Category: Inclusive Classroom Climate

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Office Hour: One-To-One Student Meetings

Tips for Holding Productive Office Hours

Office hours are an opportunity for you to get to know students and gain insight into their questions, concerns, writerly development, and wellbeing. Meeting one-on-one is incredibly rewarding; at times, it can be emotionally taxing. Here’s how to run a productive office hour without the drain on your creative resources.

Know why you’re there.

Your time spent in office hours can greatly improve a student’s connection to the course, build intrinsic motivation, and even strengthen a sense of community. Check in with the instructor regularly to ask them what they envision for office hours, how to reach out to students who might need extra support, and to make sure you’re well informed of upcoming assignments and course materials in case you have to field questions about content and assignments.

Create clear parameters around meetings.

There are any number of reasons why students want to talk with a TA during office hours. Sometimes the reasons are clear, and other times it’s hard to discern what the student might require. If you’re meeting by appointment, have students generate two – three questions in advance. Review any assignments or course materials that might be relevant to your discussion.

Once you have a sense of why they’re there, offer a quick overview of what they can expect from you. Work together to set clear goals and be firm about expectations.

If a student has a question about clarification on feedback, ask them to paraphrase their understanding of the comments they’ve received. Ask them to show specific examples in the work where they have achieved the standards expected of them.

Progress, not points.

Begin your one-on-one session by reminding the student that you’re able to clarify any comments or discuss the writing but not negotiate grades.

Office hours is an opportunity to teach! Focus on problem-solving strategies, not answers to a given problem. Make students do the work, including: looking something up in Canvas; troubleshooting; re-reading the rubric and self-assessing their own work; and even, in some cases, pairing students to help one another.

One of the most rewarding parts of this job is observing a student’s progress across the term. Reflecting specific instances of writerly development in the work is one way to get them excited about their learning. When students inevitably turn up to challenge grades, shift the focus back to the feedback, try to interpret it together, and give them three particular technical qualities to concentrate on for the next assignment.

Share resources.

One-on-one sessions are a great chance to learn a little bit about your learners outside of the course. Ask them questions about TV shows they’re watching, what they do when they’re not doing school work, what their creative process is, how they get to school – any neutral questions — in order to create a connection.

In addition, if you’ve come across any readings, podcasts, TV shows, movies, etc. you think they might like based on what they’ve shared with you, by all means make suggestions. Office hours can be so devoted to assessment, confusion, and frustration that sometimes a little light-hearted inspiration can be exactly what’s needed.

Take your time.

If a student shares a piece of writing with you and you’re finding it difficult to articulate anything useful in the moment, ask if it’s okay to take a couple of days to reflect on the work. Make an appointment to see one another in a week, when you can both return with fresh eyes.

If you don’t know the answer, it’s totally fine to say, “I don’t know.” You can either have them do some research, if applicable, or you can contact the instructor and get back to them at a later date.

Difficult Conversations

Students will express feelings of vulnerability, frustration, or in some cases, enough trust to share personal obstacles and challenges. For some, it’s a way to process or release stress. This requires hearty doses of compassion and understanding on your part, and it also requires a firm sense of boundaries and an understanding of what’s expected of you in those moments.

It is not your job to counsel or provide emotional support to students. If someone discloses personal information, or becomes upset, you can immediately put them in touch with resources on campus. Sit with them while they call Empower Me, or make an appointment with Counselling Services. Ask them if they have family support; have the student make a plan to check in with someone they trust. After the meeting, submit an Early Alert to ensure there is a record of this conversation (you can select low, medium or high level of concern) and be in touch with your instructor right away.

In the cases where one-on-one meetings have taken an emotional toll, please reach out to any one of us who are here to support you: your instructor, Amy Higgins, Nancy Lee, or me. We can help you process these encounters and create strategies for future student interactions.

