Category: TA Admin

We writers, as it turns out, love talking about writing. I remember being in my first creative writing class – I had just abandoned my business degree to chase down (and possibly trample) my dreams. I nervously approached my creative writing instructor, for whom I had deep respect and whose book I adored, to ask for more: More feedback! More marks! More validation of my creative genius!

What’s more, I wanted to defend my poem which was inspired by the philosopher Slavoj Žižek and was about contemplating the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and mass extinction while pumping gas. I wanted feedback on the various sound effects in said poem (Was Eee-er, Eee-er or glub, glub more precise for a gas pump?). I wanted an A+ on my portfolio and not an A- (because I have no school money and need awards). I also wanted him to look into my soul, and say, ‘Ah, yes! I see you fellow writer.’

So, this is all to say, I’ve been there as a student. Now, as a TA and teacher, I’ve been on the other side of the conversations about creative work. I can say with great certainty, that at some point it will happen to you.

You may get approached after class by a nervous/tearful/frustrated student, with their 72% piece in hand. You may get a student from your Intro to CrWr class who has written a rough first draft of a YA mystery novel about the Large Hadron Collider and tiny black holes that swallow pets, and they are so excited for you to read it and give feedback. You may also get a student that is convinced that you don’t get their vision and/or that the assignment is clipping their creative wings (Resource: Three Office Hour Scenarios, Strategies, and Phrases to Use). You will also encounter microaggressions, and problematic, offensive statements within creative work (Resource: Engaging with Problematic Statements in Creative Work (or Not!)).

Reflecting from where I stand now, I own that I have been on both sides of ALL of these conversations. When I engage as a teacher, I hold in my heart that one meeting I had way back in the beginning of my creative writing education (Me: CrWr hatchling, making bold career choices, and with my list of unreasonable asks. My teacher: no idea what was coming).

In that meeting, I don’t remember his specific feedback, but I do remember his patience, generosity, encouragement, and his readiness to connect. Maybe half-way through blurting my way through my questions, half-formed dreams, and starting an impromptu workshop on sound effects, he said, ‘Hey, I want to show you something.’ He went to his bookshelf and pulled out his first poetry chapbook, and handed it to me. I flipped through it. “What do you think?” he asked.

“It’s great.” It was a gift to see where he had come from. The writer who had made that first chapbook, one word after the next, continued writing, thereby, constructing the writer that he would become. What I didn’t say was that it was kinda mediocre work. “How did you make it?” I asked.

He told me that he and his friend had fun cobbling it together in an afternoon using scraps of poetry, an X-Acto knife, random angsty doodles, and a photocopier.

“Everybody has to start somewhere,” he said, as if to say, I hear you, writer. Look, I’ve been there too. Keep going!

And since you’ve read this far… A poem [WITH INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK] written in 2010 about contemplating the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and mass extinction while pumping gas, also inspired by the philosopher Slavoj Žižek.

“Apparatus”
Squeeze Pump Hose Box
Eee-er, Eee-er, Eee-er
[SOUND EFFECTS DON’T WORK WELL IN A POEM]
Zero Eyes Roll Back
Reee, Reee, Reee
Sea Man Drill
Spill, Glug
-Stop-
[HMMM. THIS ONE FEELS RATHER THIN BY COMPARISON TO THE OTHERS. PLAYFUL BUT SORT OF UNDERFED.]

***If you want to honour your bold, hatchling writer-self, please post a line from your early days in the comments.***

Dear TAs,

In our October face-to-face session on “Conversations about the Work,” we dug deep and discussed common conversations that come up (particularly during office hours), then we crowdsourced strategies with TAs, Mentors, and Instructors.

Here are three scenarios you may encounter, and strategies to positively and productively engage.

If you get approached after class by a nervous/tearful/frustrated student, with their 72% piece in hand. (With zero tolerance for yelling, intimidating behavior, and student misconduct!)

• Acknowledge that this is important to them, and say that you need time to review the work, rubric, and feedback. Ask them to do the same, and request that they generate 3 specific questions about their work (i.e. not ‘why did I only get a B-?’).
• Take a deep, calm breath.
• Make an appointment (Ideally, 72 hours in the future).
• If you are a TA, connect with the instructor to let them know. They are a great resource! They have these conversations all the time. They support each other going into these conversations as well.
• Prep for your meeting (review the work, rubric, and feedback)
• Go into the meeting feeling grounded.
• During the meeting, hopefully, the student has prepared questions. Asking questions relevant/useful to their work is an extremely valuable skill, I would argue, more important to their writing development than the answers themselves. But, having said that, if they ask a really great question that you don’t know how to answer, it’s ok to say, ‘That’s an excellent question! Tell me more about what you’re thinking.’ Or ‘I don’t know. I’ll think about it, and get back to you.’
• Use active listening and ask follow up questions:
  • I hear that […]
  • I appreciate […]
  • When you said […], did you mean […]?
• You can only mark what is on the page, and not the brilliant idea in the author’s mind.
• After the meeting, check-in with the instructor if needed.

If a student asks for extra feedback (beyond the parameters of the class)

A student asks you to read/give EXTRA feedback on a [short story, screenplay, novel, chapbook, portfolio, crwr application] that isn’t one of the assignments.

First, this is a wonderful moment. This person feels supported by you, and values your opinion of their work. Most likely, though, you’ll have your own writing to write. Here are something strategies to positively lean into this moment:

1. Acknowledge the request.

• Thank you so much for asking.
• That means a lot to me.
• I really connect with your work, too.

