Fall 2013

ST GEORGE WORKSHOPS


 

DEVELOPING STUDY SKILLS IN UNDERGRADUATES
David Beach, TATP Sciences Trainer
Lana Kuhle, TATP Course Instructor Training Coordinator

CORE

In this workshop, we’ll discuss how you as a TA can help demystify some of the study skills that students frequently struggle with. By the time we’ve reached graduate school, some of these skills (such as taking good notes) may be second-nature to us, while some (such as time management) may be less so.  In either case, it can be difficult to know what practical advice to offer to students who are struggling to develop basic learning skills.  We’ll talk about strategies for managing course readings, effective note-taking, and studying; how we can communicate these strategies to students; and the campus resources that we can direct them to.

Friday, September 20, 2013
10am – 12pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


DEALING WITH STUDENTS IN DIFFICULTY
Cheryl Shook, Registrar, Woodsworth College
CORE

This workshop will focus on how to identify, engage, refer and manage students who may be challenging. Students who are withdrawn, distressed, demanding or who present unusual requests or situations, including crisis situations, often need special support and/or attention. How and to whom to make appropriate referrals in a variety of situations will be reviewed along with the many resources available for teaching assistants and students.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013
2pm – 4pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


FOSTERING ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: NOBLE INTENTIONS & STICKY SITUATIONS
Martha Harris, Academic Integrity Officer, Office of Student Academic Integrity
Saira Mall, Managar, Academic & Collaborative Technology Support, CTSI
CORE

You are invigilating an exam for a course you have TA’d. Walking past a student’s desk in the exam hall, you notice an extra piece of paper peeking out from underneath the student’s exam paper. What do you do? Or…what if a student comes to you during an office hour with the first draft of an assignment, and all of the research is taken from the Internet? Or…what if your instructor asks you to assign a failing grade to an assignment you think might have been plagiarized? When is plagiarism plagiarism? When is collaborative work cheating? What is academic integrity, anyway, and how is a TA supposed to foster it?

Despite the best intentions, many teaching assistants and students will encounter these dilemmas when navigating course work. In this interactive session, we will grapple with these questions and more, and you will work through some scenarios (based on actual cases at the University of Toronto) to devise strategies for preventative measures and next steps in these ‘sticky situations’.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013
1pm – 3pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


ACCESSIBILITY AND THE AODA (ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT) IN THE UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT 

Andrea Carter, University of Toronto AODA Officer

CORE

Teaching Assistants are invited to attend a workshop led by Andrea Carter, AODA officer and Employment Equity officer, to learn how to create a more inclusive and accessible learning environment. Purpose: Under new provincial legislation, all staff and faculty must understand how to accommodate people with disabilities in our daily work. Learn the definitions of disability, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), the University’s obligations and commitments to accommodating people with disabilities, and the policies and procedures to follow.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013
2pm – 4pm
CTSI OFfice, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


 

TURNITIN FOR TAs: BEST PRACTICES & COMMON MISSTEPS

Sara Carpenter, Acting Assistant Director, CTSI/TATP
Saira Mall, Educational Technology Liaison, CTSI
Ryan Green, Educational Technology Liaison. CTSI
Martha Harris, Academic Integrity Officer, Office of Student Academic Integrity

ELECTIVE

Turnitin.com is an electronic resource that assists in the detection and deterrence of plagiarism.  Beginning in the fall of 2013, this tool will be available through our Learning Portal. Many TAs have responsibilities for reviewing written work submitted through TurnItIn and in assessing the originality reports the software produces. The Turnitin Originality Reports can save time in the investigation of the originality of student work and can allow for efficient citation verification. In order to better prepare TAs to use this tool, this workshop will: clarify for TAs what their role is in reviewing submitted written work by students; provide an overview of the tools available in TurnItIn; and offer assistance in the analysis of written reports. Participants will have the opportunity to review a sample Originality Report, recognize patterns in student written work, and explore possible avenues of action.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013
1pm – 3pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


 

PUTTING IT ALL INTO WORDS: DRAFTING A STATEMENT OF TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Sara Carpenter, CTSI/TATP Acting Assistant Director
Ben Moulton, TATP Sciences Trainer
CORE

Increasingly, postsecondary institutions are asking for teaching dossiers or even stand-alone “teaching statements” to be included with applications for academic positions. Even if you have a lot of teaching experience and know what you value in your own approach to teaching, it can be challenging to articulate your teaching beliefs and strategies in a clear written statement. This interactive workshop will seek to provide experienced TAs with strategies for putting their own teaching ideas and experiences into words. Participants will examine and evaluate teaching statements created by others, then work to build a first draft of their own teaching philosophy and in expressing this philosophy in narrative form. Suggestions for the content and format of the statement will be provided. This session is targeted at teaching assistants with significant teaching experience. It will be assumed that all participants have a basic understanding of what a teaching dossier or a Statement of Teaching Philosophy is.

