, labour law prohibits employers from taking any punitive action. 

The gig economy endangers workers’ rights that were fought for generations ago. We’re lucky, as Teaching Assistants, to be part of a large established union (in fact, Canada’s largest, with over 700,000 members) that helps to set standards for the rest of the working world.

If you have any questions, you can reach me at factotumfilm@gmail.com. Or you can contact the union: president@cupe2278.ca. If you’re interested in getting involved in committees, attending union meetings, and getting to know the union community, which extends far beyond CRWR, please get in touch!

 

Teaching online isn’t always easy, especially in the middle of a global pandemic! However, it can be a fulfilling experience for educators and students alike. Here are a few scenarios you may encounter, and some guidance around how to deal with them successfully. These scenarios and solutions were generated by CRWR Instructors Sara Graefe and Annabel Lyon, as well as practicing CRWR TAs.

Case study 1: Chatty Cathy / Charles

An engaged, enthusiastic student has a lot to contribute to each workshop. They are always bursting with feedback and ideas but routinely go over the recommended word count and bog down the flow of the online conversation by posting unwieldy walls of text. Rather than being selective in their responses, they often make replies to each and every post, dwelling on every point raised. After a few weeks of class, you notice other students becoming increasingly quiet and/or withdrawing from the conversation altogether.

A few suggestions:

– Let the student know that they are spending more of their time than necessary contributing to class discussions. Encourage them to scale back their participation for the sake of their own time management.

– Take it as a good sign that the student is very invested in the class! Remind them that they will get the most out of the class if they take the opportunity to learn from other students, as well as sharing their own ideas. You could also try giving them the “job” of encouraging quieter students to speak up.

– Send the whole class a reminder about expectations around word count and number of comments for discussion board contributions (e.g., “Comments should be around 150 words each”; “Aim to participate in the discussion twice each week” or similar). Then, if one student’s excessive participation remains an issue, speak with that student one-on-one.

– Ask the student to keep each comment focused on ONE aspect of the topic.

– Any time an issue arises in an online classroom, you can draw a comparison with the bricks-and-mortar classroom. Remind students that they (hopefully!) would not dominate a verbal conversation, and that the same rules apply online. Point out that they can most likely make their point just as effectively through a brief, succinct post.


Case Study 2: Quiet Classroom

A BIPOC student has a piece up for discussion that explores experiences of their minority community, highlighting the impacts of racism and cultural genocide. The rest of the class is very quiet and hesitant during the discussion. You sense some underlying tension, but no one is addressing it directly. You aren’t sure whether the class is holding back out of fear of saying something insensitive and/or if students are made uncomfortable by the assertion that Canada is a racist country that committed cultural genocide against its Indigenous peoples.

Some strategies that might help:

– This is a situation in which it’s appropriate for the TA to provide a bit more guidance and structure than they might in another workshop, e.g., by offering specific craft-based questions for the class to discuss (“What are your thoughts on how the piece is structured?”; “How do you think the pacing is working?” etc.).

– Do not let the conversation turn into a debate about the legitimacy of a class member’s lived experience.

– Acknowledge the tension in the room and let students know that discomfort is okay within the safer space of the workshop.

– Point students to further readings and resources. A recommendation from Annabel Lyon: Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel. You can also check out the “Craft and Identity” section of this Big (Working) List of Literary Resources to Inspire Teachers and Learners.

Case Study 3: Defensive Daniel / Danielle

The author of a piece is highly defensive in their own workshop. Their submission is problematic, containing LGBTQ+ content not handled with authenticity or sensitivity (i.e. perhaps written outside the student’s own experience). Classmates offer positive comments on what’s working well as well as generous, supportive, constructive criticism. An LGBTQ+ classmate respectfully broaches the topic of tokenism, attempting to articulate why they find the student’s representation of the LGBTQ+ character problematic, and discloses their own traumatic coming out story to underscore their point. The author of the piece accuses the classmate of attacking them and abruptly leaves the online discussion.

How you might handle the situation:

– Briefly validate the writer’s feeling, especially if they seem to have a high-conflict personality; yet, at the same time, avoid engaging with them too much so that you don’t inadvertently escalate the situation.

– Thank the LGBTQ student for their bravery in sharing their story! Check in with them to see how they are feeling and if they need any support.

– Remind the whole class of expectations in the workshop without singling out the defensive student. Also have a one-on-one conversation with the defensive student because they’ll probably be more receptive that way, and because it’s important to avoid making students feel as though they are being publicly shamed.