Resources

There are resources available to you! If you would like to have materials on hand for students in crises, please be in touch with Amy or myself. Here are the links to the most pertinent information:

Crisis Support: https://students.ubc.ca/support

Early Alert: https://facultystaff.students.ubc.ca/systems-tools/early-alert

Counselling Services: https://students.ubc.ca/health/counselling-services

Empower Me

Last year, Roquela Fernandez created THIS RESOURCE for office hour strategies.

Health & Wellbeing Resources for Grad Students: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/health-wellbeing-safety

TA Teaching Support: https://ctlt.ubc.ca/resources/teaching/teaching-assistants/

(Art by Amy Silliman!)

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TQE, QQC, and Other Tricks That Ensure Students Arrive Prepared and Stay Engaged

A scenario: You have a beautiful lecture prepared, as well as a structured discussion, but the whole thing relies on the students having read and actually engaged with the readings for the week, and to have generated some writing. Your worst fears come true when you discover in the first 10 minutes that not only are the students unprepared, but are totally disengaged.

Here are some pre-emptive strikes to avoid any or all scenarios like the above.

TQE // QQC

Providing structure to readings gives students a sense of what’s expected of them. These two strategies effectively engage students in an activity as they’re reading, which is then expanded on in the classroom.

See how these instructors use this strategy to have more meaningful discussions:

Deeper Class Discussions with the TQE Method

5 Ways College Teachers Can Improve Their Instruction

Entrance / Exit Slips

Having students reflect when arriving to class and at the end of class places an emphasis on preparedness and learning. This technique makes this check-in visible!

And for active learning that doesn’t require talking, Ideo Blog’s guide for brainstorming:

If they don’t arrive prepared, do the readings in class! Prompt the mastery of materials, especially core concepts, with the Jigsaw Method!

 

 

 

 

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Enhance Student Engagement: Facilitating the Seminar

Here’s my approach to planning one session of a flipped/blended seminar course.

First, I find it useful to narrow down the scope of the class to one big idea for the week.  To do this, I use concept mapping as my process. Then, I begin to match learning activities to particular essential questions this big idea raises.

As the class begins to take shape, I use post-it notes to colour code the variations in the kinds of activities I’ve chosen: active, independent, small group vs. large, discussion, writing prompt, movement, sitting still, etc., so I have a visualization of the rhythm of the session.

CONTENT

Process: Concept Maps

  • Determine the big idea or main concept for the week, e.g. “dialogue” “scene vs. summary” “diction” “original detail”
  • Begin to generate questions around this concept
  • Gather materials and resources around those questions (often, this is pre-work the student has engaged in before class)
  • Begin to consider the learning activities that give students the opportunity to engage with the concept

FORM

Process: Post-it notes

  • Determining what learning activities are best for your subject/concept/genre depends on timing and comfort level
  • Learners focus for 15 – 20 minute intervals, so aim to move between active and passive / independent and group activities, and vary your approaches
  • Colour-code activities and map it out so you can see the learning experience (as in the second photo below, my colour-coded lecture for CRWR 201)

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

PROCESS: Experimentation!

Resources

Choosing Appropriate Strategies for Learning

Long But GOOD Resource Regarding Group Work

Active Learning Strategies

Bookmark CULT OF PEDAGOGY!

DISCUSSION STRATEGIES

TEMPLATES

VENN DIAGRAM

SEMINAR_TEMPLATE

I would be very happy to provide resources, discuss suitable learning activities, and speak generally about facilitation anytime!

Have fun,
Sheryda

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10-minute Learning Activity: Good For Mid-term

10-minute learning activities are effective strategies for creating connection, inviting meaningful disruption, and generating energy in any creative writing classroom.

