I have been a TA Consultant for almost 2 years and this school year I have also been one of the TA Consultant Co-Coordinators. During this time, I have really enjoyed the opportunity to work with other graduate students to improve their teaching. My favorite aspect of the TAC position is that our interactions with TAs are mutually beneficial. I walk away from every consultation and workshop having learned something new. This has allowed me to improve my own teaching tremendously! Sadly, I need to finish my dissertation and will leave the group at the end of the spring, but I'm looking forward to one last quarter of consultations! I'm pretty much the biggest fan ever of the Mid-Quarter Interview (MQI) consultations that we do for TAs. During the interview, students generate specific suggestions for how their TA can improve their teaching. Then the TAC shares the suggestions with the TA in a consultation afterwards. Having had an MQI done in one of my classes, I know first hand that the suggestions are helpful and that the interview itself can make a big difference in students' attitudes about the course and you, the instructor. I would recommend that everyone do an MQI if they are interested in improving their teaching!
I am a fifth year Ph.D. student in Population Biology and am doing my dissertation research on ants and fire severity patterns in the Eastern Sierra. This means I spend my summers in high dessert forests with perfect weather and picturesque vistas. It's not a bad way to collect data... When I'm not thinking about teaching or biology I also enjoy cooking, painting, and climbing, and figuring out how to work those activities into my work whenever possible.
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