Incoming UTAs typically see themselves playing a largely managerial role in your classes, as this is what they are used to seeing from their TAs in other departments. This is true even if they worked with UTAs in your own classes, when they were students. Managerial duties are of course part of the UTA experience—there’s nothing wrong with that. Yet in order to fulfill the requirements of a Scholarship in Practice course, UTAs need to do more than basic class management.
The best way for UTAs to broaden their view of their role is to be included in your course prep, both before and throughout the semester. I do this through Google Drive, often by creating a folder with several documents like the syllabus and a “To Do List” for myself and my UTAs. Common pre-semester tasks include updating readings, tweaking assignments, reviewing the syllabus, setting up ELMS, and so forth. I generally have several “big picture” questions for UTAs about overall changes I’d like to make to the course/ syllabus/ assignments as well as concrete “to do” items like setting up specific ELMS sections, proofreading the syllabus, and so forth.
I strongly recommend that UTAs be part of this pre-semester planning. Doing this work together helps UTAs feel as though they have a hand in shaping the course from the beginning, which will in turn make them feel more confident in the classroom from Day 1. In addition, this pre-semester work helps UTAs understand the assignments from both the students’ and the instructor’s perspective, which will help both of you (and your students), as explained in the section about responding to student writing.
In addition, the goals and expectations conversation, which is one of your UTAs’ first assignments for 388V, will help you identify what you want this semester to look like for both of you. Longtime UTA instructor Doug Kern explains it this way:
I’ve always made it a priority to chat with individual UTAs before we begin collaborating in the classroom. Though I always share a generic ‘Goals and Expectations’ sheet during this initial session, each UTA is invited to present his/her personal goals and expectations for the class by editing/redefining the set criteria. These personal objectives then shape the role of each of my UTAs.
I emphasize this to UTAs in my pre-semester welcome letters, as well, so that they are prepared to have a thoughtful and candid conversation about your individual and shared semester goals.
You might also consider developing your own version of the Goals and Expectations worksheet. Here’s one that Amanda Allen has developed for her UTAs: Allen UTA Responsibilities and Expectations
Image by Philipp Lublasser