Word Survey

Share via a presentation or create a handout of questions, and ask students to move around the room collecting answers to the following questions:

    1. A boring word
    2. A word that sounds good but has negative meaning
    3. Without looking, what would you guess the next word is in the dictionary after ABACUS?
    4. What is the stupidest flower?
    5. What’s one thing you believe in?
    6. What’s one trend you definitely did not avoid in high school?
    7. What’s the most disgusting thing you would put in your mouth for $50?
    8. What would you compare the size of your heart with?
    9. A word that sounds bad but has a positive meaning
    10. A word that’s embarrassing to say
    11. A word he or she has heard but does not know the meaning
    12. A word that’s not in the dictionary

It’s important to stress that they approach a different person for each question. Once they have gathered a selection of words, they can use them to create a poem, a story, a character, or some other piece of writing.

Please make sure you adapt this exercise to suit any accessibility needs of your group.

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Marking with the 5:1 Ratio with Jaz Papadopoulos

When I mark in Speedgrader, I like to use the highlighter / annotations tool to leave comments. One of the reasons for this is that it makes grading a lot easier for me – I highlight things that I liked and things that earn marks (Great imagery! or Inciting incident; rising stakes; resolution). I believe that these sideline comments offer students specificity, and thus are more helpful for students who want to recognize and hone in on their skills. 

But more than this, the comments help me fulfill the 5:1 ratio for positive feedback.

A 2004 study by researchers Marcial Losada and Emily Heaphy explored team connectivity and business performance. The results showed that the highest performing business teams had a 5:1 ratio: five instances of praise for every one instance of critical feedback. 

This is actually a rule I learned while working as wilderness therapist for “hard to reach” youth – we, as staff, were required to give a child 5 instances of positive feedback before trying to make a behaviour adjustment. (5:1 is actually a very low ratio in this context – other studies suggest that for folks with challenges around connectivity, the successful ratio is more like 16:1).

It can be enticing to focus on places of improvement, especially in a capitalist society that demands productivity, and even more so when it’s 2 a.m. and I’m looking at 300 pages of second year poetry that all seems to heavily rely on ABAB rhyme schemes and I just want to tell them all to STOP RHYMING. But, this research shows that criticism undermines self-confidence and initiative, meaning that though the recipient may change their behaviour, the motivation will be compliance rather than genuine effort. 

“Only positive feedback can motivate people to continue doing what they’re doing well,” the Harvard Business Review writes, reflecting on this research, “and do it with more vigor, determination, and creativity.” And that’s what I want to build in the writers of tomorrow, right?! Vigour! Determination! Creativity!

As a TA, I want to encourage people to know and build on their strengths. The self-confidence and success that comes with being good at something also acts as fuel to improve the things that aren’t so good. 

The 5:1 ratio is also noted in research about happy couples, FYI. In an analysis of married couples’ likelihood of getting divorced, the single biggest determinant was the ratio of positive to negative comments, 5:1 being ideal. (Divorced couples showed a ratio of 3 positive comments for every 4 negative comments.) Even though this study is from the ‘90s and done by a dude and is probably super heterosexual and otherwise generally inapplicable to my life, 5:1 still seems like a good ratio to me.

The last reason why filling up the comments with 5 positive for everyone 1 critical remarks works for me is…it helps me see the good in students’ work. At 2 a.m. when I’m shuffling through 300 pages of ABAB. If I have to highlight the use of imagery, enjambment, words choice, metaphor, and originality before I’m allowed to harp on the dang rhyme scheme, I’m way more likely to give helpful comments and a reasonable grade.

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The Big (Working) List of Literary Resources To Inspire Teachers and Learners

LITERARY ESSAYS: CRAFT & IDENTITY

Like Most Americans, I Was Raised to Be A White Man

LYRIC ESSAYS

On Whiteness and The Racial Imaginary

Girl

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/02/25/the-poetic-consequences-of-k-pop/

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/trans-101-stephanie-burt/

 

RESOURCE AS PRESCRIPTION

What is the Right Poetry Collection for You?

CURATED LISTS & COLUMNS

New Poetry by Indigenous Women

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/10/23/toward-creating-a-trans-literary-canon/#more-130281

CURATED PROMPTS & LESSON PLANS

  • New York Times Lesson Plans:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/learning/100-plus-writing-prompts-to-explore-common-themes-in-literature-and-life.html

PODCASTS

……..