– Again, remind students that if something is not okay in a physical classroom, it’s not okay online. Would they storm out of class in Buchanan? We hope not!

– You might consider pre-reading students’ submissions before sharing with the rest of the workshop in order to identify content that may be controversial or even harmful to some.

Most of all, remember: the course instructor is your best resource. Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to them and ask for guidance around a challenging situation. Chances are, they’ve been there, and they’ll know how to help. And they’ll be glad to have such a proactive and communicative TA!

Writing is like juggling: we need to stay focused to maintain repetitive and complex patterns of creation — especially now, as we live through these challenging times.

Here are my top ten tips for remaining dedicated to your writing practice:

1) FOCUS YOUR INTENTIONS

When I first started writing The Tracey Fragments, I knew I could’ve written it in a million different ways. I could’ve spent years vacillating between whether to wear the blue hat or the green hat. But I got clear on the book I was writing.

During the time of The Tracey Fragments, I literally sat and stared at a wall for days trying to get clear on my project. All I had was a pen and paper. I didn’t talk to anyone. I envisioned the book’s style, the voice, the length, paper, cover, everything. Once you’re clear on the intention of a work, you can start planning the work. You’re going on a trip. The destination may change, but you still know where you’re going.

2) PLAN FOR QUALITY TIME

You don’t need all day to write. Most of us don’t have all day. Some of us have jobs/kids/classes, etc. You just need a LITTLE time every day.
The key is not the amount of time for a project – but the QUALITY of the time. You can achieve way more if you’ve got quality time and you use your time strategically.

I try to arrange my schedule according to my energy: I like to be creative when I’m in an Alpha state, which is a state of relaxed wakefulness, morning or night. I like to edit when I’m in a more focused, or fully alert state to maximize my critical faculties.

3) PLAN OUT YOUR PROJECT

You don’t show up as a TA and just wait for things to happen, right? You have a schedule — e.g., “I’ve got to make five calls, return 20 emails, plan a class, meet with students.” So why not have a writing plan?

For example, when I’m working on a project, I calendarize the entire project forwards and then backwards. I create an outline and write a pitch, then a synopsis, then an outline of the plot. Then, I consider the structure — the length, shape, number of words, etc. My next step is to sketch out the scenes. For example, I might have 200 scenes to write. If I can rough out one scene a day, I’ll have a draft in a year.

4) GET INTO A GENERATIVE ZONE

A few ways to do this:

Setting a clock makes the writing process less daunting because you know you’ve got an end. I will sometimes set a clock for 6 x 10 minute intervals, especially when I’m working on something challenging.

Brainstorm: take a scene and work on adding detail: notes, doodles, prose, anything related to the scene or description you’re working on.

Write out the scene fast, usually the way a character would tell it, considering who they are talking to and where they are telling the story.

Write a monologue for a character — this might take the form of a confession.

Collage: Take things going on right now in the world, such as images from media, and work off those.

Don’t edit, don’t change, don’t correct or judge: just pour it out onto the page.

Remember, writing this way is like wading through a garbage dump. Don’t ever expect the work to be good the first time.

I use a highlighter to pick out the pieces of gold glittering amongst the garbage. The parts I pick out of the garbage, I embroider into the scaffolding of the book.

5) FIND A GOOD PLACE TO WORK

With the pandemic, I don’t have a place to work anymore. I have to recreate that in my home. But I live in a small space with my family, so I have to make every place in our apartment my writing station. All I need is someplace to sit and something to write with and something to write on. I’ve learned to micro-focus by removing distractions. I use a white noise machine and noise cancelling headphones, block my notifications, and don’t look at social media. If I don’t have the willpower to turn everything off, I just write with pen and paper.

6) TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY: AS A WRITER, YOU’RE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST, A PSYCHOLOGIST, A SCIENTIST, A DETECTIVE

I work on the bus/at the doctor’s office and while traveling. I listen and watch people, especially the way they move and speak. What do I see around me when I am in different emotional states? I use those states to my advantage: I write down how I feel, then I try to identify the feelings with words.

I keep a notebook, an observational journal, a word list – “Strong Verbs” is my favourite list. I take notes on found objects, random lines people say, words and lines that resonate.

If I’m working on more than one project, I keep a side journal. If I’m focusing on a single project and I get an idea for another one, I’ll record it in the side journal, then return to the project I’m focusing on.

