What Kind of Teacher Will You Be?

The second you walk into that classroom, tutorial, laboratory, or seminar on the first day of classes you begin your teaching identity. It’s perfectly normal to feel first day jitters even when you are the teacher.

It’s perfectly normal to feel first day jitters even when you are the teacher.

Here are some tips that might just help you to calm your nerves:

• Get a good night’s sleep.
• Prepare any materials you need for the class the night before.
• Prior to classes, meet with those GAs and TAs who taught the course before you, so that you can use their expertise to improve your practice.
• Set up an appointment to speak with your supervisor or graduate secretary.
• Look over the class roster, and practice the names that you feel are difficult to pronounce.
• Find the classroom you will be teaching in a few days before classes start to ensure you will not be late on the first day.

You Can Never Be Too Prepared

To make sure that your semester will be off to a good start, it’s worth asking your supervisor or graduate secretary the following questions:

• What are the pre-requisites for the course? Is this course open to non-majors? What is the usual student demographic (First year? Mature students? Second-language learners?)
• When are the classes? Am I to attend each class?
• For how many students will I be responsible?
• Do I have to hold office hours? How many hours a week? What do I cover during this time?
• What are my responsibilities during class? (Do I lecture? lead discussion? take notes? lead labs?)
• Do you have any suggestions on how I should approach my lectures, lab notes, or discussion groups?
• Is there an online component to the course?
• Are there any materials or resources that I can read to prepare for the course?
• What is the departmental policy for late papers? Plagiarism? Chronic absence? How should I address these instances in-person?
• What should I do, or whom should I contact if I will be absent?
• Will I be evaluated? If so, by whom? How often? Will I receive feedback to improve?

You can find this post and many other useful teaching tips in the 2011 GATA Handbook. For more information about the Handbook and to download a complete copy, visit http://uwindsor.ca/gatahandbook.