*BONUS! Literary Witches!

https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/02/07/literary-witches/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Engagement, Understanding, Independence

Strategies for Engagement, Understanding,
and Independence in the CrWr Classroom, with current TA and educator Amy Higgins

Are you tired of the same-old same-old instructional activities? Wondering how to facilitate productive discussions in the classroom? Seeking suggestions for meaningful, engaging lessons?

Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison is the resource you need! This book offers offers user-friendly strategies that help guide your students’ thinking and structure the class conversations. You can also find many of these instructional activities detailed online:

A few years ago, while teaching in the K – 12 system, I was lucky enough to attend a professional development session facilitated by Ron Ritchhart, co-author of Making Thinking Visible and Senior Research Associate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero. In this session, I learned that “routine” is a key word when it comes to Visible Thinking. As a teacher, my impulse is to continually introduce new strategies, lesson formats, and learning activities. I want to keep my students interested, after all! However, when certain instructional activities become routine, teaching and learning improve. Once routines are established, I spend less time giving instructions and more time prompting students to go deeper in their thinking. Similarly, learners focus less on understanding the expectations of the activity, and more time grappling with the subject matter itself.

The Visible Thinking routines detailed below are incredibly simple, flexible, and adaptable to various contexts. I have used these routines in Kindergarten, asking students, “What do you know about our playground environment? What do you wonder?” And, later, “What have you learned?” I’ve used the routines in Grade 2, asking students what they observe, think, and wonder when viewing images of various Canadian landmarks. I’ve used them in Grade 5, guiding students through “think-pair-share” exercises as part of an inquiry into immigration. And they work in the post-secondary classroom too!

Here is an outline of some of the core Visible Thinking routines, along with suggestions for using them in the Creative Writing classroom:

  1. Interpretation & Justification: What Makes You Say That?

    This is a simple strategy for guiding students’ engagement with a piece of writing — whether they’re workshopping a piece written by a peer or studying an exemplar of a particular genre or form.Simply ask the students two questions: “What’s going on (or, What do you notice) in this piece of writing?” (Interpretation). Followed by, “What makes you say that?” (Justification).These simple prompts are a quick and easy way of encouraging students to expand upon their ideas and stretch their thinking to the next level. And it’s a great “back pocket” response for those moments when you’re not quite sure what to say!

  2. KWL

    K stands for “What do you KNOW about this topic?”; W stands for “What do you WONDER?”; and L stands for “What have you LEARNED?”
    When you’re introducing a topic  — poetic devices! elements of fiction! types of creative nonfiction!  — ask students to record their responses to the first two questions; they can do this individually, in pairs, or in small groups. After exploring the topic, ask students to fill in the third column, sharing their learning. This is a low-prep exercise that encourages reflection, and it works for any topic.

  3. Think-Pair-Share

    When introducing a topic of discussion, allow students some time to silently think about their answer. This is particularly important for students who need a bit more time to formulate a response.Then, invite students to discuss their idea with a partner. This ensures that every student participates actively, even those who may hesitate to speak in front of the whole group. Also, it gives students a chance to test out their viewpoint and articulate their thoughts, while possibly revising or refining their ideas in response to their classmate’s questions and comments.Finally, offer students an opportunity to share with the whole group. This discussion format is very effective for encouraging more reticent members of the group to speak up!

  4. I used to think … Now I think …

    Another fast, simple, end-of-unit reflection: ask students to respond in writing to the prompts “I used to think …” and “Now I think …”. This encourages students to identify what they’ve learned and the ways in which their thinking has changed. After having students record their responses in writing, you may ask them to share aloud in small groups or with the class.One variation: have students record their ideas on sticky notes, then combine them to make a class chart, as pictured below:

  5. Observe, Think, Wonder

    This is another strategy to guide students’ encounters with literature, whether they’re reading a classmate’s work or looking at an example of a published piece. Simply ask them to reflect upon the following questions: “What do you observe?” “What do you think?” and “What do you wonder?” These prompts can help you guide students to look carefully at the work, develop thoughtful interpretations, and generate helpful and provocative questions.