7) WORK THROUGH BLOCKS

A few way to work through blocks:

Remember why you started writing. Why was it important to you in the first place? Try to get that feeling back.

Take a productive break. A lot of the work of writing is a combination of the conscious and the subconscious. You can accomplish a lot without actually working constantly on a piece. Sometimes if I go to a concert and write my creative questions down on a piece of paper, and then focus only on the concert, my subconscious will work through the problem. I also use repetitive movement such as walking.

Connect with your community of writers.

Disrupt negative talk and self-aggression; have compassion for that part of yourself that is scared or confused. We do not live in a world that recognizes individuality. But it’s those traits that give us a unique perspective. Please remember, you might not be a writer at all if you didn’t have those traits. So next time you get frustrated by that part of you that feels stuck and blocked, thank that part of you, and keep writing.

Don’t abandon ship if the ship starts filling up with water. When the ship starts sinking, throw out the water and try again. Always come to the writing with compassion: compassion for yourself and your characters.

8) A HEALTHY CREATIVE PRACTICE = SELF-CARE and SELF CARE = A HEALTHY CREATIVE PRACTICE

Writers’ careers last longer than athletes’. You need to treat yourself like an athlete. Here are a few ways to do that:

Sleep: I don’t work when I’m tired. I need my sleep. If I’m too tired I’ll either get frustrated and hate my writing or I’ll get too pumped when I really need to be asleep.

Take breaks: I take a lot of restorative breaks because my work day is so intense. For every hour or two of work, I take 10 or15 minutes just to regenerate.

Meditation and yoga are restorative.

Embrace routine. Don’t fight it.

Know what you’re going to be writing and have it ready the day before: The choreographer Twyla Tharp talks about the Hemingway Bridge: create a bridge in your writing for the next day, so you’re not starting cold the next morning. I recommend keeping everything in a writing basket, e.g., paper, pens, etc. I even make my coffee the night before. While I’m writing, my phone is off.

9) PRIORITIZE

Sometimes we have to make tough choices. Jessica Abel says, “A creative life is built up over time of tiny well-chosen choices.”

Use conscious intent to decide what you’re going to do: the things you NEED TO DO, then your writing. Cut other things out when you can.

Learn to say no. Focus on one goal at a time.

10) ALWAYS REMEMBER RADICAL COMPASSION.

Being a writer requires radical compassion.

If you are anxious and not being kind to yourself, you’ll burn out. We are in the middle of a pandemic as well as a social revolution. Things will take time and some of these changes will impact the way we write. All of this takes energy. Part of being a writer is having resilience. Work with, not against, what’s happening around you. Observe and take notes while you continue your creative practice.

Be awesome to yourself. Have gratitude that you have a meaningful practice that allows you to focus your lens on the world in interesting ways and share that lens with others.

Writing is a long journey. It’s about skill meeting your vision. It takes time. Be patient with your organic process as you build your writing practice, especially in these difficult and complex times. Go easy. You got this far.

You can do it.

“Be kind, be calm, and be safe.”

Dr. Bonnie Henry’s rallying words apply well to how we should aim to communicate with students who are struggling.

University is an incredibly challenging time for many students. The crunch of mounting assignments, balancing finances, mental and physical health, and concerns about family all impact our students’ wellbeing and their capacity to write. With the COVID-19 crisis, we’re seeing these challenges intensify as students are grappling with time differences, technical difficulties, threat of illness in their families, and isolation from their communities.

Students often reach out to TAs for help right before, or sometimes right after, a deadline. Others will connect with you early in the term to provide you with a letter of accommodation from the Centre for Accessibility. You might come across work in which students are writing about self-harm or the trauma of being sexually assaulted. In each of these cases, it’s important to communicate with the instructor about any challenges the student may be facing. Policies around late assignments and when you can offer extensions may differ from one instructor to another, but at the end of the day, any accommodations must be okayed by the instructor, and it is your responsibility to keep them informed of the situation.

Be Kind: Strategies for supporting students

Check your email often and reply quickly.

When students are dealing with anxieties around coursework, a big part of this can be grappling with the fear of the unknown. “X is happening. Are they going to accept this assignment if I hand it in late?” “Is this TA even willing to help me? Will they believe me?” These unknowns will run amok and spiral if given time and space, so the best way to help allay anxieties is to reply quickly. You might not have all the answers to their questions—be open about that and tell them you will get back to them once you check in with the instructor. What’s important is that they don’t feel ignored.