Monday, October 21, 2013
2pm – 4pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


DECODING THE BLANK STARE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT?
Usha James, Instructor, Former Director (Acting), Secondary Initial Teacher Educator

CORE

It has happened to all of us. We invite students to participate in class – Does anybody have any questions? Or, tell me what you understood from the reading last night. Or, who would like to share their thoughts about data we have gathered thus far? – and in response we hear silence, accompanied by blank stares or downcast eyes. In this session, we will explore the various reasons for this lack of response, the possible underlying causes, the negative consequences of lack of participation and some practical strategies and approaches to fostering meaningful participation and promoting collaborative thinking.

Thursday, October 31, 2013
1pm – 3pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


 

ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING: PUTTING PRINCIPLES TO WORK

Stefana Gargova, TATP Microteaching Coordinator

CORE

In this workshop, language instructors will have the opportunity to learn about and explore some core principles of communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based instruction. Employing a number of theoretical and empirical findings drawn from Second Language Acquisition research, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience, this session will emphasize the pragmatic side of language teaching and provide strategies for successful implementation of CLT principles in the academic language learning context. Prime focuses will be lesson planning and task design.

Monday, November 4, 2013
2pm to 4pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


PREPARING YOUR TEACHING DOSSIER

Sara Carpenter, Acting Assistant Director, CTSI/TATP
Michelle Majeed, TATP Social Sciences Coordinator

CORE

The teaching dossier is a comprehensive record of teaching activities and accomplishments that is now required in applications for permanent positions at the University of Toronto, and in applications for academic positions at an increasing number of institutions across North America. In this session, we will review the elements of a successful teaching dossier and discuss how to use it as a framework for setting goals for future professional development. Since many TAs have limited teaching experience, an emphasis will be placed on what a new TA can do to develop the beginnings of a meaningful dossier.

Thursday, November 7, 2013
10am – 12pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


DEMYSTIFYING LIBRARY RESEARCH

Monique Flaccavento, Public Services and Instructional Librarian, OISE/UT
Rita Vine, Acting Information Literacy Librarian, U of T Libraries

CORE

What do you do with students who are baffled by Library research?  In this session, U of T librarians will share their top picks of tools, services, and research guides, and work with you to strategize responses to typical undergraduate research and essay problems.  Help your students go beyond Google and Wikipedia, discover ways to find better information faster, and figure out how long they’ll need to get their papers done.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013
2pm – 4pm
Electronic Computer Lab
Robarts Library, 4th Floor, Room 4033


ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL – HOW DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION CAN IMPROVE YOUR STUDENT LEARNING

Stefana Gargova, TATP Microteaching Coordinator
Lana Kuhle, TATP Course Instructor Training Coordinator

CORE

Given the variety of the student population at the University of Toronto, we often find ourselves dealing with an extra element of difficulty – our students’ various learning styles, abilities, and knowledge base. This is where the teaching strategy known as “differentiated instruction” can be effective, as it allows you to be responsive to your students differing needs and will result in a more dynamic and productive classroom environment. In this workshop we’ll explore in more depth what differentiated instruction is and why it matters to teaching. We’ll provide you with specific teaching tools that will enable you to integrate the core principles of differentiated instruction in your classroom and help your students better succeed.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013
10am – 12pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor


PEDAGOGY 101

Sara Carpenter, CTSI/TATP Acting Assistant Director
Lana Kuhle, TATP Course Instructor Training Coordinator
Leanne De Souza, TATP Sciences Trainer

ELECTIVE

This workshop is designed to introduce both new and experiences TAs and CIs to the language, concepts, and tools of university-level pedagogical theory. This workshop will provide a basic review of some of the major assumptions about teaching and learning that drive the development of undergraduate curriculum and approaches to teaching undergraduate learners. Participants in this workshop will increase their ability to traverse the field of undergraduate teaching by understanding basic concepts, heopefully stimulating more critical engagment with assignments, including the planning of tutorials, marking, and providing feedback to students.