  6. Compass Points

    Introducing students to a new idea, explaining an assignment, or helping the group work through a problem? Keep in mind the four compass points:

    E – What EXCITES you about this idea / project / issue?
    W – What WORRIES you?
    N – What do you NEED to know?
    S – What is your STANCE on this? And / or, what SUGGESTIONS do you have to offer?

Whether discussed aloud or offered as writing prompts, these questions will help to guide the conversation in a productive direction!

For more ideas, visit the Visible Thinking website:

http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03g_CreativityRoutines.html

Happy teaching!

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Advice From A Former TA: Selina Boan

“I would attribute much of my success as a TA to the professors I worked with. Having the opportunity to explore and engage with a variety of pedagogical approaches in the seminar classroom was invaluable. Communication with your professor is key. They are a wealth of information and in my experience, have been an amazing resource when I was struggling with time management or working on classroom material.

I would also recommend exploring a few online resources (and books) on teaching at the university level to give you some background and ideas of how you might want to approach your students and TA style. Memorizing students names (when possible) was an asset (especially in large lectures).

Before I began to TA, I was worried students would be disappointed hearing from me. What I quickly discovered was the opposite.They look up to you as a writing mentor. In my experience, students love to hear about your own experiences with writing: the struggles,

the joys, you name it. Share your passions and your own experiences. Have fun! My experience working as a TA invaluable and remains one of the most rewarding experiences I had during my time at UBC.”

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Ice-breakers & Engagement Prompts for the New Year!

Dear Teaching Assistants,

Happy 2019, and welcome back. I know some of you are in the classroom, leading seminars for the first time. And some of you may be considering doing a lecture for the first time, or re-visiting a lecture you gave last term and revising it. No matter where you find yourself,  the following warm-up and engagement activities may be helpful! These are also worth bookmarking for later in the term, when energy wanes. Enjoy, and good luck!

Icebreakers that Rock

The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies

https://www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/for-those-who-teach/the-first-day-of-class-a-once-a-semester-opportunity/

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management/advice-for-the-first-day-of-class-today-we-will/

https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1498-the-absolute-worst-way-to-start-the-semester?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=cc459369231548248a073f46ac5abc10&elq=7c0ced457eb0496d994c612a4dfcc3cd&elqaid=10101&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=3760

 

 

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Working Light: How to Maintain Empathy (When We’ve Got Nothing Left To Give)

Working Light: How to Maintain Empathy When We’ve Got Nothing Left To Give

As we approach the end of the semester, it seems like our deadlines begin to pile up around us, like bricks in a wall. And what happens when we’re behind a wall? We feel blinded, isolated, alone and trapped. One of the most challenging parts of being a TA is maintaining empathy for our students, when their needs and demands on our time can just feel like more bricks in that wall.

Take care of yourself first

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”                                                                                            – Anne Lamott

Maybe you know the feeling. It’s hour three in front of your laptop and you’re not even half way through the assignments you’re supposed to finish marking that week. You can’t stand the thought of reading another word of undergraduate writing, let alone somehow scavenging the energy to craft thoughtful feedback. You’re just done. No amount of willpower, discipline or caffeine is going to get you through this.

The situation is critical. It calls for a Beyoncé Dance Party. The song? Blow from the 2013 masterpiece of an album “Beyoncé”. But wait, isn’t that the one about…? Yes, that’s the one. It’s five minutes and nine seconds of sticky, luscious, synthy, pink-tastic pop and it’s AMAZING. Close Canvas. Open up YouTube. Find a corner where you can gyrate without knocking anything over. It’s Beyoncé Dance Party time.