2. How you might say no.

• I can’t because it is a conflict of interest. The policy is that I can’t offer you additional feedback, and not offer the same to all the other students. It may be perceived as favouritism.
• Sorry, I can’t take anything else on until I’ve completed my thesis.
• I’m not taking-on manuscript consultations at the moment (this is a legit side-hustle).

3. Give them hope by highlighting other avenues for feedback!

• Another student asked me the same question, is it ok if I connect you with them and you can exchange work? (Help them find a peer/writing group within the class. There’s always someone to approach! Or put a call-out on Canvas).
• Connect them with shut-up and write, or similar meet-up group.
• Publications! A great next step is publishing/working with a professional editor. I think that piece x is really strong, consider sending it out.

If a student is convinced that you don’t get their genius and/or that the assignment is clipping their creative wings.

First, are you like me? Because I make no claim to understand my own creative genius. My genius wakes me up in the middle of the night with ideas like: “Write an Eat, Pray, Love, Fight Club screenplay in the voice of Gabriel Garcia Marquez!” And she fully doesn’t show up to work most days (no matter how much I try to tempt her with small, complicated cakes). [Elizabeth Gilbert on Genius].

Second, assignments are the perfect places to work the craft (especially when one’s genius is fatigued from late nights and sugar crashes). Perhaps, a masterpiece idea has no business in a 500-word assignment aimed at practicing dialogue and subtext. BUT developing these craft skills is crucial preparation for the big work.

It’s also worthwhile to note that some of the world’s most meaningful, beautiful writing has survived the most monstrous oppression and violence.

So… strategies…

• Acknowledge that their work is deeply meaningful to them. This person has a vision. Get excited for them. Suggest that perhaps the best way to get behind their work might be to pull out the rubric, and discuss where they can build their craft skill in the context of the course (which will serve their larger goals).
• Ask them to brainstorm creative ways to meet the requirements of the rubric (i.e. strategies to develop more nuanced, believable characters through a character interview).
• Suggest they write and share a precis. Then be curious. Ask questions, and give them feedback on clarity in the form of ‘From my reading, I didn’t understand [x].’
• If they don’t budge, recognize their autonomy. They made their choice (Not do what’s asked in context of the course. Do whatever they want!). Let the instructor know.

Dear TAs,

Every week, I read and comment on 20 poems for my advanced poetry workshop (Minor program). This, in addition to my other courses, admin responsibilities, parenting, and my own poem-making. I have managed to get my time down to 10 minutes a poem, and that’s including reading & mark-up. After much trial and error, here’s how I manage this workload so there’s room for creative work, hanging out with friends and family, and generally feeling less over-whelmed about getting it all done.

1. Read first, comment later. When I approach a set of poems, I take time to read them first without comment . Reading as prep allows me to experience the work without my editor’s hat on. Second time around, I’m reading with pen in hand, but making notes in a notebook and not on the poem. I’m gathering my foundational materials: technical feats, unexpected or surprising language, risks I think the poet has taken. From this material I can make useful comments much faster than starting from scratch.
2. Work in batches. I am a terrible procrastinator! In the last couple of years, I have endeavoured to be better. I break down the work into manageable chunks, and I schedule it right in to my weekly planner. I swear by the Pomodoro technique (I’m using it right now to write this blog post!), setting a timer for four sets of 25 minutes, and then I take a walk. This has saved me lots of time, and has cut down on distractions.
3. Cut down on distractions. Nothing beats a good grading run than an email that needs to be dealt with, a quick peruse of Instagram, or a text. I turn of my phone, shut the door, set my web blocker. Whatever you need to do to stay focussed, do it!
4. Write to the point. Comments eat up the most time, and it’s because it’s hard work to generate things to say about a piece of writing. One astute teaching assistant at orientation pointed out that it’s not always necessary to figure out what a poem is about in order to comment on it. Once I freed myself from trying to figure out what the poem was trying to do, the time I spent commenting shifted considerably. Stick closely to what the assignment rubric has already set out for you in terms of guidelines, borrow that language, and stick to three particular, technical points. Use lines from the actual work to back up your feedback. When you’re not sure what to say, come back to the piece later.
5. Separate creative work from admin. I’ve made a few productive changes to how I approach administrative work, like checking & responding to emails, grading, or meeting with undergraduate students. First, I acknowledge when I’m most creative, which is the morning, and I protect that time fiercely. Commenting is a creative act for me, so I find I have to be in that creative mode. I don’t check emails for the first hour of the day, if I can manage, and I don’t check emails before bed. When I do set out to check off those to-do items, I set that timer and plough through. While this is a bit woo-woo, I did find this useful: https://medium.com/the-mission/how-to-structure-your-day-for-optimal-performance-and-productivity-dcbf0665e3f3#.f17i4s8yd

BONUS: Treat yourself! Once I hit POST, I’m heading down the street to enjoy the autumn sunshine and to get myself a little treat at the bakery. The timer is about to go off.

*Please make sure that if you’re taking more time than is allotted per assignment that you check in with your instructor! This is really useful information for them to know early on, not so great at the end of term. While you can count on using up all your hours, your instructor will have their own strategies for approaching grading and time management.

You’re also welcome to talk to Roquela, or me, for more strategies!

Have a time-saving tip? Please feel free to comment.

Good luck grading, writing, reading!

Sheryda