Thursday, November 28, 2013
2pm – 4pm
CTSI Office, Blackburn Room
Robarts Library, 4th Floor



UTM EVENTS


UTM Lunch’n’Learn 2013
Wednesday 6 November
11:30am – 1pm

HMALC (UTM Library), Room 448

Free Lunch
Presented by TATP, in association with the RGASC

This second Lunch’n’Learn session for TAs will address facilitating student learning in their tutorials and building their own repertoire of teaching skills. Lunch’n’Learn events are discussion-based, interactive, and participants should come ready to discuss their experiences and to listen to others. If you have specific topics in mind that you would also like to hear discussed at the event, please email your suggestions to services.ta@utoronto.ca.

Please note that this event is for Unit 1 only and does not count toward TATP certificate programs.


UTSC Workshops


CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Malama Tsimenis, Senior Lecturer, Centre for French and Linguistics, UTSC

CORE

Teaching assistants are often faced with problematic situations which, if not promptly addressed, can destabilize the classroom environment and ruin both the students’ learning experience and the TAs teaching experience. Students refusing to participate in class discussion or to do the assigned homework; being systematically late or not coming to tutorials; disrupting their classmates; contesting the TA’s authority; contesting grades, etc., are only a few of these problems.

In this interactive workshop, the TAs will work together to come up with ideas and strategies to address a number of problematic case scenarios. There will also be given useful tips on how to effectively respond to these challenges without getting disillusioned in the teaching process and without compromising their relationship with their students. Strategies to avoid/prevent these situations from happening in the first place will also be discussed.

Presenter information:
Malama Tsimenis has been teaching for nine years at the University of Toronto where she has been recognized for her commitment to undergraduate teaching through various awards and nominations. Dr. Tsimenis gives seminars and leads workshops on pedagogical issues to both faculty and graduate students, and works closely with teaching assistant both as a mentor and a coordinator for language courses.

Thursday, September 26, 2013
10am – 12pm
AA160


EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT GRADING

Sandy Romain, TATP Trainer and PhD Student, Department of Anthropology
CORE

Have upcoming grading to do? This workshop is designed to assist Teaching Assistants to maximize their contribution to students’ success and their own efficiency and productivity during the grading process. Topics covered will include: effective feedback, language0related issues, academic integrity, time management, grading disputes, communication and marking rubric design. Each participant of this workshop is requested to bring a copy of a recent assignment (their own or for a class they are TA-ing).

Wednesday, October 9, 2013
3pm – 5pm
IC 318


FOSTERING ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AMONG UNDERGRADUATES

Sarah Fedko, Campus Information Literacy Coordinator, UTSC Library
Sheryl Stevenson, Lecturer and Graduate Student Support Coordinator, Centre for Teaching and Learning, UTSC

CORE

Participants in this workshop will gain a set of useful tools for recognizing academic dishonesty and, even more important, for cultivating academic integrity. The workshop’s hands-on exercises will include many classroom activities that can be used to help undergraduates understand the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters, practice proper paraphrasing and citation, and develop time management skills that will head off the problems that may result in academic offences. Topics covered will include common undergraduate misunderstandings of collaboration (group work), “self-plagiarism,” paraphrasing, citation practice, use of web resources, and giving appropriate credit for images and multimedia. Through scenarios that bring out common problems, participants will discuss ways to enhance undergraduates’ understanding of, and commitment to, the values of academic integrity.

Presenter information:
Sarah Fedko has provided extensive research skills training for courses across the campus, and often helps instructors troubleshoot research assignment. Through her work with undergraduates, she has gained significant knowledge of the common challenges they face when trying to adhere to standards of academic integrity when presenting their research.

Sheryl Stevenson is a U of T course instructor and has been actively involved in “AIM” (Academic Integrity Matters), a collaborative initiative at UTSC that has developed workshops, informational materials, and activities that help undergraduates avoid academic offences, as well as strengthening students’ awareness of their personal stake in academic integrity efforts.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013
3pm – 5pm
AC 219