OR maybe you’re not the dance party type? Maybe the situation calls for fresh air. Nothing drastic, just a wander around your block. Have you noticed the leaves on your street somehow changed colour without you noticing? What’s that bush called, the orange one at the corner of your neighbour’s driveway? Winterberry holly? Isn’t it great? As if mother nature suddenly decided to get into the Halloween spirit. Breathe. Count to thirty. Pick up a soggy flower from the sidewalk and roll it between your fingertips. Breathe.

But it’s raining and cold and I’m out of clean socks so no thanks I’d rather stay in. No problem. You can find your five minutes and nine seconds of bliss anywhere. Maybe it’s a hot shower. Maybe it’s child’s pose. Maybe it’s a cup of hot chocolate while you watch the trailer for A Star Is Born for the thirtieth time. Heck, maybe it’s just a micro nap.

Whatever your break looks like, take it.

Let it out and let it go

“You remember too much,
my mother said to me recently.
Why hold onto all that? And I said,
Where can I put it down?”
                               ― Anne Carson

 Let’s face it, even the best of us lose patience with our students. Maybe it’s after you’ve answered the same question five times in one day (you know that question that could be answered if only they were to just READ. THE. SYLLABUS), or maybe you’ve just read three back-to-back stories about the death of a childhood pet, or maybe you’ve just spent an hour in the TA office waiting for an appointment that didn’t show. Whatever the reason, it’s normal to feel frustrated with your students from time to time. It’s also healthy to want to vent that frustration to your peers.

But we also have a responsibility to our fellow TAs not to foster an environment of negativity. As tempting as it is to share our woes full volume in the CRWR Lounge, are we being mindful of how we’re affecting the emotional energy of that shared space? And what about the students themselves? CRWR is literally a hallway, you never know who’s listening. And don’t think just because your Facebook is private, your students won’t stumble on that catty status update. The last thing you need is for your rant to go viral.

My advice? Keep it off campus and off line. Organize a group marking session in someone’s living room (pick the person with the best snacks!) and take turns talking through your more challenging marking assignments. Get your worst instincts out before you click Speed Grader. That passive aggressive email your student sent you? Write out your zinger-full response on a napkin, then throw it away.

Remind yourself of where you were once

Grading is hard, you guys. Not only is it tedious and slow-going, it’s emotionally taxing. If you’re anything like me, each assignment is an emotional rollercoaster. If I have to give a low mark, I’m miserable thinking about how disappointed that student will be. I take on all their troubles, real and imagined. I worry about their GPAs, I fear I’ll scare them off writing forever. It’s exhausting. But even giving good grades causes me anxiety! I worry I’ll throw off the curve and mess up grading for my fellow TAs. I’m constantly unsure if I’m doing the right thing. Was that comment too harsh? Too vague? Too short? Am I being fair? Should I meet with that student before they hand in their paper or will that influence my marking? If I don’t meet with that student, does that make me a bad TA?

We’ve probably all got our own inner doubts about our abilities as TAs and we probably all have our own ways of dealing with them. It’s easy to succumb to the temptation to dial down the empathy. To think of our students as names on a screen, bricks in the wall.

But what if, and hear me out on this, we chose instead to care even more? To move closer, instead of stepping back? This doesn’t mean doling out As like candy bars, rather, it’s about remembering yourself when you were a student. Thinking about those teachers who inspired you. Chances are, they weren’t the ones who graded the easiest, or told you what you wanted to hear. I’m betting the teachers you remember are the ones who took the time to meet you in the middle. The ones who recognized your effort over your delivery. The ones who taught you something about yourself, about your work.

It’s through empathy that we can aim to be those kinds of teachers. In looking for the emotional truth in works that on first read might seem cliché or melodramatic. In finding the one word in that cringe-y poem that sings. In calling out laziness, reminding our students to take art-making seriously, to give to creative writing what they give to their other classes. In recognizing the hurdles they overcome to put those words on a page, barriers of access and language.

This might seem like more work, but it’s work in the light. It’s work in open air. It’s a work without the added burden of anger, resentment and worry weighing us down. And it may just end up being work that makes a lasting change in the life of a student.

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