The specific tasks that Teaching Assistants are asked to perform vary greatly across the campus. Some TAs are responsible for developing their own courses, while others assist with labs, grading, test writing, or other duties. Regardless of the type of assistantship, the graduate student and teaching supervisors will get the most out of particular teaching assignments with early discussion of policies, procedures, and responsibilities, as well as early engagement in conversations about teaching practices and strategies.

This portion of the document addresses Meeting for the First Time, Establishing Expectations, Sharing Teaching Materials, and features links to guides for assessing and negotiating TA/supervisor needs as soon as teaching assignments are announced.

Meeting for the First Time

Initiating the relationships between TA and Supervisor requires some thoughtful consideration of the nature of your relationship. Once initial appoints are made, the TA should receive a clearly articulated contract that defines the department's basic training and teaching expectations. (See the Composition Program's Instructor Web listed on our Resources page.)

Also, the supervisor and TA should meet once appointment letters have been sent out, even if they are already acquainted. If both the supervisor and TA spend some time getting to know about one anothers' pedagogy and research interests, they will better respect and understand the choices made regarding the classroom. Furthermore, this opens communication channels clearly and from the start.

It is especially useful for the supervisor to keep in mind that a new teaching opportunity may be quite intimidating as well as interesting to the TA. To foster TA professional development as an enthusiastic and excellent teacher, the supervisor might use this early meeting to ask about the TAs experience in the classroom, to address any concerns the TA may have at this point, and begin discussing teaching ideas. For ideas about setting up these first meetings, review "Teaching with TAs: Guidelines for Instructors" listed on our Resources page.

Establishing Expectations

In addressing expectations, the supervisor and TA discuss the nature of the course and their respective roles in administering the course. Consider this a clarification of the job description for both TAs and supervisors. If expectations are clearly understood, then the working relationship will be more enjoyable for supervisor and TA alike. Each person can come to this meeting with his or her written expectations. They can then collaborate to create a contract or other outline of responsibilities for the course.

Appropriate questions to answer during this meeting vary from department to department. However, the "TA Responsibilities" checklist (located on our Resources page) provides a checklist of topics applicable to many assistantships. Reviewing this written agreement together is a very important opener for having an open conversation about these expectations, which makes it more likely the teaching team will be comfortable returning to the agreement if changes are needed or confusion arises.

To gather additional ideas about establishing expectations and working effectively as a team, consult the article "Making the Most of Your Working Relationship" located on our Resources page.

Assembling/Sharing Teaching Materials

If you have had an initial introductory meeting and a second conversation covering expectations, then it may seem that the teaching team is fully prepared to begin the course. Not quite. An easy item to overlook is the timely sharing of course materials.

Materials needed may include a textbook, a teacher's manual, instructional CD-ROMs, equipment, access to the course Web site, past syllabi, or handouts. New members of the teaching team will need to know if copies of course texts are available through a department library, if desk copies are to be ordered by a program associate, through the bookstore, or by individual TAs. Making available a packet including a syllabus, assignment sheets, sample papers and tests from a previous term or version of the course will help new TAs gain an overview of the course they will soon begin to teach. This is also a good time to consider how course materials will be developed and shared throughout the term; for instance, if weekly handouts are necessary, begin to address who is responsible to locate, copy, and dispense them to one another and, if appropriate, to the students.

Taking the time to go through this process of clarification will not require "more time"; in fact it will reduce stress and future potential problems caused by uncertainty. Most importantly, talking about your relationship now will create an environment in which TAs and supervisors ask important basic questions when later teaching moments are difficult. With this early team work, these years of working with or as a TA can prove fruitful and rewarding for everyone.