There may be times when you’re not able to respond to emails quickly, due to other factors in your own life. When using a shared email with other TAs on the course, arrange with them to look after any emails that may be directed your way.

If a student has contacted another TA through the course email and you see that they haven’t been responded to, don’t be afraid to check in with that other TA.

Offer to set up a meeting during office hours.

Although perhaps a bit more difficult than normal in our present circumstances, meeting with students face-to-face (or screen-to-screen) cuts down on miscommunication and helps students feel heard. Be an active listener and speak calmly. If possible, be open to meeting outside of your regularly scheduled hours as well. Students often have scheduling conflicts with other classes during our office hours and can feel left behind if they can’t make that rather narrow window.

Always approach from a place of kindness, rather than skepticism.

The rare student who is in fact trying to pull one over on you really isn’t as subtle as they think they are. If you’re ever in doubt or something isn’t quite adding up, refer the student to the instructor—they develop a pretty good sense for dealing with these types of situations.

When receiving letters of accommodation, it is never appropriate to ask the reason a student has received one.

Students have a right to privacy. They might disclose that information to you on their own, and if so, that information is confidential and only between you, the student, and the instructor.

Maintain a list of students in need of support with your instructor and fellow TAs.

This helps you keep track of any modified deadlines, letters of accommodation, or other arrangements you’ve agreed upon with students. It also helps all of the markers to be on the same page regarding the needs of the students. As per UBC’s data policy, avoid using any external file sharing apps, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, for anything containing student information. All shared documents should be shared over your UBC OneDrive. 


Be Calm: Know when to refer

Remember that you are not the student’s counsellor. There may be times when you can empathize with what a student is experiencing and feel that you could offer help on a personal level. However, as a TA, you are not responsible for students’ mental wellbeing. It’s imperative to maintain appropriate boundaries and avoid creating conflicts of interest to protect both you and the student. Your goal as a TA is to help students improve their writing and meet the requirements of the course, not to become part of their emotional support system.

But that doesn’t mean that we have to leave students by themselves while they are in crisis. There are numerous supports UBC offers to which you can refer your students:

• UBC Counselling: UBC offers free counselling to students, including virtual drop-in appointments.

• UBC Student Assistance Program (Aspiria): UBC students have access to 24/7 support through Aspiria, which can offer more immediate support as well as a greater network of counsellors to draw upon.

• UBC Centre for Accessibility provides support to students with ongoing concerns that may impact their academic capacity. These might include learning differences, such as dyslexia, mental health challenges, such as depression or anxiety, and chronic or acute health conditions. The Centre works with many students, so encourage students to get in touch early to ensure that their issue will be dealt with sooner rather than later. Many have found that the letters of accommodation issued by the Centre are incredibly helpful for managing courses and accessing the support they require.

• Early Alert: As detailed in the TA orientation, Early Alert allows instructors to issue notice to the university when a student is struggling and may need further support. Keep in mind that in the Creative Writing Program’s policy for Early Alerts is that they must be issued by the instructor—or, should they not be available, the undergraduate advisor —not TAs.

• The AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre offers many supports for those who have experienced sexualized violence, including crisis support, support groups, and accompaniment to court, appointments, and other services.

When referring students to other services, make sure to stay clear from assumptions, loaded questions, and judgement. Just because you see signs of depression, for example, it doesn’t mean the student is open to discussing that with you. Instead of asking “Are you depressed?” or “Are you in counselling?”, try a more neutral question: “Do you have the support that you need?” If not, it may then be appropriate to direct them to UBC Counselling or Empower Me.

Be Safe: Look after yourself

As mentioned earlier, you are a Teaching Assistant, not a counsellor. You do not have a responsibility to look after your students, especially if doing so begins to have an undue impact on your own life. The extra load may become too difficult to maintain along with your own coursework and marking. A piece of student writing or confided experiences might dredge up personal trauma for you. A student could begin to cross your boundaries. In all of these cases and more, you must prioritize your wellbeing and request that the instructor take over.

Remember that all of the resources listed under “Be calm” are also available for you to make use of. As compassionate human beings, we often feel like we have the duty to look out for everyone around us. It can be hard to prioritize ourselves. But as a mentor once told me, we have to look after ourselves if we want to look after the world.