What’s a teaching win you’re proud of?
I teach Chinese language classes. During the start of the shift to online classes in 2020, I wrote and performed a song encouraging students to participate more in online discussions. The song was published on my YouTube channel and the link was shared with students. Then, for the semester end final project, one student performed their own rhymes over a boom bap beat, and another student made a talk show style skit based on a Hip Hop artist whose lyrics we used in class. Both students linked up with me that summer to compose new lyrics and one song was recorded and published online. It is situations like this which go beyond the classroom that make me proud to be a teacher.
What’s a teaching problem that’s puzzling you?
The biggest teaching problem that puzzles me: How do we as educators teach required curriculum in a way which engages each student? For example, in an introductory humanities discussion section like I may teach, are international students being given what they may need to partake in classroom debates that may often be dominated by domestic students? Or are specific students being frequently chosen or always avoided to fit into what you think may help the flow or slow down the rhythm of the class? There are great pedagogy methods, books, workshops, and more dedicated to these questions, but the problem still exists.
For me—and a lot of language teachers in universities across the United States—we teach in classrooms with linguistically diverse students. Some students who were born and raised in the U.S. speaking both Standard Chinese and sometimes an additional Chinese dialect as well as English with their families. Other students who grew up here speaking only English with their families and learned Chinese in school. This results in a classroom environment with a wide range of fluency levels which textbooks and teachers are often not adequately prepared for.
Regardless of the specific student or student population you are trying to engage, making change takes a lot more effort, time, and resources which we as TAs may not have the capacity to take on. This is where communication with your supervisor is key and your teaching team needs to come together to collaborate. Solving such a problem is not easy, but with more heads together and tasks delegated appropriately, it can be done.
What would you say to someone who is considering seeking a nomination for a Campus-Wide TA Award?
If you are considering seeking a nomination, I would say go for it a hundred percent. It is easy to talk down a ‘teaching win’, or be too critical on yourself and doubt your accomplishments. However, if you take a moment to step back and view your teaching as an object of study, you can identify something that defines you as a teacher. Your course evaluations—or, if you have them, notes from a professor who observed your class—are all a great start towards motivating you to seek nomination. It is easy to get into a dark hole of thinking you are not good enough, you don’t know what you’re doing, etc. But that feeling can be pushed aside for now, while you focus on what you have done great as a TA or what you have brought to the classroom that maybe some TA when you were an undergraduate didn’t. Remember, you were admitted to the Graduate School, to your department, to your program, appointed as a TA, all for a reason. You can do this and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise!
