Tell us about why you wanted to be a Teaching Mentor.
My department decides who they want to nominate and then approaches them about it. I took the process as an opportunity to think more concretely about my strengths as a teacher and the tangible actions I take on a daily basis to promote success in the classroom. This experience prompted me to reflect more deeply and critically about the specific choices I make to foster a respectful, productive learning environment, rather than thinking more abstractly about my teaching philosophy. I also feel strongly about giving back to communities that helped shape me, and the TM program affords those of us with a true passion for teaching the opportunity to prepare and, hopefully, energize the College’s next wave of TAs.
What was it like working with the other TMs?
Sometimes grad students and programs talk about the importance of “lateral networking”—the practice of professionally connecting not with senior scholars in your field but with your own peers, who could one day be co-authors or fellow faculty somewhere. The TM experience offers a different kind of lateral networking, which is networking across disciplines, not just within my own field. With the TMs representing many different backgrounds and ways of thinking, it was exciting to distill all our experiences into what we believe are the most important lessons for new TAs. We come from a wide variety of teaching contexts, but our core principles about professionalism, respect, and purpose remain the same.
What would you say to someone considering seeking nomination?
I would encourage potential applicants to think about specific traits, skills, and practices that make them unique or that contribute to their love of teaching. Being a TM requires a good amount of self-reflection that is helped by having concrete ideas. Primarily, you’re thinking about best practices for TAs in their teaching contexts—what they need to know in the classroom, lab, or office hours to engage successfully with undergraduates. On a more meta level, you’re thinking about the best ways to teach the new TAs so that each one walks away with clear and practical next steps for beginning their teaching journey. In other words, the focus is not only on training new TAs but also on improving the way that we train them, ensuring that students for years to come will benefit from inclusive and supportive pedagogical practices. It’s invigorating to work with other TMs and University leadership to advance our ability to give every student here a superior education—and to think about the legacy that this process leaves on the UW–Madison teaching community.
