Become a TAC! Ann Chang's Testimonial

The call is out for new TACs!


The Teaching Assistant Consulting Program is looking for it's next cohort of TACs. It's a year long position starting in Spring Quarter and going till Winter Quarter. Having been a TAC for two years (the max you can do) I wanted to share with the UCD community my reason for loving the TAC.



I became a TAC because I knew I wanted to focus on teaching as a career. But because of an external fellowship I (luckily) had and lack of funding in my graduate group (unluckily) I was discouraged from seeking TAships less I take funding from someone who financially needed it. Several people encouraged me to check out the TAC as a way to learn new techniques and build my resume. 


I was delighted when I was selected as one of the TACs, but little did I know how much I would enjoy being a teaching consultant. As with the experience of many graduate students I felt impostor syndrome my first quarter as a consultant - how could I help a TA who taught every quarter for 5 years? But as time went on the mission of the TAC program sank in. We are not a group of students who hold all the knowledge, rather we are a group of students who have spent a lot of time thinking about teaching and who the TAing community can talk to to bounce ideas off of or to help come up with ideas to improve teaching and the learning experience for students at UCD. Indeed I found that I often picked up tips from my clients when I did consultations. 


But beyond what TACs are most known for, our consultations, I was amazed by how much I learned in our weekly two hours meetings. It was in those meetings that I learned about different teaching techniques and tools, where I could discuss common problems that arose in classrooms and come up with solutions, and where I could share ideas about effective teaching. I was able to practice what we discussed in meetings by co-designing and leading the TA Orientation and workshops. All of these experiences have made me a more confident and reflective teacher. 


If this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of please fill out an application here or comment on this post for more information. The due date is Feb 14th.