The purpose of this activity is to create camaraderie within the training classroom as well as have the TAs develop the skill of talking with people they don’t know. At the start of training, establish the norm of doing an activity, then talking about why and how we did that activity as a learning tool.
Before teaching TAs the nuts and bolts of interpersonal communication and skills associated with TA’ing, guide the TAs to reflect on what it means to be a good TA. The goal is to have the TAs think explicitly about the different desires and needs of various stakeholders.
Before practicing example scenarios, have the TAs prime themselves by thinking about the things that they are already good at that they can use in their jobs as TAs. This gives them “fall-back” skills that they can immediately use in the next module.
In this module, the TAs walk through ways that they might react in frequently occurring scenarios. The goal is not to come up with “the right response”, but to generate possible reactions to the given scenarios that are reasonable and respectful of all parties involved. Walking through these responses in advance lets the TAs add these skills to their “toolbelts” and provides a low stress environment in which to practice. One of the jobs of the instructor of the training is to help monitor the groups and to intervene if TAs are raising problematic responses.
The purpose of this activity is to create camaraderie within the training classroom as well as have the TAs develop the skill of talking with people they don’t know. At the start of training, establish the norm of doing an activity, then talking about why and how we did that activity as a learning tool.
Before teaching TAs the nuts and bolts of interpersonal communication and skills associated with TA’ing, guide the TAs to reflect on what it means to be a good TA. The goal is to have the TAs think explicitly about the different desires and needs of various stakeholders.
Before practicing example scenarios, have the TAs prime themselves by thinking about the things that they are already good at that they can use in their jobs as TAs. This gives them “fall-back” skills that they can immediately use in the next module.
In this module, the TAs walk through ways that they might react in frequently occurring scenarios. The goal is not to come up with “the right response”, but to generate possible reactions to the given scenarios that are reasonable and respectful of all parties involved. Walking through these responses in advance lets the TAs add these skills to their “toolbelts” and provides a low stress environment in which to practice. One of the jobs of the instructor of the training is to help monitor the groups and to intervene if TAs are raising problematic responses.